The Trickster versus Achilles and Hopeless Retrieval: a Jungian Analysis of Baldr’s Murder The Swiss physician and psychiatrist, Carl Gustav Jung, lived from 1875 to 1961. Jung corresponded frequently with Sigmund Freud and based much of his early work upon Freud's ideas. However, Jung’s theories diverged from Freud’s ideas in 1913 and pioneered into a new field called analytical psychology (Young-Eisendrath). His work in psychology has led him to become referred to as the “Darwin of the Mind” (Ritvo). Jung believed in a collective unconscious, which he defined as an inherited knowledge shared by all humans in their subconscious. Jung’s work in analytical psychology extensively analyzed myth’s roles in psychology. Jung believed that the …show more content…
In particular, critics compared him with Sigmund Freud. He collaborated with Freud as he developed his theory of analytical psychology and utilized many of Freud’s teachings. However, Jung’s disagreement with Freud’s theory caused their theories to split in 1913. The schism caused critics to juxtapose their theories. Freud’s theories proposed concepts based upon psychosexual development. He focused on and critiqued for his “excessive attachment to the world of childhood”(Segal 103). On the contrary, Jung’s critics believed that Jung veered too far from development (Ibid). He does not analyze development as he focused on archetypal expression. Jung proposed that myths expressed psychological archetypes, which addressed what Freud’s critics disliked about Freud’s theory. I agree with elements of both theories, but agree with critics who state that they have different applications. Both theories stem from different parts of psychological development that are necessary to understand a character: the then and the now. Freud’s theories have issues as not all characters have a back-story to analyze; for example Sauron in The Lord of the Rings. Yet Jung's ignoring a character’s childhood leads to a shallow understanding of a psyche. For example, if I did not know that Cinderella’s dad passed away, I would not fully comprehend her feelings of isolation when her …show more content…
Loki seems to kill Baldr without any motive other than creating chaos. At first, Baldr and Loki seem like opposite characters; all the gods “praise” Bladr and despise Loki for his “treachery”(33, 38). Loki acts as dichotomy to Baldr: Loki represents chaos, hell, utility, and truth while Baldr represents order, heaven, uselessness, and obscurity, respectively. However, I noticed Sturluson describes both Loki and Bladr as being “beautiful” and having “wisdom” (Sturluson Ibid). Why would these gods, whom at first seem completely different, be
Freud’s theory was developed from speculation based on
One of Freud's followers, Erik Erikson, developed his own theory called the psychosocial theory. Similar to Freud's theory, psychosocial theory also has a series of developmental stages. For example, in adolescence where Frued deems it to be the genital stage, Erikson calls this stage Identity vs. Role Confusion. The psychosocial theory focuses more on a series of choices an individual has to make throughout their life, each choice leads them to develop differently.
Primarily, one of the dominant and fundamental theoretical variances concerning Freud and Jung’s personality theories was that relating to their opposing notions regarding the unconscious human mind. Firstly, Freud understood that the centre of ones inhibited beliefs and distressing recollections was found in the unconscious mind. Freud stated that the human mind focuses on three constructs: namely the id, the ego and the super ego. He claimed that the id shaped ones unconscious energy. Freud said that it is not limited by ethics and morals, but as an alternative simply aims to fulfil ones desires. The id strives to keep with the “pleasure principle, which can be understood as a demand to take care of needs immediately.” (Boere) The next unconscious
Sigmund Freud is credited with the establishment of the psychoanalytic theory. At the foundation of Freud's personality theory is that people are basically an energy system through which energy is directed and released through a means of expression that faces the lease resistance. Another aspect of Freud's theory is that the majority of one's development occurs in the early years of life, up until the age of five. There are three main stages: oral, anal and phallic. These may eventually become exemplified as types of adult personalities. Additionally, people's actions are ...
Jung, Carl. “Approaching the Unconscious.” Man and his Symbols. Ed. Carl Jung. New York: Doubleday & Company Inc., 1964. 1-104.
My personality plays a big part in my life, the qualities I possess, how I am perceived by others, and how well I interact with them. I believe I have an outgoing personality, I am easy to approach and get along with and much more. As I reflect on Freud and his theory, I can agree with him in some areas, but I don’t believe that the person personality was shaped almost entirely by childhood events. He was well known for his psychoanalytic theory of personality development, believing that the personality is shaped by conflicts fundamental structures of the mind: the id, ego, and superego (Funder, 2016). He was a psychologist who paved the way for others to come behind him. There are many who did agree with his theories
...osexuality in women results from the unconscious mind of a person. In addition, Freud belief that homosexual cannot be converted to heterosexual once it is developed. On the other hand, Jung presents his arguments basing on the idea that homosexuality is caused by the spirits. This is because it is believed that homosexuals have both male and female soul. These spirits are the ones that drive an individual to be attracted to a person of the same sex. Thus, Jung presents his theory from the biblical point of view and to him, the idea of Freud that homosexual is caused by the interaction from the environment and unconscious mind is not true. This is the reason that he goes ahead to challenge the works and evidence that is discussed by Freud in the theories. However, all the two theories, Freud is more convinced and presents his arguments in a professional manner.
She loved Balder and trusted all the gods not to put him in harm. They tested it, they threw stones and shot arrows at him, which always hit the ground before they got near him. But Loki was jealous of Balder because everyone loved him so much. So Loki set out to find the mistletoe. He was so jealous that he wanted Balder dead.
After reading the chapters from Jung, the elephant in the room cannot be ignored. Based on what I’ve gathered Jung forged a friendship with Freud for personal gains. Freud anticipated his “death” before it occurred, in the metaphorical sense; publication of Jung’s chapter “The Sacrifice” which Jung lied to Freud about when questioned about death and death wishes. Coincidentally, once Jung obtained the knowledge he sought by befriending Freud, the publication resulted negatively for Jung despite not adhering to Freud’s request: strong emphasis on sexuality with the unconscious. Consequently Jung was deterred from his path in life. In certain instances, Jung mentions dwellin...
Swiss psychiatrist Carl Jung penned Psychology of Dementia Praecox in 1907 in which he discussed about the Freudian concept of psychodynamic thoughts, however he incorporated new analysis and fresh research alongside the Freudian literatures. In his discussion, he included new concepts like wholeness of psyche; individual is composed with ego, collective unconscious, archetypes which are composed of tension that comes from spontaneity, recognizing the spiritual side of the human psyche (Ballen, 1997).
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
Carl Jung is best known for his exploration of the unconscious mind, developed through his education in Freudian theory, mythology, religion, and philosophy.
...een disproven or modified by psychologists today, however his impact will always remain strong. His thoughts on human behavior were deep and original, which makes his techniques for treating psychological illness innovating. His use of self-awareness for unconscious thoughts was an intelligent approach for his time. “The principles of treatment which Freud enunciated were quite unlike those followed by conventional physicians in the practice of medicine, and must have seemed revolutionary in the period before the First World War when they were formulated” (Storr, 1989, p. 95). The way in which modern psychotherapy and forms of psycho-analysis are conducted today, is based off of Freud’s procedure (Storr, 1989, p. 95).
In order to understand Jung's theory of archetypes, the reader must first have an understanding of the reasoning behind them. Carl G. Jung explains the conscious mind by dividing it into three different psyches: the ego, the personal unconscious, and the collective unconscious. The ego is simply Jung's interpretation of the conscious mind. The personal unconscious is anything that is not presently conscious, but can be. The collective unconscious is a reservoir of human experiences that is passed from generation to generation. It includes the archetypes of self, which are archetypes for different kinds of people or characters in literature (Jung 67). They can be described as things such as déjà vu, or love at first sight. It is the feeling that what is being felt or experienced has been felt or experienced before.
Erikson’s developmental theory was very detailed as compared to Freud. His theory describes the influence of social experiences in one’s life; however Freud described development based on sexuality. Another major difference between Freud and Erikson’s developmental theory is the end result of the stages. Freud believed that when fixation occurs in one stage, the problems occur associated with that stage would be permanent. However Erikson claims that the outcome of a particular stage is temporary and can be altered by experiences in later years.