 In his assessment of Shukla ("Acharya Ramchandra Shukla aur Hindi Alochana") eminent critic Dr. Ram Vilas Sharma emphasises the fact that the great writer opposed feudal and courtly literature as it did not give a true picture of the life of the common people and contemporary society.His works of literary criticism include "Kavita Kya Hai", the most widely read essay explaining poetry and poetics in his outstanding collection "Chintamani", published initially in two volumes as a collection of essays on emotions like anger and hatred.Recently his scattered and unpublished essays have been found and published as "Chintamani-3" edited by Namwar Singh and "Chintamani-4" by Kusum Chaturvedi.