The Difference Between Literary Time Periods and Literary Theories

So what is the difference between literary theories and literary time periods? It is important to note that literary time periods (like Romanticism) are different from literary theories.

Time periods are how we group texts together based on a time frame. They often contain similar elements in their writing because they were written during the same time frame.

Theories are the lenses we can put on to view any text, in any time period. If we apply a theory, we look at a text from that theory's perspective. It is like viewing something from another person's shoes.

As we move through the different literary time periods we will be using all of the theories to examine the writing from those periods. Keep this in mind as we start Romanticism.