By 1977, when Annie Hall was released, Freud and his ideas were firmly entrenched in Manhattan's cultural imagination. As ?? Associate Professor of Psychoanalytic Studies at Australia's Deakin University writes, "psych analysis permeated American intellectual life, especially in New York." But not all privileged Manhattanites embraced Freud; feminists objected to him and his theories in the strongest terms. In his film Annie Hall, Woody Allen shows that it is in fact women who benefit most from Freud's work-specifically, Freud's theories of psychoanalysis.
Many modern scholars agree with their 1970s counterparts that Freud's theories are quite sexist. Nancy Chodorow, professor of Sociology at the University of California, Berkeley, and certified
…show more content…
Analysis gives Annie tools she can use in the real world. After she and Alvy split up, she draws on her therapy for support, saying, "My analyst thinks this is a key move for me." She moves to Los Angeles and begins a new relationship. When Alvy flies out to beg her to come back to him, she demurs, again relying on what she's learned in analysis: "Alvy, you're incapable of enjoying life, you know that? I mean, your life is New York City ... You're like this island unto yourself." She has found a way to be happy, and she has gained the independence of spirit to pursue that happiness. Alvy, in contrast, has gained a great deal of theoretical understanding, but very little that is of use in the real world. Analysis does not help him weather the breakup. He carries a bar of Annie's soap around in his pocket like a talisman, calls himself "jealous like Medea," and tries to re-create with other women fun moments he shared with Annie. His desperate flight to L.A., where he proposes to Annie and is immediately rebuffed, underlines his bad mental health. Just after Annie rejects him for the last time, Alvy gets into a fenderbender. He analyzes himself as he speaks to the cop on the scene, saying, "I have a terrific problem with authority" (Annie Hall). But while analysis has helped him understand his own psyche, it has not given him any tools to use in the real world; as he speaks to the cop, he rips up his own license and winds up in
When she enters London, she changes into her own person who makes her own decisions. Alyss says, “Yes, it was a solution: Give up her so-called ridiculous, fantastical delusions and enter wholeheartedly into the world around her. Become just like everyone else.” (Beddor 89) Alyss was first being thought of as a crazy person with a story that no one believed. Then, she finally gave in to the people around her and agrees with them. She thinks that being like “everyone else” is the solution to her problem. When Alyss sees Dodge for the first time in 13 years, she thinks, “It couldn’t have been him. The man with the scars. It couldn’t have. He didn’t exist.” (Beddor 116) Since Alyss had become free from her fantasy world, she was overwhelmed when she first saw Dodge. Even though she had forgotten her past life, the memory of Dodge was still there. Her mixed emotions and memories of Dodge caused internal conflict within Alyss: “And as she torpedoed up toward the surface, having worked impossibly hard to convince herself that the place about to be seen by her disbelieving eyes didn’t exist, she said the man’s name- Dodge Anders- and water filled her lungs.” (Beddor 120) Alyss tried convincing herself Wonderland did not exist, as she went through the Pool of Tears, but she knew it was real. The only reason she let go of Wonderland is because she wanted to fit in with her other world.
In the beginning of the novel, Alyss is characterized as dependent, loving, and imaginative. Throughout the story these traits mature and Alyss becomes more adult like but still is a little childish in certain scenes. One can say that the maturity that Alyss goes through affects herself later on in the story. During the story the
Alyss meets an orphan named Quigly Gaffer, who is, in Alyss’s eye, “the nicest in the band of homeless orphans and runaways of which he was a part” (Beddor 101). He gave Alyss and t...
Works Cited Cowie, Elizabeth. A. A. Representing the Woman: Cinema and Psychoanalysis. Minneapolis, MN -. University of Minnesota Press, 1997.
In the beginning of the novel, Alyss is characterized as stubborn, clueless, and she has the typical seven year old attitude. Alyss is very headstrong, “I won’t need any lessons,” Alyss said “I’ll just imagine that I know everything and then I will, so you won’t have to give them to me“ (Beddor 26). Instead of listening to other people who are trying to help her, she is trying to be independent. She thinks she can be independent and does not need anyone else’s help, but she is too young to know everything and not need help. Alyss is also oblivious, she has no idea what a lot of things mean, “Where did you come from?” (Beddor 34). In this scene, Alyss is talking to the kitten that conjured at her feet. She is unobservant and does not think about how situations could be bad or dangerous. Alyss is also sassy and she has her ways
“Do you count on your own tomorrow?” This is a simple yes or no question, but the answer is based highly on a person’s beliefs, morals, and worldviews. Sigmund Freud and C.S. Lewis were two of the greatest minds of the twentieth century, and the two join together in the play, Freud’s Last Session. Sigmund Freud was born in the Austro-Hungarian Empire in 1856. Supporter or non-supporter, everyone agrees that Freud was one of the most influential scientists of the 20th century. Freud focused mostly on the interaction of the conscious and unconscious mind. Not only did he transform psychology; he transformed the way people view themselves and the way they think about their lives (A Science Odyssey). Unlike Freud’s secular and atheistic view of the world, the other great mind, C.S. Lewis, viewed the world in a spiritual way.
The psychoanalytical perspective is a method of shifting from a hidden to an obvious subject matter which encompasses a process of awareness as well as translation (The Free Dictionary by Farlex, 2010). From a psychoanalyst perspective I will examine the linguistic symbolism of the text in the short play, “Trifle” to arrive at the underlying suppressed concepts of the author. Susan Glaspell- an Iowa native- filled her play with a hint of mid-western flavor. She also made a point to include a sense of feminist pride which was mirrored by her three main characters, Mrs. Hale, Mrs. Peters, and the accused murderer Minnie Wright (Glaspell, 1938). At beginning of the play the disparities between the genders were obvious. The men are arrogant, portraying themselves as perceptive unyielding detectives, when in truth they are not as perceptive as the women. The men’s pretentious approach provokes the women to become defensive and form an opposition in search of justification for what took place in their friend’s home.
Barry, Peter. "Psychoanalytic criticism." Beginning Theory: an Introduction to Literary and Cultural Theory. 3rd ed. Manchester: Manchester UP, 2009. 92-115. Print.
Sigmund Freud, the preeminent, 19th century, European neurologist and psychologist, designed a theory he labelled “psychoanalysis,” a theory which would transcend all borders and integrate itself deeply into many facets of society. In fact, an American named Kate Chopin, wrote a book entitled The Awakening, which was published at the turn of the 19th century, in which this theory played an integral role in expressing the complexity, relevance, and growth of the main character. The express importance of the main character displaying a Freudian psych is pertinent even in the modern time because it allows us to view the application of his theories around the time of their conception, trace their evolution and see the changes throughout the years. By possessing these comparisons, one could then gain insight as to how society and the individual has developed and progressed.
The aim of this essay is to clarify the basic principles of Freud’s theories and to raise the main issues.
Historically, theories about human nature and personality development did not reflect women’s visions, needs and opinions (Wellesley Centers for Women, 2011: Westkott 1989). However, Karen Horney, a psychoanalyst in the first half of the twentieth century began to question the concept of human nature being only associated with man and not woman (Eckardt, 2005). Through this questioning, Horney began to reinterpret Freud’s psychoanalytic theory on feminine psychology development, accumulating in fourteen papers written between 1922 and 1937 on feminine psychology (Smith, 2007). Published posthumously as Feminine Psychology (1967) these papers had a significant impact on feminist theory and have been cited as the ‘political and theoretical origins’
Stwertka, Eve. Psychoanalysis: from Freud to the Age of Therapy. New York: Franklin Watts, 1988. Print.
Mother in Freud’s Cultural Texts. Ewing: University of California Press, 2001. Print. The.. Parker, Ian. A. Rosalie H.: With Freud In A Prelude To Psychoanalysis."
Early signs of Alvy’s difficulties with the opposite sex were also present in the sequence’s classroom scene. During this, adult Alvy narrates about how he had already discovered women through the classroom environment. His thoughts about this are, again, expressed retrospectively as a voiceover and flashback. Younger Alvy is shown leaning over and kissing a girl in the classroom, and his teacher scorns him for this action. The teacher tells him, “You should be ashamed of yourself.”
Sigmund Freud is psychology’s most famous figure. He is also the most controversial and influential thinkers of the twentieth century. Freud’s work and theories helped to shape out views of childhood, memory, personality, sexuality, and therapy. Time Magazine referred to him as one of the most important thinkers of the last century. While his theories have been the subject of debate and controversy, his impact on culture, psychology, and therapy is cannot be denied.