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Psychological Criticism

Psychological Criticism . Definition . Primarily looks at psychological insights into the author and the characters. It may look at how an author’s biographical circumstances affect or influence their motivation and/or behavior. Three Tiered Concept . Freud (our favorite weirdo…I mean genius)

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Psychological Criticism

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  1. Psychological Criticism

  2. Definition • Primarily looks at psychological insights into the author and the characters. • It may look at how an author’s biographical circumstances affect or influence their motivation and/or behavior.

  3. Three Tiered Concept • Freud (our favorite weirdo…I mean genius) • Focuses on a three tiered Freudian concept of psychoanalytical thought based on theses two premises: • Most of an individual’s mental processes are unconscious • Most human behavior is motivated by sexuality

  4. The ID • The pleasure principal • Unconscious part of the brain • Source of aggression, sexual desires and personal desires • Represents the lawlessness of an individual possessed by individual yearning

  5. The EGO • The reality principal • Regulating energy that protects individuals • Rational governing agent of the psyche • Largely unconscious • Intermediary between the inner and the outer worlds of the mind

  6. The Super EGO • The morality principal • Personality feels the responsibility towards society • Moral censoring agency that contains conscience and pride • Represses or inhibits the id and blocks impulse abject pleasure that society notes as unacceptable • Blocks overt aggressions, impulses • Parental influence over our personalities, but can be overly involved causing the guilt complex

  7. Sexual Interpretations • Male Symbolic Images: • Towers, mountain peaks, snakes, knives, swords • Female Symbolic Images: • Ponds, flowers, caves • Oedipus and Electra Complex • Fixation of son/mother and daughter/father

  8. How can you use this approach in your paper? • Investigates the creative process of the author • Study of what motivates the author and employs psychology in understanding the author’s motivation and behavior • Used to understand the fictional characters the author creates • What makes them tick? What are their motivations, reactions, needs, wants and desires and what are their reactions to the events they are facing?

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