Psychoanalytic Criticism (1930s-present)
Summary: This resource will help you begin the process of understanding literary theory and schools of criticism and how they are used in the academy.
Contributors:Allen Brizee, J. Case Tompkins--OWL Purdue University
Last Edited: 2010-04-21 08:25:10
Last Edited: 2010-04-21 08:25:10
Sigmund Freud
Psychoanalytic criticism builds on Freudian theories of psychology. While we don't have the room here to discuss all of Freud's work, a general overview is necessary to explain psychoanalytic literary criticism.
The Unconscious, the Desires, and the Defenses
Freud began his psychoanalytic work in the 1880s while attempting to treat behavioral disorders in his Viennese patients. He dubbed the disorders 'hysteria' and began treating them by listening to his patients talk through their problems. Based on this work, Freud asserted that people's behavior is affected by their unconscious: "...the notion that human beings are motivated, even driven, by desires, fears, needs, and conflicts of which they are unaware..." (Tyson 14-15).
Freud believed that our unconscious was influenced by childhood events. Freud organized these events into developmental stages involving relationships with parents and drives of desire and pleasure where children focus "...on different parts of the body...starting with the mouth...shifting to the oral, anal, and phallic phases..." (Richter 1015). These stages reflect base levels of desire, but they also involve fear of loss (loss of genitals, loss of affection from parents, loss of life) and repression: "...the expunging from consciousness of these unhappy psychological events" (Tyson 15).
Tyson reminds us, however, that "...repression doesn't eliminate our painful experiences and emotions...we unconsciously behave in ways that will allow us to 'play out'...our conflicted feelings about the painful experiences and emotions we repress" (15). To keep all of this conflict buried in our unconscious, Freud argued that we develop defenses: selective perception, selective memory, denial, displacement, projection, regression, fear of intimacy, and fear of death, among others.
Id, Ego, and Superego
Freud maintained that our desires and our unconscious conflicts give rise to three areas of the mind that wrestle for dominance as we grow from infancy, to childhood, to adulthood:
- id - "...the location of the drives" or libido
- ego - "...one of the major defenses against the power of the drives..." and home of the defenses listed above
- superego - the area of the unconscious that houses judgement (of self and others) and "...which begins to form during childhood as a result of the Oedipus complex" (Richter 1015-1016)
Oedipus Complex
Freud believed that the Oedipus complex was "...one of the most powerfully determinative elements in the growth of the child" (Richter 1016). Essentially, the Oedipus complex involves children's need for their parents and the conflict that arises as children mature and realize they are not the absolute focus of their mother's attention: "the Oedipus complex begins in a late phase of infantile sexuality, between the child's third and sixth year, and it takes a different form in males than it does in females" (Richter 1016).
Freud argued that both boys and girls wish to possess their mothers, but as they grow older "...they begin to sense that their claim to exclusive attention is thwarted by the mother's attention to the father..." (1016). Children, Freud maintained, connect this conflict of attention to the intimate relations between mother and father, relations from which the children are excluded. Freud believed that "the result is a murderous rage against the father...and a desire to possess the mother" (1016).
Freud pointed out, however, that "...the Oedipus complex differs in boys and girls...the functioning of the related castration complex" (1016). In short, Freud thought that "...during the Oedipal rivalry [between boys and their fathers], boys fantasized that punishment for their rage will take the form of..." castration (1016). When boys effectively work through this anxiety, Freud argued, "...the boy learns to identify with the father in the hope of someday possessing a woman like his mother. In girls, the castration complex does not take the form of anxiety...the result is a frustrated rage in which the girl shifts her sexual desire from the mother to the father" (1016).
Freud believed that eventually, the girl's spurned advanced toward the father give way to a desire to possess a man like her father later in life. Freud believed that the impact of the unconscious, id, ego, superego, the defenses, and the Oedipus complexes was inescapable and that these elements of the mind influence all our behavior (and even our dreams) as adults - of course this behavior involves what we write.
Freud and Literature
So what does all of this psychological business have to do with literature and the study of literature? Put simply, some critics believe that we can "...read psychoanalytically...to see which concepts are operating in the text in such a way as to enrich our understanding of the work and, if we plan to write a paper about it, to yield a meaningful, coherent psychoanalytic interpretation" (Tyson 29). Tyson provides some insightful and applicable questions to help guide our understanding of psychoanalytic criticism.
Typical questions:
- How do the operations of repression structure or inform the work?
- Are there any oedipal dynamics - or any other family dynamics - are work here?
- How can characters' behavior, narrative events, and/or images be explained in terms of psychoanalytic concepts of any kind (for example...fear or fascination with death, sexuality - which includes love and romance as well as sexual behavior - as a primary indicator of psychological identity or the operations of ego-id-superego)?
- What does the work suggest about the psychological being of its author?
- What might a given interpretation of a literary work suggest about the psychological motives of the reader?
- Are there prominent words in the piece that could have different or hidden meanings? Could there be a subconscious reason for the author using these "problem words"?
Here is a list of scholars we encourage you to explore to further your understanding of this theory:
- Harold Bloom - A Theory of Poetry, 1973; Poetry and Repression: Revisionism from Blake to Stevens, 1976
- Peter Brooks
- Jacque Lacan - The Ego in Freud's Theory and in the Technique of Psychoanalysis, 1988; "The Agency of the Letter in the Unconscious or Reason Since Freud" (from Écrits: A Selection, 1957)
- Jane Gallop - Reading Lacan, 1985
- Julia Kristeva - Revolution in Poetic Language, 1984
- Marshall Alcorn - Changing the Subject in English Class: Discourse and the Constructions of Desire, 2002
Carl Jung
Jungian criticism attempts to explore the connection between literature and what Carl Jung (a student of Freud) called the “collective unconscious” of the human race: "...racial memory, through which the spirit of the whole human species manifests itself" (Richter 504). Jungian criticism, closely related to Freudian theory because of its connection to psychoanalysis, assumes that all stories and symbols are based on mythic models from mankind’s past.
Based on these commonalities, Jung developed archetypal myths, the Syzygy: "...a quaternion composing a whole, the unified self of which people are in search" (Richter 505). These archetypes are the Shadow, the Anima, the Animus, and the Spirit: "...beneath...[the Shadow] is the Anima, the feminine side of the male Self, and the Animus, the corresponding masculine side of the female Self" (Richter 505).
In literary analysis, a Jungian critic would look for archetypes (also see the discussion of Northrop Frye in the Structuralism section) in creative works: "Jungian criticism is generally involved with a search for the embodiment of these symbols within particular works of art." (Richter 505). When dealing with this sort of criticism, it is often useful to keep and handbook of mythology and a dictionary of symbols on hand.
Typical questions:
- What connections can we make between elements of the text and the archetypes? (Mask, Shadow, Anima, Animus)
- How do the characters in the text mirror the archetypal figures? (Great Mother or nurturing Mother, Whore, destroying Crone, Lover, Destroying Angel)
- How does the text mirror the archetypal narrative patterns? (Quest, Night-Sea-Journey)
- How symbolic is the imagery in the work?
- How does the protagonist reflect the hero of myth?
- Does the “hero” embark on a journey in either a physical or spiritual sense?
- Is there a journey to an underworld or land of the dead?
- What trials or ordeals does the protagonist face? What is the reward for overcoming them?
Here is a list of scholars we encourage you to explore to further your understanding of this theory:
- Maud Bodkin - Archetypal Patterns in Poetry, 1934
- Carl Jung - The Archetypes and the Collective Unconscious. Vol. 9, Part 1 of Collected Works. 2nd ed. Trans. R.F.C. Hull, 1968
- Bettina Knapp - Music, Archetype and the Writer: A Jungian View, 1988
- Ricahrd Sugg - Jungian Literary Criticism, 1993
Portraying Stephen’s attachment to his mother, Joyce employs light imagery around the women he loves. When he is around his mother, and especially at Christmas, he always describes, “a great fire, banked high and red” (Joyce 23,25) that flames in the grate. Even at his first mention of her, he says she sits “at the fire with Dante” (Joyce 9) and releases a “lovely warm smell” (Joyce 9). Giving off light, the fire also provides warmth, something Stephen and all young boys feel around their mothers. According to Freud, men will choose a wife that reminds them of their mothers because of the influence of the unconscious on their desires. Freud’s philosophy aligns with Stephen when he meets Eileen. With hair “gold in the sun” (Joyce 37), Eileen steals young Stephen’s heart. Just as fire gives off warmth around his mother, Eileen gives warmth like that of the sun. Later, Stephen meets the woman modeled after Joyce’s wife Nora. When he first meets her, “his cheeks were aflame” (Joyce 150). After their meeting, when he thinks about her at home, he describes “a breaking light…in full crimson” (Joyce 151) just like the red of the fire with his mother. By characterizing all of Stephen’s loves as warm and bright, Joyce aligns them with Stephen’s mother and Freud’s philosophy.
ReplyDeleteAt the start of Joyce’s novel, Stephen’s decisions are irrational and based on a drive that he is not able to control. Stephen went against what the authority figures wished him to do and rebelled spending time with prostitutes and other profound individuals. Freud’s theory of psychoanalysis can prove that Stephen was driven to rebel against his family and his authority figures due to an irrational drive. The story itself portrays the three areas that the brain is stuck between, the id, ego and superego. The id, is when he opposes authority before his retreat and realizes the mistakes he is making. His irrational thinking and need to quench his desires takes over. He then transforms into the superego, aiming for perfection as he devotes his life towards God and the correct path. After discovering his middle ground, he finally acts like the ego, a combination between the irrational id and the rational, perfect superego. Giving up satisfying his desires with prostitutes but also no devoting his life to God and attempting to be perfect led to the conclusion of the novel. Stephen needed to go through both the id and superego to find his normal ego.
ReplyDeleteIn "A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man," the readers know Stephen Dedalus to be a antisocial person who cannot express his feelings very well. From being by himself frequently, he is able to think a lot about anything. Therefore, readers are able to see what the other characters in the novel could not about Stephen, especially his desires and daydreams. Freud believed that childhood events influenced the unconscious, and how "repression does not eliminate our painful experiences and emotion." This explains Stephen's thoughts about "going home for the holidays..hurray" and his childhood flashbacks (Joyce 17). As for repression, throughout the novel Stephen was repressing his feelings for Emma, but it did not work because he still thought about her. Ultimately he begins to think of her as a cause of his sin, which Freud would note a defense against how he really felt about her. In the end, his thoughts about Emma are "had he judged her too harshly" (Joyce 191). He also gains a new thought about the idea of happiness and freedom. Therefore, through the unconscious, thoughts of desire, and defense, he finally 'gets over Emma' while trying to find himself.
ReplyDeleteLike pin2wincj stated above, In “A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man” Stephen experiences not only the id and ego, but also the superego. However; I do not believe they fall as sequentially as CJ states. At the beginning of the novel, Stephen’s id causes him to act irrationally and rebel. This is demonstrated by his misbehaving, his acts with the prostitute, and culminating to his ultimate confession on page 125. After this, his ego suppressed his id and he becomes a model of perfection, but his desires still exist subconsciously. If they did not, he would not have ultimately rejected the call to priesthood. But when he retracts from the religious institution after that, it is not the id working, or even the ego on its way to finding a medium, but actually the logical superego. In Helene Cixous’ criticism, “The Artist and The Law” she states that this time (as opposed to his initial rebellion) Stephen “accepts the law in order to transgress it.” He knows what he is doing, and he knows it is considered “wrong.” It is by no means primitive like the id would have demonstrated. His superego is ultimately leads him on the path to self-improvement, and ultimately his identity as the artist.
ReplyDeleteSigmund Freud created a whole new way to look at psychology and the psychology behind decision making. Sigmund Freud introduced the ego, the id, and the superego. The ‘id” is what tells someone to do something morally wrong, the “superego” tells someone to do what it morally right, and the “ego” is somewhere in between. Throughout “A Portrait of an Artist as a Young Man” Stephen, the protagonist, battles with these three aspects of his conscious. Stephen listens to the id when he commits all of his various sins such as lust, vanity, gluttony, and sloth. He listens to his superego when he begins feeling all of the guilt he has for creating all of these sins. Stephen knows he has to compromise and this is where the ego comes in when Stephen decides to “tell all his sins” (Joyce, 125). This compromises the id and the superego. Stephen commits all of his sins due to the id but his superego makes him feel guilty for all of it. By confessing all of his sins he regrets what the id made him do and relieves himself from the guilt he felt. The ego is causes Stephen to make his final decision to confess his sins and remove the sins from his soul.
ReplyDeleteUsing Freud’s ideas of psychoanalysis, Stephen’s behavior becomes quite predictable and easy to interpret and understand. As Descartes stated earlier, Stephen is deeply affected by women, especially his mother, as shown by the light imagery that occurs whenever Stephen is home or thinking about love interests such as Eileen. As described in the Oedipus Complex, growing up Stephen, like all children do, crave and thrive off of the attention of their parents. Stephen when being dropped off at school at the beginning of the novel is extremely close to his mother, evident in her advice to “not speak with the rough boys in the college”, as Stephen acknowledges her as a “nice mother” (Joyce 7). Over time, Stephen eventually resents his father, also an integral part of the Oedipus Complex. The hostility between Stephen and his father escalates to the point where he describes Stephen to his sister as a “lazy bitch” (Joyce 152). According to Freud’s psychoanalytic ideas, Stephen develops the hostility towards his father due to the fact that he seeks the same attention from his mother he received as a child, which is now most likely directed towards his father. The source of Stephen’s desire to restore his relationship with his mother is most likely attributed to his mother’s negative opinion of Stephen attending University, a lack of approval once given to Stephen which he must seek again as he matures.
ReplyDeleteWhen Sigmund Freud created the psychoanalysis of the mind, he brought awareness to the subconscious. From James Joyce’s novel “A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man”, protagonist Stephen Dedalus is criticized to be unconsciously obsessed with homosexuality. While Joyce denounces women, he allows freely Stephen to rummage homoerotic thoughts within his mind. First exposed from the “smuggling” incident, Stephen expresses his impression of “how big Corrigan looked in the bath,” (47) and other descriptions to defend how he would not be flogged harshly by Mr. Gleeson. In addition to the memorization of how a boy looked naked in the bath, Stephen also describes and incident with Simon showing him “a ball of creamy sweets” and other such descriptions that could hold a different connotation. Although Stephen grew up in a Catholic society, where homosexuality is condemned, he constantly is obsessed with such thoughts. Perhaps unaware for his acute mind for detail and description, Stephen goes on with his life never approaching the topic. Freud deems the subconscious as a desire that may be caused by childhood events. The reader does not know of Stephen’s past. However we can assume that his comatose desire could be just another part of him that sets him apart from the caging society he lives in. As an artist, he is prone to his own ideas, where consciously or subconsciously.
ReplyDelete