Essay Psychoanalytic Criticism - 1137 Words

Psychoanalytic Criticism Introduction The psychoanalyst Sigmund Freud spent much of his life exploring the workings of the unconscious. Freuds work has influenced society in ways which we take for granted. When we speak of Freudian slips or look for hidden causes behind irrational behavior, we are using aspects of Freudian analysis. Many literary critics have also adopted Freuds various theories and methods. In order to define Freudian literary criticism, we will examine how various critics approach Freuds work. We will pay special attention to issues of creativity , author psychology , and psycho-biography . Creativity and neurosis Many of us may be familiar with the notion that creativity is intertwined with†¦show more content†¦Elaborating on this opinion, some critics have wondered to what extent the creative process springs only from those thoughts in the unconscious which result from neurosis. The critic Edmund Wilson has addressed this question in his book The Wound and the Bow. Wilson discusses creativity and neurosis in terms of the playwright Sophocles, and the writers Andr Gide and John Jay Chapman, and the attention paid by all three to the tale of the Greek warrior Philoctetes. The tale is about the nobility of those who suffer on the outskirts of society, and about a society which at the same time needs and rejects these outcasts. Wilson proposes the idea that genius and disease, like strength and mutilation, may be inextricably bound up together (289). Wilson notes that these three writers who have shown interest in the noble and suffering Philoctetes themselves all suffered from a type o f neurosis (289, 293). Author psychology As Wilsons comments suggest, the question of creativity can lead us to focus on the psychology of the author. Such a focus might suggest that a text helps to explain the life and concerns of an author and vice versa. For example, Edmund Wilson argues that Sophocles wrote the play Philoctetes because he identified with the character. Both Sophocles and Philoctetes experienced madness, WilsonShow MoreRelatedPsychoanalytic Criticism on Emily Dickinson Essay1086 Words   |  5 PagesPsychological criticism is known as the type of criticism that analyses the writer’s work within the realms of Freud’s psychological theories. Such approach can be used when trying to reconstruct an author’s position throughout their literary writings, as well as understanding whom the author was and how their mind created such works. When considering the work of Emily Dickinson, psychoanalytic criticism comes into play with the role of explaining the many meanings behind her poetry, as to make theRead MoreEssay about Psychoanalytic Literary Criticism2493 Words   |  10 Pagesauthor of the story is protruding their own subconscious thoughts and beliefs through their characters? 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