Excellent results may be obtained by focusing on the right aspect of literature at the right time, but nevertheless a literary critic ought to take into account all the elements which make up the literary communicative situation, and describe their complex interplay. The role attributed to each of the poles has changed from one epoch to another. For instance, as regards to the receiver, we have long had theories dealing with the intellectual, moral or emotional effects of literature, and these are still a major concern of Marxist and feminist critical schools. But the emphasis now falls on the theories of interpretation, which give the reader an active instead of a merely passive role. Similarly, in the pole of the sender of the author we may have theories which stress either creation or influence, the conscious or the unconscious activity of the author, etc.