Psychoanalytical and Feminist approaches to D. H. Lawrence's Sons and Lovers

1581 Words4 Pages
bulb-icon

Recommended: Oedipus complex in literature

Psychoanalytical and Feminist approaches to D. H. Lawrence's Sons and Lovers

Psychoanalytical and feminist approaches are two relatively recent critical responses towards literary texts. When applied to D. H. Lawrence's Son's and Lovers, both can be insightful yet problematic at the same time.

The theories of psychoanalysis, primarily identified with Sigmund Freud, can be applied to imaginative literature and art in general, in order to study their manifest and latent content, in the same way as Freud studied dreams. Literature clearly lends itself to such a study, since, like dreams, the most significant meaning often lies below the conscious surface narrative of a text. Feminist approaches towards literature are concerned with the portrayal of female characters. Lawrence's representation of women in his work has been admired by many readers for it's insight, women among them, and has been strongly attacked by others for its prejudiced male perspective.

Classic psychoanalytic criticism applied the theories either to the author, or his or her characters, which were seen as internalised images that have come from the author's unconscious. The high autobiographical content of Sons and Lovers lends itself to this type of study. Also, if works of art are taken to be disguised expressions of an infantile wish driven into the unconscious, as Freud suggests, then Sons and Lovers is doubly of interest. It is about the fundamental infantile wish that all boys have and repress, according to Freud, the wish of Oedipus to kill their father and marry their mother.

Freud's theory of the Oedipus complex and of its frequent effect of psychical impotence, of which Paul is a classic victim, offers a valuable key to a coherent unde...

... middle of paper ...

...the whole picture, since each perspective has its own priorities, and several need to be incorporated in order to fully realise all of the characters and understand the true workings of the novel.

Works Cited and Consulted

Finney, B. (1990). Penguin Critical Studies: Sons and Lovers. Middlesex: Penguin Group

Kuttner, A. B. (1969). A Freudian Interpretation (1916). In Gmini Salgado (Ed.),

D. H. Lawrence: Sons and Lovers A Selection of Critical Essays 1969 1994. Hampshire: Macmillan Press.

Lawrence, D. (1996). Sons and Lovers (1913). M. Daly (Ed.), London: Everyman

Lucy, N. (1997). Postmodern Literary Theory: An Introduction Oxford: Blackwell Publishers Ltd.

Millett, K. (1996). Sexual Politics (1969). In Rick Rylance (Ed.), Sons and Lovers: New Casebooks. New York: St. Martin's Press.

Pope, R. (1998). The English Studies Book. London: Routledge

Show More
Related

  • Odysseus: From Hubris To A Selfless, Modest Hero

    1256 Words  | 3 Pages

    Opposed to that of common thought, superman is not the only type of character that fits the heroic persona. Although “superheroes” typically come to mind when one thinks of a hero, there are many other ordinary people capable of extraordinary things. A hero is a person who takes the initiative to set out on a journey of internal growth. During this symbolic journey, one truly finds himself and betters the lives of other mentally and physically. In Homer’s epic poem The Odyssey, Odysseus takes the path of heroism, resulting in the reborn spirit of a selfless, modest hero. During the process, Odysseus is faced with many challenges that he must overcome in order to earn the noble title. Odysseus proves himself to be a well-deserving hero because he is intelligent with his decisions, he displays cleverness, and he rids himself of hubris.

    Read More

  • The Fall of the Roman Empire

    1388 Words  | 3 Pages

    Rome was a major power because it always made certain its own military prowess was preeminent. There have been many ideas presented as to the fall of the Roman Empire. Many believe that Rome declined morally and the violence and decadence of the societal norms led to the demise. Gibbons has been credited with the theory of the influence and transference of Christianity over the Roman system of Gods and Goddesses that perpetrated the fall. Another theory lays the blame at the feet of the Emperor, that the happiness of the people and the functioning of the government was directly correlated with the personal merit and management skills of the reigning authority. This 10 page paper argues that the imperialistic tendencies of Rome over time and the pre-eminence of military expansionism in the latter stages, was the deciding feature of the "fall". Bibliography lists 7 sources.

    Read More

  • The Importance of Fear in Hamlet

    1064 Words  | 3 Pages

    Goldman, Michael. "Hamlet and Our Problems." Critical Essays on Shakespeare's Hamlet. Ed. David Scott Kaston. New York City: Prentice Hall International. 1995. 43-55

    Read More

  • Examples Of Indecisiveness In Hamlet

    1463 Words  | 3 Pages

    According to psychologist Sigmund Freud, who is known for his theory of psychoanalysis, the human mind contains “a reservoir of mostly unacceptable thoughts, wishes, feelings, and memories” (Meyers 597). These unconscious desires then resurface and develop into the impulses for one’s actions and thoughts. Moreover, one of the most prominent and often times controversial ideas of this theory is the Oedipus complex. In Meyer’s textbook of psychology, the Oedipus complex is described as affecting young males by causing the development of sexual desires for their mothers and also jealousy towards their fathers

    Read More

  • Frankenstein, Community, and the Individual

    1689 Words  | 4 Pages

    Stillinger, Jack, Deidre Lynch, Stephen Greenblatt, and M H. Abrams. The Norton Anthology of English Literature: Volume D. New York, N.Y: W.W. Norton & Co, 2006. Print.

    Read More

  • The Rape of Lucretia

    1982 Words  | 4 Pages

    3)Gwynn, David M. The Roman Republic: A Very Short Introduction. Oxford: Oxford UP, 2012. Print.

    Read More

  • The awakening

    789 Words  | 2 Pages

    Wolff, Cynthia Griffin. "Un-Utterable Longing: The Discourse of Feminine Sexuality in The Awakening." Studies in American Fiction 24.1 (Spring 1996): 3-23. Rpt. in Twentieth-Century Literary Criticism. Ed. Janet Witalec. Vol. 127. Detroit: Gale, 2002. Literature Resource Center. Web. 19 May 2014.

    Read More

  • The Fall of the Roman Empire

    1093 Words  | 3 Pages

    Ward-Perkins, Bryan the fall of the Roman Empire and the end of civilization, oxford, oup, 2005

    Read More

  • The Influence of Gender in "Girl" by Jamaica Kincaid

    672 Words  | 2 Pages

    Fisher, Jerilyn, and Ellen S. Silber. Women in Literature: Reading Through the Lens of Gender. Westport, Conn: Greenwood Press, 2003. Print.

    Read More

  • psychoanalysis of frankenstein

    1073 Words  | 3 Pages

    Psychoanalysis is the method of psychological therapy originated by Sigmund Freud in which free association, dream interpretation, and analysis of resistance and transference are used to explore repressed or unconscious impulses, anxieties, and internal conflicts (“Psychoanalysis”). This transfers to analyzing writing in order to obtain a meaning behind the text. There are two types of people who read stories and articles. The first type attempts to understand the plot or topic while the second type reads to understand the meaning behind the text. Baldick is the second type who analyzes everything. Since his article, “Allure, Authority and Psychoanalysis” discusses the meaning behind everything that happens in Mary Shelley’s “Frankenstein” we can also examine “The Ones Who Walk Away from Omelas” in the same manner.

    Read More

  • Bernice Bobs Her Hair Analysis

    1068 Words  | 3 Pages

    As a female university student, I feel deeply related to Marjorie since her personality is quietly similar to mine. Analogously, I could feel Bernice’s “vague pain” (Fitzgerald, 3) and realize her sensitivity as the things have happened to me when I was younger. In order to comprehend author’s main idea, I did numerous researches about the jazz age. Thus it can be seen, reader’s background is also crucial when responding to this literary texts. The writer’s main target audiences are women, who have different desires and needs than men. The meaning of the text often competes when we have a better understanding of our self-identities. We interpret the text based on our own psyches, experiences, and judgments. Literature, are like music, without interaction with its audiences, no profound meaning would be

    Read More

  • The Woman Question: The Oppressed Other Half

    1687 Words  | 4 Pages

    Evelyn Cunningham once said, “Women are the only oppressed group in our society that lives in intimate association with their oppressors.” For thousands of years women have been oppressed, not in the bondage of slavery but in the bondage that comes from a lack of education and a dependence on men for their livelihood. Women have been subjected to scrutiny and ostracization, belittling and disparaging comments, and even at times they have been feared by men. Women themselves have even taken on the beliefs that they require a man in their life to be taken care of and have a satisfying life although some women and even some men have seen that the differences between the sexes is purely physical. This oppression, as well as the enlightenment of some, is well noted in many literary works. Literature has often been an arena for the examination of the “woman question,” as it was termed in the Victorian age. Four works that examine the role or view of women in society are John Stuart Mill’s The Subjection of Women, T.S. Eliot’s “Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock,” Virginia Woolf’s A Room of One’s Own, and Carol Ann Duffy’s “Medusa.” Although each work examines a side of the woman question in its own way with a variety of views on the question, all of the works examine the fear that women incite in men, the idea that women are dependent on men, and the idea that women are separate from men in some way and each piece works to show that there is actually an interdependence between men and women that is often not expressed.

    Read More

  • Women's Issues in The Awakening by Kate Chopin, The Yellow Wallpaper by Charlotte Perkins Gilman, and Souls Belated by Edith Wharton

    1014 Words  | 3 Pages

    These women authors have served as an eye-opener for the readers, both men and women alike, in the past, and hopefully still in the present. (There are still cultures in the world today, where women are treated as unfairly as women were treated in the prior centuries). These women authors have impacted a male dominated society into reflecting on of the unfairness imposed upon women. Through their writings, each of these women authors who existed during that masochistic Victorian era, risked criticism and retribution. Each author ignored convention a...

    Read More

  • Psychoanalytic Theory in MacBeth

    921 Words  | 2 Pages

    Psychoanalytic Theory itself has, what seems to be, two contradictory halves: Freudian psychoanalysis and Lacanian psychoanalysis. The first half focuses solely on the author and the unconscious mind; the second considers the unconscious, but prefers to concentrate on outside influences by deconstructing the text itself. According to Freud, interpretation is achieved by examining conflicts and symbols, such as Freudian slips and dream images. These outlets are help to determine whether an individual’s external behavior coincides (or conflicts) with their internal emotion. Freud placed emphasis on sexuality and the Oedipus complex, which is the idea of repressed sexual feelings toward a parent of opposite sex. He also defined three levels of the subconscious mind: the ego, the super-ego, and the id. Barry explains that the stages align with “the consciousness, the conscience, and the unconscious” respectively (93). On the other hand, Lacan, a follower of Freud, concentrated on the relationship between an author and his or her work. He claimed the two were inexorably connected, that objectivity is nonexistent. In an essence: an author’s personality is used to interpret the text and, in contrast, the text is used to gain insight about the author. Regardless of the emphasis, psychoanalytic criticism engages an

    Read More

  • Essay On Historical Criticism

    1564 Words  | 4 Pages

    Literary criticism is used as a guideline to help analyze, deconstruct, interpret, or even evaluate literary works. Each type of criticism offers its own methods that help the reader to delve deeper into the text, revealing all of its innermost features. New Criticism portrays how a work is unified, Reader-Response Criticism establishes how the reader reacts to a work, Deconstructive Criticism demonstrates how a work falls apart, Historical Criticism illustrates how the history of the author and the author’s time period influence a text, and last of all, Psychological Criticism expresses how unconscious motivations drive the author in the creation of their work as well as how the reader’s motivations influence their own interpretation of the text (Lynn 139, 191). This creates a deep level of understanding of literature that simply cannot be gained through surface level reading. If not one criticism is beneficial to the reader, then taking all criticisms or a mixture of specific criticisms into consideration might be the best way to approach literary

    Read More

More about Psychoanalytical and Feminist approaches to D. H. Lawrence's Sons and Lovers

Open Document