‘Find Our Own Way for Ourselves’: Orlando as an Uncommon Reader in the Critical Theory Classroom

Cheryl Hindrichs, Boise State University

Abstract

Cheryl Hindrichs presents the many merits of using Orlando as the central text in a critical theory classroom by drawing on a wide-ranging body of scholarship regarding the teaching of theory and literature, which she balances with concrete classroom strategies. The character Orlando, for example, can function “as our surrogate ‘common reader,’ exploring and engaging the rich panoply of literary studies across time and landscapes, and as an embodiment of the rich diversity of theory itself.”