LITERARY FICTION & EMPATHY

After reading the article I was a little surprised that reading literary fiction could have benefits like gaining emotional intelligence and social perception. I always thought that reading in general would have the same educational benefits, but it does make sense to me after reading the article how literary fiction can help people perform better.” Literary fiction often leaves more to the imagination, encouraging readers to make inferences about characters and be sensitive to emotional nuance and complexity.” Hamlet's first soliloquy would be a great example of that because if I were to imagine myself in the same position as him, I would have been angry at my mother, so when I was reading it I thought of him as angry, furious and even betrayed. His father had just died and with her marrying within a month, it made it seem like his death and their marriage had meant nothing to her.