ABSTRACT
The key to Coleridge's critical theory is his notion of symbol. For him, a work of art is a symbol which mediates between the world of nature and the world of thought. Coleridge never believed his theory would give the critic a set of rules which he could apply to a work of art and decide by their application that it was, or was not, a work of genius. Symbol for him stands over against concept, but it is by the interaction of the two that the human mind reaches its highest achievements. The mind will endeavour to express the significance of its own experience in symbolic forms for conceptual expression is often inadequate. It is difficult to see why some writers have maintained that Coleridge's theory of imagination is irrelevant to the task of criticism, for he taught us to look at literature in a new way.
