I strongly believe that every person who reads a book, listens to the radio, or watches a
program on television will make their own assumptions. I know I do. Most of us will ask, “Why
did the main character make that decision?” Or “What were they thinking?” Could it be that the
author of the story is protruding their own subconscious thoughts and beliefs through their
characters? Absolutely, most critics have adapted psychoanalytic literary criticism theory based
upon the works of psychoanalysis by famous psychologists Sigmund Freud, Carl Jung, and
Jacques Lacan to literary works. 'Psychoanalytic literary criticism does not constitute a unified
field....However, all variants endorse, at least to a certain degree, the idea that literature...is
fundamentally entwined with the psyche' (wiki).The three literary works which will be analyzed
in this essay are “A Woman Like Me”, “Swaddling Clothes”, and “The Necklace” using
psychoanalytic criticism theories of literary works of the authors, characters, and text.
What is Psychoanalytic Literary Criticism? All psychoanalytic approaches to literature
have one thing in common, the critics begin with a full psychological theory of how and why
people behave as they do. A theory that has been developed by a psychologist/psychiatrist/
psychoanalyst outside of the realm of literature. They have applied this psychological theory as a
stand to interpret and evaluate a literary work. Because psychoanalytic theories have been
developed outside the realm of literature, they are not tied to a specific aesthetic theory
(McManus). If we read psychoanalytically we can interpret literature with a better understanding
of the works an...
... middle of paper ...
... Xi. "A Woman like Me." The International Story. New York, NY: Cambridge University,
2005. 152-162. Print.
Yukio, Mishima. "Swaddling Clothes." The International Story. New York, NY: Cambridge
University Press, 2005. 132-136. Print.
"Yukio Mishima." Wikipedia. Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License, 22 July 2011.
Web. 2 Aug. 2011. < http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yukio_Mishima >.
Xiao Hong Lee, Lily, and Clara Wing-chung Ho. "Biographical Dictionary of Chinese Women,
Volume 2- Xi Xi." Google Books. N.p., 22 July 2011. Web. 2 Aug. 2011.
+xi+writer&source=bl&ots=rkvFA9rxm3&sig=vipxIGBZEo4zokvJk5W2Kv6IEF0&hl=
en&ei=XgQ6TsjIFoydgQfj2YneDg&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=10&ved
=0CFkQ6AEwCQ#v=onepage&q=xi%20xi%20writer&f=false>.
“It takes courage to grow up and become who you really are.” Clover, the main character in the story The Other Side by Jacqueline Woodson, Clover grows up, disobeys her mom, and makes a new friend. I think the theme of the story The Other Side is courageous because Annie and Clover are both kind to each other, they accept each other, and they are both brave.
The psychoanalytic therapy was developed by Sigmund Freud. It is considered the foundation or modern day psychiatry, psychology, and counseling and is the gage by which all therapies have been measured. Psychoanalytic therapy consists largely of using methods to bring out unconscious thought that can be worked through. It focuses on childhood experiences that are analyzed though discussions that are reconstructed, and interpreted.
“Often fear of one evil leads us into a worse”(Despreaux). Nicolas Boileau-Despreaux is saying that fear consumes oneself and often times results in a worse fate. William Golding shares a similar viewpoint in his novel Lord of the Flies. A group of boys devastatingly land on a deserted island. Ralph and his friend Piggy form a group. Slowly, they become increasingly fearful. Then a boy named Jack rebels and forms his own tribe with a few boys such as Roger and Bill. Many things such as their environment, personalities and their own minds contribute to their change. Eventually, many of the boys revert to their inherently evil nature and become savage and only two boys remain civilized. The boys deal with many trials, including each other, and true colors show. In the end they are being rescued, but too much is lost. Their innocence is forever lost along with the lives Simon, a peaceful boy, and an intelligent boy, Piggy. Throughout the novel, Golding uses symbolism and characterization to show that savagery and evil are a direct effect of fear.
judgment about right and wrong decisions. In particular, a vampire may have to kill a
What will be the goals of counseling and what intervention strategies are used to accomplish those goals?
Poverty and homelessness are often, intertwined with the idea of gross mentality. illness and innate evil. In urban areas all across the United States, just like that of Seattle. in Sherman Alexie’s New Yorker piece, What You Pawn I Will Redeem, the downtrodden. are stereotyped as vicious addicts who would rob a child of its last penny if it meant a bottle of whiskey.
The movie Girl, Interrupted, written by Susanna Kaysen, is a good text to use for a Psychoanalytic Criticism lens. A memoir turned into a movie about a young girl being admitted to a psych ward after trying to end her life and living with a mental illness and finding treatment is a great example to show what Psychoanalytic Criticism really is. “The forgetting or ignoring of unresolved conflicts, unadmitted desires, or traumatic past events, so that they are forced out of the conscious into the realm of the unconscious” (Barry, 97). In applying psychoanalytic criticism the definition of psychoanalysis itself must be understood. It is a form of therapy that is used to help cure mental disorders “By investigating the interaction of the conscious
“They carried the sky. The whole atmosphere, they carried it, the humidity, the monsoons, the stink of fungus and decay, all of it, they carried gravity.” (pg.15). The men in
The social structure of George Orwell’s 1984 is based on Freud’s map of the mind and the struggles between the id, the ego and the super ego. The minds of these individuals living in this society are trained to think a certain way. Freud’s theory of psychoanalysis can be applied to Orwell’s 1984. Using Freud’s psychoanalytic approach, 1984’s main character Winston Smith is portrayed as the one who goes against the ideas of the Party. In a Freudian point of view, Winston’s character represents a mind where the id is the driving force and where the ego and superego are ill developed in the views of the Party. Freud describes the psychoanalytic process as something that is normally used to treat patients with metal disorders, and in the eyes of the party, Winston is seen as one that has a mental disorder. The procedure that Winston undergoes directly parallels Freud’s psychoanalytic process.
Psychoanalysis is a theory that explores personality traits on the conscious and unconscious level. According to TheFreeDictionary.com, “Psychoanalysis is the most intensive form of an approach to treatment called psychodynamic therapy. Psychodynamic refers to a view of human personality that results from interactions between conscious and unconscious factors. The purpose of all forms of psychodynamic treatment is to bring unconscious mental material and processes into full consciousness so that the patient can gain more control over his or her life” (Psychoanalytic Treatment). Sigmund Freud is the founder of the Psychoanalysis Theory. He had many followers. One of those followers was Jung. As time went on, Jung’s perspective on personality
Barry, Peter. "Psychoanalytic criticism." Beginning Theory: an Introduction to Literary and Cultural Theory. 3rd ed. Manchester: Manchester UP, 2009. 92-115. Print.
They only encourage their clients to express their feelings and believe that they could solve their problems by themselves. Even though the psychoanalytic approach was criticized as unobservable and the humanism is over emphasis the ability of individual, but neglect the external factors, e.g. environmental and cultural influences; they indeed made contributions to help people to tackle their psychic/psychological problems. (1,616 words) Reference ---------
The aim of this essay is to clarify the basic principles of Freud’s theories and to raise the main issues.
Postmodernism attempts to call into question or challenge the notion of a single absolute unified master narrative without simply replacing it with another. It is a paradoxical, recursive, and problematic method of critique.
Personality is an individual’s characteristic pattern of feeling, thinking and acting. Psychodynamic theories of personality view human behavior as a dynamic interaction between the conscious mind and unconscious mind, including associated motives and conflicts (Myers & Dewall, pg# 572, 2015). These theories focus on the unconscious and the importance of childhood experiences. Psychodynamic theories are descended from Sigmund Freud’s psychoanalysis, which is his ideology of personality and the associated treatment techniques. Psychoanalysis attributes thoughts and actions to unconscious motives and conflicts. This theory also includes the techniques used in treating psychological disorders by seeking to expose and interpret unconscious tensions. He proposed that childhood sexuality and unconscious motivations influence personality. Freud’s historically significant psychoanalytic theory became part of the human cultural legacy.