Since the early 1960s the academic certainties of 'traditional' literary studies have been challenged by techniques and perspectives borrowed from other disciplies. And this so-called 'crisis' in English studies is now being complicated by the recent changes in the institutional structure of education. This timely collection provides an overview of how critical theory operates in practice and an indispensable guide to The State of Theory today. Topic discussed include: gender, race, the gothic, the value of student 'theory guides', and the impact of theory on teaching practice and the future for theory in our English departments.