Reader-response theory is a literary theory that focuses on the role of the reader in interpreting and constructing the meaning of a text. Emerging in the latter half of the twentieth century as a reaction to formalist and structuralist approaches, “reader-response criticism shifts the focus from the author and textual structures to the individual reader’s experience and interaction with the text” (Tompkins 1980). This approach posits that meaning is not fixed within the text itself but is created through the dynamic relationship between the reader and the text. By emphasizing the subjective nature of reading, this theory revolutionized literary studies and allowed for more personal and varied interpretations of literary works.