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Freud’s popular essay, The Uncanny
Freud’s popular essay, The Uncanny
Freud’s popular essay, The Uncanny
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Recommended: Freud’s popular essay, The Uncanny
A Wrinkle in Time: Two Critical Approaches In his essay entitled, “The Uncanny,” Freud begins his definition with an explanation of the German word heimlich, which most often means ‘homely’ or familiar’ but has another, less common meaning of ‘hidden’ or deceitful’ (595). Freud connects this word with its two not quite opposite meanings with the notion of the uncanny, loosely defining it as something which is appears familiar but is understood to be hiding something (596). In A Wrinkle in Time by Madeleine L’Engle, the planet of Camazotz, where the evil IT rules, is characterized by a pervading sense of the uncanny from the very beginning. One of the tools L’Engle employs to create the effect is emphasizing repetitive patterns. Everything …show more content…
The most straightforward example of this is Mrs. Whatsit, a character who literally changes shape over the course of the text. When she is first introduced, her identity is entirely obscured under her clothes and Meg observes that “age or sex was impossible to tell, for it [Mrs. Whatsit] was completely bundled up in clothes” (16). This confusion of identity anticipates Mrs. Whatsit’s later transformation “a creature more beautiful than any Meg had ever imagined,” a winged creature “something like a horse” with “a nobly formed torso, arms, and a head resembling a man’s” (64). The children are confused by this transformation, unsure if the creature is a “She? he? it?” (65). Calvin asks “But what do we call you now?” but Mrs. Whatsit simply answers “You can’t go on changing my name each time I metamorphose” …show more content…
In Alice, Deleuze tells us, the transformations “have one consequence: the contesting of Alice’s personal identity and the loss of her proper name” (472). In contrast, when Mrs. Whatsit transforms, she maintains her proper name and after a brief moment of confusion, Meg and the others fully accept the creature as Mrs. Whatsit. Indeed, affirmation of personal identity is a key theme of L’Engle’s text. Deleuze might say that in this rather than the “infinite identity” leading to the collapse of identity, it instead expands the notion of identity past external markers. In fact, Deleuze tells us outright that “[paradox] … destroys common sense as the assignation of fixed identities” (473, emphasis mine). What L’Engle does is draw attention to the possibility of identities which are unfixed to shape. The Mrs. Whatsit that Meg sees is “not Mrs. Whatsit herself” and in fact it is “only the tiniest facet of all the things Mrs. Whatsit could be” (93). Thus Mrs. Whatsit becomes an embodiment of the idea of “becoming.” Even when in the shape of an old woman, the shape she takes most often with Meg and the others, she retains the sense of the forms she has been, the forms she will be and the forms she can be. Her present shape is no more her “self” than the clothes she wore when she first
Which is caused by the narrator having a male perspective. The narrator does not give the women and credit or redeeming qualities. All the women follow a general stereotype. If they tried to break away from the stereotype, they would me more important and influential characters. Paquette, a chambermaid in the Baron’s castle, is described as “a pretty and obedient brunette” (5). She is identified obedient not because of her job as a chambermaid, but because she is willing to exploit her soul and body to the men around the castle. In regards to the old woman, she doesn’t even have an actual name, which does not matter since is ugly and useless. The old woman has the mindset that she is; an object; a mistake; a disgrace. That her time has passed as a beautiful useful woman. All the rape and abuse has physically affected her and she is out of luck. In fact, she is lucky if men talk to her, or even look at her without
For example, Miss Brill’s fur scarf represents more than just an important piece of clothing to her. To Miss Brill, this fur scarf is a companion which Miss Brill can share feelings with and talk to. Mansfield’s use of personification in, “What’s been happening to me?” said the sad little eyes. Oh, how sweet it was to see them snap at her again from the red eiderdown!” (241) depicts Ms. Brill revisiting her fur scarf that she had during her youth years. As Miss. Brill brings the fur scarf back to her life, she is no longer a rogue. Towards the end of the story when Mansfield mentions, “The box that the fur came out of was on the bed. She unclasped the necklet quickly; quickly, without looking, laid it inside. But when she put the lid on she thought she heard something crying” (246), Miss Brill starts to put the fur scarf back into the box after she was teased by the boy and the girl in the park for her age. This represents a sense of rejection that Miss Brill is feeling the rest of the world. Miss Brill thinks that she is young, beautiful, like the children in the park that is running around. However, she does not realize that her time as a young w...
While Madame Ratignolle, Madamoiselle Reisz and Edna are very different characters, all of them are unable to reach their potentials. Madame Ratignolle is too busy being the perfect Louisiana woman that she no identity of her own; her only purpose in life is to care for her husband and children. Madamoiselle Reisz is so defiant and stubborn that she has isolated herself from society and anyone she could share her art with. Edna has the opportunity to rise above society’s expectations of females, but she is too weak to fight this battle and ultimately gives up. While these three characters depict different ideas of what it truly means to be a woman and what women’s role in society should be, none of them can reach their full individual potential.
Feminism. Ed. Anne K. Mellor. Bloomington: Indiana UP, 1988. 220-32. Rpt. in Frankenstein. Ed. J. Paul Hunter. Norton Critical Edition. New York: Norton, 1996. 274-86.
The concept of the uncanny can be a difficult one to comprehend; this is why Freud begins his essay with an analysis of the different definitions of the uncanny in various languages. Ultimately Freud rests that the German terms “heimlich” and “unheimlich” best match the definition of the uncanny because it is translated as familiar and unfamiliar. The uncanny can be defined as something that creates a feeling of familiarity but also unfamiliarity, and this unfamiliarity is what is fearful to the individual. Freud’s essay “The Uncanny” can be related to the field of literary criticism because he explains how the feeling of the uncanny relates to the author’s attempt to convey a certain response from their audience. This type of analysis bridges Freud’s work and Larsen’s novel in order to re-examine and debate certain moments in Passing that after a second look can be defined as uncanny. Passing is a short novel that centers on two mixed women who reunite in their adult lives and describe how they are trying to “pass” as white to society. Clare’s motive for passing is so that she can live a luxurious life with her white husband who is extremely racist. Whereas Irene is trying to pass when she goes out in society, her husband Brian is fully aware and is a black doctor. Irene and Clare’s childhoods and pasts are vague which allows there to be room for psychoanalysis, particularly with the character Irene and her feelings towards Clare. Through psychoanalytical criticism of the uncanny moments that occur in Larsen’s novel Passing build tension between Irene and Clare and it is argued that Irene pushed Clare from the window that caused her death in order for Irene to keep her secure life with her husband.
every womanly grace and charm. If her husband did not adore her, he was a brute, deserving of death by slow torture. Her name was Adele Ratignolle" (IV pg 12). Edna can be like Madame Ratignolle who represents the mole of a perfect mother and wife. She represented all of the Creole woman, and everyone looks up to her. Chopin also show another path, or mole, Edna could take. Edna has the option of living all alone and keeping to herself like the character Mademoiselle Reisz. Edna couldn’t follow Madame Ratignolle path because Edna wasn’t satisfied with just being a mother and wife. She couldn’t follow Mademoiselle Reisz’s path because she didn’t want to be alone all her life she longed for Robert’s love. In the end Edna can’t seem to fit in any of the moles that are presented to her, so she must create her own mole. That is just like woman today. Society present woman today with mole of a perfect woman, and everyone can’t fit the mold so they are focused to create their own mole, and since they can’t fit in the mole they a looked at differently. The truth is we are not meant to fit a mole that someone else has forced upon us. We are meant to create our own moles.
Often times in literature the body becomes a symbolic part of the story. The body may come to define the character, emphasize a certain motif of the story, or symbolize the author’s or society’s mindset. The representation of the body becomes significant for the story. In the representation of their body in the works of Marie de France’s lais “Lanval” and “Yonec,” the body is represented in opposing views. In “Lanval,” France clearly emphasizes the pure beauty of the body and the power the ideal beauty holds, which Lanval’s Fairy Queen portrays. In France’s “Yonec,” she diverts the reader’s attention from the image of the ideal body and emphasizes a body without a specific form and fluidity between the forms. “Yonec” focuses on a love not based on the body. Although the representations of the body contradict one another, France uses both representation to emphasize the private and, in a way, unearthly nature of love that cannot be contained by the human world. In both lais, the love shared between the protagonists is something that is required to be kept in private and goes beyond a single world into another world.
In Shirley Jackson's novel "The Haunting of Hill House", there are numerous traces of the representation of the uncanny which was suggested by Sigmund Freud. In the story, the Hill House itself is an uncanny figure to the central protagonist, Eleanor, as it features as her mother which has an ambivalent nature as the meaning of the German word of `uncanny' itself. Moreover, the house also acts as a mirror reflecting her own image so that she can see herself by looking at the house, thus the house is actually an allegory of Eleanor's psychological condition and she is literally consumed by it in the end as the boundary between her and the house collapses. Besides, another protagonist, Theodora, is a double of Eleanor as she figures her opposite side which is her denied self and self-destructiveness while she also expresses the repressed feelings of Eleanor. These examples match with the concept of the uncanny which stresses on the uncanny effect of the `Doubling' and `Infantile complexes' . (Alison 32)
This is also relative to symbolic interaction theory since people are able to form new meanings determined by their own interpretation of interactions and of the situation (Ritzer 352). In consideration of this idea, the change of Belle's perception of the Beast and her approach to him appears not to be a
In Hoffmann’s “The Sandman” , there is a re-occurring theme of the uncanny that is commented on by both Sigmund Freud and Ernst Jentsch, who try to explain the uncanny in different ways by highlighting events and imagery that they believe to play a key role in creating it. I however, would argue that the uncanny is a more universal theme in the story and likewise, it’s source will be much more general. In the course of this paper, I intend to prove that the source of the uncanny is the fact that the reader doubts the reality they are presented within the text in the same way that one would doubt the reality that is perceived by a schizophrenic. This is due to the fact that the narrator suffers from schizophrenia and a possible dissociative personality disorder. Furthermore, the events of the short story only occur within the twisted mind of the narrator and represent a series of psychical manifestations that were most likely imagined as a defense mechanism to deal with the traumatic loss of his father and siblings.
Meg is L’Engle’s parallel in A Wrinkle in Time. L’Engle uses Meg to create a life she was never able to have (Zarin). L’Engle made the life in her books seem more real than reality (Cotter 92). L’Engle makes Meg feel like she did in school, lonely and outcast from the other students (Zarin). L’Engle thought that she was stupid and awkward and she made Meg feel that way too (Cotter 93). She pours feelings into Meg which she could not express herself. L’Engle makes Meg good at the things she was not in school suc...
In The Sandman, the weirdness of the tale could be perceived in two directions--the first being that of intellectual uncertainty and the other is that of psychoanalytical experience and namely the ideas of Freud. In order to describe the uncanny experience in Hoffmann's The Sandman and Shelley's Frankenstein it is indispensable, however, to explain and define beforehand what is the connotation of Unheimlich. In my further analysis of the uncanny, I relate the two works and stress on the obsession of the two characters which explains the weirdness in them. Moreover, I focus on the surrounding environment in the face of the society because it is pertinent to the discussion of the weirdness. The unconsciousness is also playing a major role in the description of the uncanny. Thus we attribute the uncanny to the collapsing psychic boundaries of conscious and unconscious, self and other, living and dead, real and unreal. These recurrent themes, which trigger our most primitive desires and fears are the very hallmarks of Shelley's and Hoffmann's fiction.
In many novels, the author includes characters that transform or change by the end of the story, mainly relating to the adjustment of their behavior or their new perspective on certain aspects of life. But, one author decided to alter this basic theme and by doing so created an amazing story. Roald Dahl, author of The Witches, wanted to approach readers with a familiar message but with an interesting approach. The author wanted to inform children that you should not judge a person based on their appearance and portrayed his message through the use of physical transformation. The Witches is a children’s fantasy novel about a young seven-year old child that is required to live with his Norwegian grandmother after his parents are killed in a car
Metamorphosis is a common theme in pieces of literature because the author needs the readers to understand if a character was dynamic or static or in other words, whether a character changed thought the piece or remained the same. If a character underwent great and significant changes throughout a story, then the concept of metamorphosis needs to be implying to reflect changes in appearance, personality or even outlook on life.
c. Freud establishes a common element: the human desire to alter their existing and often unsatisfactory or unpleasant reality. All individuals are frustrated within their lives, whether they are non-writers who cannot reclaim their childhood stimulant or as individuals unhappy in their marriages, etc.. Freud contests that desires, repressed to an unconscious state, will emerge in disguised forms: in dreams, in language, in creativity, and in neurotic behavior.. We can look for these occurrences in the future to conduct an analysis of the author’s own repressed desires or fictional characters.