The tradition of liberal education is based on a concern with the whole man or woman, such that the acquisition of learning skills goes with a concomitant emphasis on character. Because of its concern with the complexities of human motivation and action, Literature has an in-built tendency to impart moral and spiritual lessons which make graduates of Literature so much more sensitive to, and empathic with, the plight of others, while developing a critical attitude to society.
The problems of individuals and of society with which students of Literature empathize are often imaginatively or creatively projected in works of art (prose fiction, poetry or drama).