trying to make sense of it all

I think the trouble I am having with these beginning theories is that I can not understand how to take the author out of the text since in every English class I have always been taught to analyze the authors life and how it influenced his/her writing. I have had to look at their schooling, family, wealth, mental health etc and relate it in some way to their work. I feel now these beginning theories are telling me to focus in the language itself not the author or the individual. I also am having a problem with how these theories, liberal humanism in particular, seem to contradict themselves. In my understanding, liberal humanists feel that good art is independent from economic factors BUT they also feel authors are formed by their social classes. I may be wrong here but I don’t understand how they can feel social classes form the author because then all work would have some economic influence, so is any art good?

I just feel there is a lot of “flip-flopping” going on. Marxists believe that texts are products of class struggle but Engels who is a Marxist feels the author’s opinions should be hidden. Well if texts are products of social class then the authors opinion is bound to influence his work because that what he is stuck in.

I may be getting all this confused, I’m not sure which is why I’m writing about it. I feel like I have a better grasp on structuralism though so we’ll see :)