1 Literary Criticism Exploring literature beneath the surface

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“A very basic way of thinking about literary theory is that these ideas act as different lenses critics use to view and talk about art, literature, and even culture. These different lenses allow critics to consider works of art based on certain assumptions within that school of theory. The different lenses also allow critics to focus on particular aspects of a work they consider important.” Purdue Online Writing Lab

Psychoanalytic criticism is a form of literary criticism which uses some of the techniques of psychoanalysis in the interpretation of literature.  Psychoanalysis is a form of therapy which aims to cure mental disorders by investigating the interaction of conscious and unconscious elements in the mind. 4

They give central importance, in literary interpretation, to the distinction between the conscious and the unconscious mind, privileging the “covert” (unconscious) content as what a work is really about.  Pay close attention to the unconscious motives and feelings and determine if they are those of the author or those of the character depicted in the work. 5

1. How do the operations of repression structure or inform the work? 2. Are there any Oedipal (child realizes he is not center of mother’s attention and desires to kill father) dynamics - or any other family dynamics - at work here? 3. What does the work suggest about the psychological being of its characters or author? 6

Using Hamlet as an example:  Hamlet, knowing that his uncle murdered his father and is now married to his mother, decides to murder his uncle. Yet, he takes the entire play, debating if it is the right choice, to do so. Why? His own unconscious thoughts/desires are a form of repression that prevents him from taking revenge on his uncle. 7

The Oedipal dynamic that Hamlet faces is that he unconsciously desires his mother (which Freud says all sons unconsciously do); when he learns that his uncle killed his father, Hamlet knows that in trying to attain the love of his mother, he would have done the same thing. He is conflicted about murdering his uncle because he unconsciously knows he wanted to commit the same crime his uncle did. 8

Freud noted that Shakespeare wrote Hamlet shortly after the death of his father (explaining the guilt Hamlet shows in avenging his own father). Also, Shakespeare’s son Hamnet, died shortly before the play was written, again bringing up in Shakespeare’s mind the complex relationship between sons and fathers. 9

Feminist criticism is concerned with "...the ways in which literature (and other cultural productions) reinforce or undermine the economic, political, social, and psychological oppression of women" (Tyson). 10

How do men and women differ? What is different about female heroines, and why are these characters important in literary history? In addition to many of the questions raised by a study of women in literature, feminist criticism may study stereotypes, creativity, ideology, racial issues, marginality, and more. 11

Using Macbeth as an example:  Macbeth is the public role of head of the household; he is the one in charge. Lady Macbeth retains a more submissive role in public. In private, Macbeth’s role is often submissive to Lady Macbeth’s. In private, she is often in charge.  Lady Macbeth challenges typical female roles (in her “unsex me here” lines), showing that male/female roles do exist, and she is going against them. This reversal makes her in some cases, more powerful or influential than her husband. 12

1. What are the power relationships between men and women (or characters assuming male/female roles)? 2. How are male and female roles defined? 3. How do characters embody these traits? 4. Do characters take on traits from opposite genders? How so? How does this change others’ reactions to them? 13

Marxism is a materialist philosophy: that is, it tries to explain things without assuming the existence of a world beyond the natural world around us, and the society we live in. Main tenet: the nature of literature is influenced by the social and political circumstances in which it is produced.

They make a division between the “overt” (manifest or surface) and “covert” (latent or hidden) content of a work and then relate the covert subject matter of the literary work to basic Marxist themes, such as class struggle, or the progression of society through various historical stages, such as, the transformation from feudalism to industrial capitalism.

1. Looking at the relationships between individuals, in what ways does the relationship reflect a social construction? 2. Does the main character in a narrative affirm or resist bourgeoisie (the class that, in contrast to the proletariat or wage-earning class, is primarily concerned with property values) ideals? 3. Whose story gets told in the text? Are lower economic groups ignored or devalued? 4. Are values that support the dominant economic group given privilege?