“[T]he utility in diverse theories in interpretation does not imply the simultaneous truth of all the claims in the theoretical inventory” states Roland Garrett in a concluding statement discussing how more than one theory must be used to interpret fully a single work of text (Garrett 124). James Joyce’s short story “The Dead” is used to portray this statement in Garrett’s article “Six Theories in the Bedroom of The Dead.” As noted by the title of the article, Garrett analyzes James Joyce’s story using more than one literary theory and a “general reflection” at the end to recap his work (Garrett 123). Garrett takes time to point out why each theory can and cannot work for “The Dead” using historical and textual evidence to support his claims. The theories in question are: deconstruction, structuralism, feminism, Marxism, and psychoanalysis.
The author uses theories that differ widely from one another. However, Garrett explains that each theory needs the other to elaborate why it works or does not work for the story in question. The author summarizes his work in one sentence, “The structuralist can quote from Joyce’s biography, the Marxist may draw insights from psychoanalysis, [and] the feminist could study the impact of incompleteness of meaning on the status of women” (Garrett 125). Garrett explains that literary theories are dependent on context, biographical and historical, and other theories to remain coherent to the reader; however, the article would benefit from more information on psychoanalysis with a further explanation on the importance of background context and a more accurate title for better understanding.
The explanation in Garrett's article about psychoanalysis is true; though, it would have been helpful if ...
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...ould have also added more to the section regarding psychoanalysis, which would help the reader to understand the mind of the character(s). The author also would have benefited from a more in depth look into the importance of background information and historical context. Information regarding the past helps to contextualize the story, aiding the reader in a deeper understanding of the text. Lastly, a change or modification of the title would make for a better understanding for the potential reader and may even allow for more readers to read the entire work.
Work Cited
James, Joyce. “The Dead.” Reading and Writing about Literature. Ed. Philip Sipioria. Upper Saddle River, New Jersey: Pearson Education, 2002. 297-322. Print.
Garrett, Roland. “Six Theories in the Bedroom of The Dead.” Philosophy and Literature.16 (1992): 115-127. ProjectMUSE. Web. 04 February 2012.
"One day he caught a fish, a beautiful big big fish, and the man in the hotel boiled it for their dinner" (p.191). Little did Mrs. Malins know that those words issued from her feeble old lips so poignantly described the insensibility of the characters in James Joyce's The Dead toward their barren lives. The people portrayed in this novelette represented a wealthy Irish class in the early twentieth century, gathered at the house of the Morkan sisters for an annual tradition of feast and dance. Although all of the personages had, at one point, a potential for a beautiful life, sad memories of the past and the despair that invaded Ireland had eventually boiled all true senses and desires into a dull stew, destined to rot. Of particular interest is Gabriel Conroy, whom Joyce singularly bestowed a gift of introspection, though that did not save him from becoming yet another of the living dead.
White, W.A. & Jelliffe, S. E. (1922) The Psychoanalytic review. The psychoanalytical review, National psychological association for psychoanalysis (9) pp. 282.
Brizee, Allen, et al. “Psychoanalytic Criticism (1930s-present).” Owl Purdue Online Writing Lab, Owl Purdue, 1995, owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/722/04/. Accessed 6 Oct. 2017.
James Joyce is considered one of the most popular authors of the Modernist time period because of his short story The Dead. The Dead takes place in Scotland during the feast of Epiphany on January 6. At the party the Kate and Julia Morkan eagerly await Gabriel Conroy, their favorite nephew and his wife Gretta to arrive. Gabriel is a well educated Scottish man who is isolated threw out the party by the situations he encounters. Joyce uses situations snd key points like his education and encounters between characters to show how isolated he has and is becoming from the rest of his friends threw out the party. Although, Gabriel doesn't realize his isolation between himself and rest, it is clear to the reader that he is being alienated from society.
Westen, D. (1998). The scientific legacy of Sigmund Freud: toward a psychodynamically informed psychological science. Psychological Bulletin, 124(3), 333.
Essay 2 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.
James Joyce, “The Dead” 1914 takes place during the feast of Epiphany on January 6. At the party Kate and Julia Morkan eagerly await Gabriel Conroy, their favorite nephew and his wife Gretta. Gabriel is a well educated man who is isolated throughout the party by the situations he encounters. Joyce uses situations and key points, for example, his education and encounters between characters to show how isolated he has and is becoming from the rest of society throughout the celebration. Although, Gabriel doesn 't realize his isolation between himself and the rest, it is clear to the reader that he is being alienated from society. Gabriel’s alienation is revealed and demonstrated throughout story by three main women characters. Overall, he is unable
1 Joyce, James : The Dead , Norton Anthology of English Literature Vol.2, sixth edition
Morrissey, L.J. "Inner And Outer Perceptions In Joyce's 'The Dead'." Studies In Short Fiction 25.1 (1988): 21. MasterFILE Complete. Web. 16 Apr. 2014. http://catalog.cumberlandcountylibraries.org:61080/ebsco-w-b/ehost/pdfviewer/pdfviewer?sid=7693b223-8004-4e94-90d1
Sigmund Freud created strong theories in science and medicine that are still studied today. Freud was a neurologist who proposed many distinctive theories in psychiatry, all based upon the method of psychoanalysis. Some of his key concepts include the ego/superego/id, free association, trauma/fantasy, dream interpretation, and jokes and the unconscious. “Freud remained a determinist throughout his life, believing that all vital phenomena, including psychological phenomena like thoughts, feelings and phantasies, are rigidly determined by the principle of cause and effect” (Storr, 1989, p. 2). Through the discussion of those central concepts, Freud’s theory of psychoanalysis becomes clear as to how he construed human character.
Barry, Peter. "Psychoanalytic criticism." Beginning Theory: an Introduction to Literary and Cultural Theory. 3rd ed. Manchester: Manchester UP, 2009. 92-115. Print.
Allen, Woody. Death Knocks. 1968. Approaching Literature: Reading + Thinking + Writing. 3rd ed. Ed. Peter Shakel and Jack Ridl. Boston: Bedford/St. Martin’s, 2011. 1066-1072. Print.
Psychoanalytic criticism is a term used to describe how and why a person behaves. There are two different types of psychoanalytic criticisms which were developed by Freud and Jung. Freud’s archetypes are the most common in “The Tell Tale Heart.” Freud’s archetypes are displayed throughout “The Tell Tale Heart” by how the narrator shows Id, which is the most dominant, as he kills the old man, Superego, as he shows remorse, and planning to kill displaying Ego.
The aim of this essay is to clarify the basic principles of Freud’s theories and to raise the main issues.
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