What is an "implied reader"?
1
The ideal audience envisioned by the author and to whom the work of literature is supposedly addressed.
2
A reader who embodies all those predispositions necessary for a literary work to exercise its effect.
3
The ideal "average" reader who can approach a work of literature with no preconceived ideas about the author's life, the time of composition, etc.
4
The ideal reader of a work of literature which is approximated over time by successive responses of generations of actual readers.