The theories of Jacques Lacan give explanation and intention to the narrator’s actions throughout the novel “Surfacing”. Although Margaret Atwood may not have had any knowledge of the French psychoanalyst’s philosophies, I feel that both were making inferences on behavior and psychology and that the two undeniably synchronize with each other. I will first identify the complex philosophies of Jacques Lacan and then demonstrate how the narrator falls outside of Lacan’s view of society and how this
Freud vs. Jacques Lacan The story of Sophocles' Oedipus Tyrannus has been interpreted by innumerable writers, philosophers, and critics in countless ways; the methods of interpreting Oedipus vary from mad rages and blind accusations to ignorantly perverse acts ranging from basic sexual desire to pre-destined fate ordained by the gods. Perhaps the most famous psychoanalyst in history Sigmund Freud theorized that Oedipus' story was applicable to all. French psychoanalyst Jacques Lacan translated
be published in the influential British film journey screen. (Hein,2008) Her written views have achieved to shift the perception of film theories conventional structure known as psychoanalytic, which were written about by Sigmund Freud and Jacques Lacan. Lacan was to have primarily came up with the theory and was originally identified as the “gaze”. His use was to define the anxious state that derives with the awareness that one could be viewed. He argues that a person loses a sense of “autonomy”
the conscious (Bressler 121). In Jacques Lacan’s essay “The Agency of the Letter in the Unconscious or Reason since Freud,” he agrees with Freud’s claims that the unconscious influences our behavior and actions. As a result, Lacan created three different categories to explain the transformation from infant to adulthood, namely need, demand, and desire and labeled these three psychoanalytic orders, as the Imaginary, the Symbolic and the Real stage. Lacan claims that during the Symbolic stage
audience's perception of Oedipus through oral dramatic presentation. "Lacan insists that dialogue is the place where a certain subject comes into being, or perhaps more properly, where the subject comes into being in a certain kind of way" (Lee 38) Jacques Lacan deals with the perception of individuals as well. However Lacan's perceptions are those dealt with in the mind of his subjects. Let us introduce Oedipus, as the subject, to Lacan the psychoanalyst. Now that the two have met in our minds' we can
that want to be exposed through the conscious (Bressler 121). In Jacques Lacan’s essay “The Agency of the Letter in the Unconscious or Reason since Freud,” he agrees with Freud’s claims that the unconscious influences our behavior. Lacan created three categories to explain the transformation from infant to adult, namely need, demand, and desire and labels these three parts as the Imaginary, the Symbolic and the Real stage. Lacan claims that during the Symbolic stage the child is initiated to language
a can is completely subjective. It's nothing but a trigger for my pre-existing notion of a can. SIGNIFIER (CAN) SIGN =SIGNIFIED (CYLINDRICAL CONTAINER) Actual meaning comes from the thing itself, rather than our word for it. Jacques Lacan modified Saussure's original algorithm so that the signifier dominated the signified. We have many words for the same object. For example, the adjectives ugly, unattractive, hideous, revolting, and homely describe a less-than-desirable state
desire. According to Jacques Lacan, desire arises from lack and one lacks what one desires. Thus it seems to be a paradoxical situation at the outset. Lacan has explained the concept of desire and lack by taking an infant as his subject. He describes the transition from infancy to childhood in different stages i.e. the imaginary, the symbolic and the real. Imaginary is the state of infant’s oneness with the mother. Here the concept of “the mirror stage” is introduced by Lacan. The mirror stage is
Chapter one ‘Social and political history of the gaze’ The ‘gaze’, as described in the Oxford English Dictionary: Gaze [Verb] Look steadily and intently especially in admiration, surprise, or throught: ‘he could only gaze at her in astonishment’ [Noun] A steady intent look: ‘he turned, following her gaze’ ‘offices screened from the public gaze’ During the last few centuries many prominent figures in their fields of study have examined the ‘gaze’. These include philosophers, sociologists, ’neurologists
The Greaty Gatsby is not only Fitzgerald's best work, but it is one of the greatest pieces of literature to ever have been published in the United States. This all time classic offers an accurate depiction of the Roaring Twenties, as it exposes the decadence and loss of morality hidden beneath the luxury of the times. Popular interpretations present the novel as a critical review of class issues and the social situation existent in the 1920s, as well as Fitzgerald's commentary on the American Dream
William Shakespeare’s play Macbeth. However, before I begin my examination of Lady Macbeth’s character, I feel that concept of psychoanalytical theory needs some introduction. One of the more prevalent Psychoanalytical theorists after Freud was Jacques Lacan. Cristina Leon Alfar’s essay "'Blood Will Have Blood': Power, Performance, and Lady Macbeth's Gender Trouble," provides a meticulous analysis of Lacan’s psychoanalytical theory. Alfar asserts that the idea of both sexes is based on the male “having”
that of psychoanalysis. I have chosen to focus on Jacques Lacan for this essay since his theories have a greater emphasis on the use and formation of language in the individual than other key figures in his field, such as Jung or Freud. Lacan believed that when we examine literature, we do not merely analyse the characters of a text, but also the text itself as an effect of the linguistic wordplay of the unconscious. For this reason I feel that Lacan is particularly well suited to the discussion of
theorists after Freud was Jacques Lacan. In his text, “The Signification of the Phallus,” asserts that the idea of both sexes are based on the male “being” and the female “having” the phallus, and these two differences determine the relations between the sexes while also bringing them together. For Lacan, the phallus for males represents power, authority, and desire while for females the phallus signifies lack of power and agency (182). Another important text by Lacan is “The Agency of the Letter
routes for deep and primitive desires and also judges and critiques the self. Laplanche develops this idea in Life and Death in Psychoanalysis, explaining that the ego acts as “an external object…charged with libido (“love”), cathected.”According Jacques Lacan, however, the Ego only develops in a child after they have achieved the “Mirror
Law and Emotion and Lacan Should we let our emotions control us? Should we base our decisions on how we are feeling at a specific time? Perhaps emotion shouldn’t factor at all into our decisions. Some of the characters we have studied exhibit both sides of this question. Luther and Alice from the show Luther fall on opposite sides of the spectrum while Billy Budd takes a hybrid approach. Immanuel Kant, a German philosopher who is considered to be a major figure of modern philosophy, developed
Tyrannus through the eyes of the French theorist Jacques Lacan. Specifically the paper will focus on the mirror stage of Lacan's theories. As to the criteria that the paper will use, there are some "truths" that need to be established about the Lacanian division of thinking. In Lacan's way of thought, we all have repressed desires, and these desires can never be fulfilled. In language, there are similar"eternal desires" that cannot be satiated. Lacan carries this further in identifying the patriarchal
from the dead victims of other vampires (as long as a certain rite is performed during the victim's death). After a time they rise from their graves and immediately seek to kill and drink the blood of the living. Creatures such as these are, as Lacan [give first name when you first mention someone] describes them, "between the two deaths" and live again only to fulfill insistent, mechanical drive. This drive, often centered on killing, vengeance, or some other quest for closure, is distinct
because the characters exhibit symptoms which belong to the three orders: the Real, the Imaginary and the Symbolic. Jacques Lacan’s division of the psyche can be identified within the structure of Long day’s journey into night because they influence and determine the lives and decisions of the characters, while also configuring new values for the typical American family. According to Lacan, the Real represents the state... ... middle of paper ... ...of alcohol or morphine, thus allowing them to escape
of paper ... ...s: A Rhetoric and Reader for Writers. 3rd ed. Ed. Marjorie Ford and Jon Ford. NY: Longman. 1998: 118-123. Lacan, Jacques. "The Mirror Stage as Formative of the Function of the I as Revealed in Psychoanalytic Experience." Literary Theory: An Anthology. Ed. Julie Rivkin Michael Ryan. Malden: Blackwell, 1998: 178-183. Lacan, Jacques. "The Symbolic Order (from "The Function and Field of Speech and Language in Psychoanalysis")." Literary Theory: An Anthology. Ed.
through a psychoanalytical point we can assume that his lousy childhood can be the cause of his feeling of being lost, repression, and his unstable emotions if depression and isolation. According to another psychologist that agrees to Freudian theory, Lacan states, “Human behavior is often something of puzzle, requiring concerted acts of investigation to discover root causes and multiple effects” (Hall 105). Holden’s mental disord... ... middle of paper ... ...mind is developed from an infant to