Psychological Criticism “the artist is the leader of mankind on the road to absolute truth” -Alfred Adler

Psychological criticism is inspired by Sigmund Freud and his notion of the unconscious Actions are not random, but they are guided by hidden motivations (repression)

Key ideas for Psychological Criticism Areas of consciousness Id (desire) - guided by the pleasure principle Ego (safety) - mediates between id and superego - sends taboo desires to the unconscious Superego (morals) - learned sense of right and wrong

Key Ideas Oedipus complex The first repressed desire

Other Key Terms Isolation – absence of expected response ignoring your emotions Sublimation – channeling unacceptable desires to art or fantasy Displacement – substituting another object to focus one’s emotion on

Other Key Terms Denial – not acknowledging the existence of something Projection – put your own desires on something/someone else Reversal – assert opposite of the truth

Assumptions a Psychoanalytic Critic Makes Creative writing (like dreaming) represents the (disguised) fulfillment of a (repressed) wish or fear. Everyone’s formative history is different, but there are patterns and these patterns have lasting effects. In reading literature, we can make educated guesses as to what has been repressed or transformed.

Strategies for the Psychoanalytic Critic Attempt to apply development concept to the work. Relate the event to psychologically significant events in the author’s or character’s life. Consider how repressed material may be expressed in the work’s imagery or symbols.