A Psychoanalytic Reading of Hedda Gabler Attempting a psychoanalytic reading of a given text is a bit like attempting to understand a city by examining its sewer system: helpful, yet limited. There are several reasons for using psychoanalysis as a critical literary theory; the critic might be interested in gleaning some sort of subconscious authorial intent, approaching the text as a "cathartic documentation" (my own term) of the author's psyche; the method might be useful in judging whether characters
A Psychoanalytic Reading of Huckleberry Finn Psychoanalytic conditions, stages and symptoms pervade the seemingly simplistic narration of a child-narrator, Huck Finn. Such Freudian psychoanalytic ideas as "Thanatos," "repressed desires" and how they seek their way back through dream work, through "parapraxis," can all find examples in this fiction. Besides, Lacanian concept of the unconscious as the "nucleus of our being," as "an orderly network," as well as his famous theory the "mirror stage"
This integrative approach focuses mainly on four approaches: psychoanalytic, Adlerian, cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT), and the postmodern approaches. The main focus is on CBT and how psychoanalytic, Adlerian and the postmodern approaches build on this integrative approach. In this integrative approach, the problem at hand is a client dealing with depression. I chose CBT as the main approach because the cognitive thought pattern is an important key for a client and CBT can branch out to other
An Integrative Approach This integrative approach focuses mainly on four approaches: psychoanalytic, Adlerian, cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT), and the postmodern approaches. The main focus is on CBT and how psychoanalytic, Adlerian and the postmodern approaches build on this integrative approach. In this integrative approach, the problem at hand is a client dealing with depression. I chose CBT as the main approach because the cognitive thought pattern is an important key for a client and CBT
impact our lives and how we view the world. In William Faulkner’s “A Rose for Emily”, Emily, the main character would be a great example for Freud’s psychoanalytic theory; the theory refers to the definition of personality organization and the dynamics of personality development that guide the psychoanalytic. One of the basic tenets of psychoanalytic is human attitude, mannerism, experience, and thought which is largely influenced by irrational drives. Emily was in love with her father, she used her
Heart of Darkness: Psychoanalytic Criticism Psychoanalytic criticism originated in the work of Austrian psychoanalyst Sigmund Freud, who pioneered the technique of psychoanalysis. Freud developed a language that described, a model that explained, and a theory that encompassed human psychology. His theories are directly and indirectly concerned with the nature of the unconscious mind. Through his multiple case studies, Freud managed to find convincing evidence that most of our actions are motivated
Psychoanalytic Criticism of My Antonia Abstract: This essay uses psychoanalysis as the strategy of interpretation to read Willa Cather's My Antonia. Freud's well-known theory--the Oedipus complex--and Lacan's theory of the Mirror Stage are used as the modes of approaching the novel. I use psychoanalytic criticism as a means of interpreting Willa Cather's My Antonia because I find some similarities between My Antonia and Peter Pan, between that and The Awakening when reading Keith Green's
psychoanalytical view on child development showed how early childhood experie... ... middle of paper ... ...Word count 2204 References : Bower, M. (2006). Psychoanalytic Theory for Social Work. New York : Routledge. Bowlby, J. (2005). A Secure Base. London and New York: Routledge Classics. Brazelton, B. & Cramer, B. (1990). The Earliest Relationship. Reading, Mass. : Addison-Wesley. Cunningham, B. (1993). Child Development. New York: Harper Collins Publishers. Miller, L.( ed) (1989). Closely Observed
like the idea of losing the innocence. Salinger throws in a plethora of symbols waiting to be deciphered by the reader, such as Caulfield's red cap. To grasp a deeper understanding of the book, Sigmund Freud’s psychoanalytic theory must be understood as well. By applying Freud's psychoanalytic theory, Holden Caulfield can be viewed in a whole different
feel because they have been saved from the primitive and cruel outside world where women are being raped and maltreated. Other things they learn are numerous sayings and mottos of the Red-centre like "Pen is Envy" which is based on a Freudian psychoanalytic theory which presents "penis envy" as an essential element of femininity, and a mark of "woman's natural inferiority to men". So knowing this, are they actually better of in Gilead? There they are "valued only in terms of their biological
One factor that a reader may have trouble with when reading the book is understanding whether the apparitions that the governess sees and indeed ghosts or just figments of her imagination. It is an ambiguous plot within the story and the choice of them being real or not will eventually come down to reader and their interpretation of the story. From the beginning of the novella it is easy for the reader to have faith in the governess. There is no reason why we should not believe and her convictions
Ethics of Psychoanalysis - Lacan’s Antigone and the Ethics of Interpretation My paper examines Lacan’s reading of the Antigone as an allegory of our own textual and ethical obligations as readers and critics. This paper addresses both the ethics and the aesthetics of our encounter with the text. In 1959, Lacan presented Sophocles’ Antigone as a model of pure desire for his seminar on The Ethics of Psychoanalysis: Antigone presents herself as autonomos, the pure and simple relationship
If one wants to truly understand the psychological implications of William Shakespeare’s Hamlet, the primary focus should be on the character Hamlet, and how he develops and modifies throughout the play. Using the fundamentals of the psychoanalytic perspective of critical evaluation, one would be able to truly identify and explore the true nature of Hamlet, and the effects that his character has on the situation surrounding him. In order to gain a true understanding of most of the detail that is
surfaced during adulthood. Ideas about the subconscious, which saw the human mind as being in continuous internal conflict with itself, and theories that all actions are symbolic, for “there are no accidents”, were also major themes of the psychoanalytic approach. Successful therapy was a long-term and costly process, which most people during that time, with the exception of the wealthy, could not afford. Sigmund Freud’s main contribution to this new field of studying personality was in the
Lacanian Psychoanalytic Criticism in Harry Potter The inhabitants of a faraway country known for its ivory towers and for its export of literary monographs were forever quarreling over who might best represent them. One day two tiny factions decided to join forces: the adherents of the Princess Childlit and the followers of Prince Psychian, the great-great-grandson of Empress Psyche. Both groups had for a long time felt themselves unduly spurned… by the powerful Board of Canonizers who had
conditioned himself or herself to feel this way when a certain action is performed, and since this reaction has been present for years, they will continue to do so. In conclusion, Beyond the Pleasure Principle covers much ground on Sigmund Freud’s psychoanalytic theories. The pleasure principle is the idea that humanity possesses an instinctual drive toward experiencing pleasure and shielding itself from pain. Traumatic neuroses are primarily caused by surprise or fright, and could keep reappearing in
Oedipal Sam: A Psychoanalytic View of “The Sheriff’s Children” Charles Chesnutt’s “The Sheriff’s Children” deals with the subject of race and pedigree in the city of Troy, North Carolina. In Troy, time has almost come to a stand-still as its citizens lament and remember the end of the Civil War. Life becomes more interesting, however, when an old Confederate army captain is murdered. The first time this has happened in well over ten years, the citizens are in a state of shock until the murderer
Lacan’s “The Agency of the Letter in the Unconscious or Reason since Freud.” In this text, 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 explains that one facet of the symbolic stage consists of the concept of the “Other,” a... ... middle of paper ... ... constraints governing women” (79). Furthermore, Lady Macbeth’s
written to fit the psychoanalytic model, as the theories of Freud were not developed for centuries after Shakespeare. Shakespeare wrote to Renaissance England, a culture so heavily steeped in Christianity, that it would have blushed at the instinctual and sexual thrust of Freud’s theory. However, in order to keep literature alive and relevant, a culture must continually reinterpret the themes and ideas of past works. While contextual readings assure cultural precision, often these readings guarantee the
A Psychoanalytic Analysis of Pretty Woman In the introduction to his book, The Sublime Object of Ideology, Slavoj Zizek acquaints readers with his book’s tripartite aim. He plans, among other things, to illustrate concepts fundamental to Lacanian psychoanalysis – an intention which will serve to further his more ambitious goal “to reactualize Hegelian dialectics by giving it a new reading” in the light of Lacanian psychoanalysis – and “to contribute to the theory of ideology via a new reading