Psychoanalysis is one of the contemporary theories employed in English literature. Psychoanalysis is guided by a theory of personality organization and personality dynamics.
Psychoanalysis has been used to explain literature, with literature serving as a source for psychoanalytic notions. In the words of Monte (1977), “Psychoanalytic theories assume the existence of unconscious internal states that motivate an individual’s overt actions”. Sigmund Freud (1859-1939) therefore champions the psychoanalysis movement.
Carl Gustav Jung (1875-1961), a later student of Freudian psychology, re-directs his perspective on psychoanalysis to suit his own social environment. Jung recognizes essential human tendencies in myths and stories. A further evolution of psychoanalysis embraced Alfred Adler (1870-1937), who regards man as a social creature. According to Adler, humans are motivated by social needs because “we are self conscious and capable of improving ourselves and the world around us”. (mcconnell, 250).
Psychoanalysis stressed motives, particularly hidden or disguised reasons, which serves to understand literature on two levels: the level of writing itself and the level of character activity inside the text. Psychoanalysis emphasizes the subject and attempts to explain how meaning and identity relate to psychic and cultural influences.
Basis of Freudian Psychoanalysis
The modern theory, as employed in literature, has two acknowledged interpretations. For starters, it refers to a treatment strategy for those suffering from mental disorders. Second, it also refers to theories about the human mind and its varied intricacies.
Sigmund Freud proposed psychoanalytic theory. Freud began his career as a physician, studying and treating patients at his clinic. His extended involvement in this field has made him aware of and noticed the mental illnesses of his patients. He gradually became increasingly interested in the study of psychology, particularly psychology of the unconscious mind.
Freud proposed that our minds are divided into three separate regions. His early discoveries focused on the psychology of psychoneurosis, nightmares, jokes, and what he referred to as the psychopathology of ordinary life, such as slips of the tongue and pens. The second is a preconscious system, whereas the third is a conscious system. His theories were first given in “The Interpretation of Dreams” (1900). It is frequently considered that his research into dreams provided the evidence for these views. The mind is where all of our positive and bad experiences are collected, integrated, and structured.
Theories of psychoanalysis
There are various theories on psychoanalysis. The three basic theories associated with psychoanalysis are Freudian theory, Lacanian theory, and object-related theory.
Freudian theory
Psychoanalysis is a psychological theory established in the late nineteenth and early twentieth century by Austrian neurologist Sigmund Freud and colleagues.
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Freud’s psychoanalytic theory, which emerged around the turn of the century, offered a whole new method to the examination and treatment of ‘abnormal’ adult behavior. Earlier perspectives tended to ignore behavior and seek a physiological explanation for ‘abnormality’. Freud’s method was innovative in that it recognized neurotic activity as goal-directed rather than random or meaningless.
The pre-oedipal stage
According to Freud, all humans are born with basic instincts, which include a natural desire to meet their biologically defined requirements for food, shelter, and warmth. Satisfying these demands is both practical and a source of ‘sexual’ pleasure, as Freud defines it. Freud classified this stage into three stages: oral, anal, and phallic.
Sigmund Freud used the term ‘Oedipus complex’ in his work ‘Interpretation of Dreams’ (1899). According to him, the notion is a desire for sexual engagement with the parent of the opposite sex, which causes a sense of competition with the parent of the same sex and is an important step in the natural developing process (Freud, 1913). The phrase “Oedipus complex” was named from the name of a Greek mythological person. Oedipus, the son of King Liaus and Queen Jocasta of Thebes, eventually killed his father and married his mother unknowingly, which the writer and people of the time believed was fated.
However, Sigmund Freud believes that the accidents or occurrences in Oedipus’ life occurred as a result of the sexual complexity between Oedipus and his mother. And based on this account, he developed the concept of the Oedipus complex, which he applied to children aged three to five. He believes that all human action is motivated by sex or instincts, which he sees as neural representations of bodily demands. He first referred to them as the individual’s life instincts, which motivate him or her to seek food and water and, secondarily, to have sexual relations.
Based on his clinical experience, Freud believed that sex was far more significant in the dynamics of the psyche than other desires.
The Unconscious
The unconscious is a component of the mind that exists outside the relatively hazy and permeable limits of consciousness and is formed in part by the suppression of what is too unpleasant to remain in consciousness. Freud distinguished repression from sublimation, which is the rechanneling of urges that cannot find an appropriate outlet. The unconscious also contains Freud’s Laws of Transformation.
These are the principles that regulate the process of repression. Psychoanalytic Theory in English Literature: A Descriptive Study © 2017 Global Journals Inc. (US). Global Journal of Human Social Science, Volume XVII, Issue I, Version I 42 (G). In general, we might argue that the unconscious has the theoretical purpose of making the relationship between childhood experience and adult conduct understandable.
Id, Ego, and Super-Ego
Freud hypothesized three psychological structures. Id, Ego, and Super-Ego. The term “id” refers to a greedy, primitive, juvenile pleasure-oriented aspect of the personality that is incapable of delaying gratification. Superego refers to internalized cultural and parental norms of ‘good’ and ‘bad’, ‘right’ and ‘wrong’ behavior. The Ego is the moderator between the Id and the Super-Ego, seeking compromises to satisfy both. It can be defined as our ‘sense of time and location’.
Limitations of Freud’s Psychoanalytic Theory
- Freud’s hypotheses are not verifiable or falsifiable. It is unclear what constitutes proof sufficient to corroborate or contradict theoretical claims.
- The theory is based on an inadequate conceptualization of women’s experiences.
- The theory exaggerates the significance of sexuality in human psychological growth and experience.