PSYCHOANALYTIC CRITICISM

Prepared by:

Group 3

Esclanda, Maria Carmela Rachel G.

Macalinao, Winalyn L.
Garcia, Jessica D.
Ma.Ed. English

A. COMPREHENSIVE outline
1. Intro to the Literary theory/approach

Psychoanalytical criticism seeks to explore literature by examining how the follow issues are
represented:
 How human mental and psychological development occurs
 How the human mind works
 The root causes of psychological problems
 How the id, ego, and superego are represented
 Psychoanalysis is the process of using what we know about these three parts of
someone’s personality to analyze the ways that person behaves.
 Literary critics sometimes analyze the actions of literary characters using the three
personality structures that Freud identified.
 As critics explore the ego, superego, and id of characters in a work, they focus on the
ways that these parts of the characters’ personalities influence the work as a whole. This
process is called psychoanalytic criticism.

ID
The ID is an important part of our personality because as newborns, it allows us to get
our basic needs met. Freud believed that the id is based on our pleasure principle. The
id wants whatever feels good at the time, with no consideration for the other
circumstances of the situation. The id is sometimes represented by a devil sitting on
someone’s shoulder. As this devil sits there, he tells the ego to base behavior on how the
action will influence the self, specifically how it will bring the self pleasure.

SUPEREGO
The superego is the part of the personality that represents the conscience, the moral part
of us. The superego develops due to the moral and ethical restraints placed on us by our
caregivers. It dictates our belief of right and wrong. The superego is sometimes
represented by an angel sitting on someone’s shoulder, telling the ego to base behavior
on how the action will influence society.

EGO
The ego is the part of the personality that maintains a balance between our impulses (our
id) and our conscience (our superego). The ego is based on the reality principle. The ego
 understands that other people have needs and desires and that sometimes being
impulsive or selfish can hurt us in the end. It is the ego’s job to meet the needs of the id,
while taking into consideration the reality of the situation. The ego works, in other words,
to balance the id and superego. The ego is represented by a person, with a devil (the id)
on one shoulder and an angel (the superego) on the other.

 This information can be used to analyze literature using two different approaches:
a. Psychoanalysis of the author: this often requires research of the author’s life, but some
academics make inferences based on the author’s writing
b. Psychoanalysis of the character(s)

2. Famous critics under the approach

Critique of Psychoanalytic Theory
1. Karl Abraham (1877–1925)
■ Founder of Berlin Psychoanalytic Institute
■ member of Freud’s Secret Committee and a favorite of Freud
2. Michael Balint (1896-1970)
■ Director of the Budapest Psychoanalytic Clinic
■ He introduced the concept of the “basic fault”
3. W. R. Bion (1897-1979)
■ He is known for a short paper in which he suggested that analysts listen to their patients
without “memory or desire” experiencing each session as new and unique.
■ “Bion’s style is a mixture of dazzling illuminations, provocative aphorisms and tiresome
digression.”
4. Anna Freud (1895-1982)
■ the youngest child of Sigmund Freud and the only one to become part of psychoanalysis
■ founder of child psychoanalysis and the guardian of the Freudian heritage
■ known as well for The Ego and the Mechanisms of Defense (1937)
5. Sigmund Freud (1856–1939)
■ introduced the world to unconscious forces in human motivation, the role of dreams and
infantile sexuality, has become a whole “climate of opinion”
■ founded the Vienna Psychoanalytic Institute, the International Psychoanalytical Association

Some positive aspects of the Freudian or psychoanalytic perspective are that it:

 is a complete theory of personality and explains behaviour

 emphasizes the role of the unconscious mind and early childhood experiences
 emphasizes dynamic nature of behaviour
 emphasizes defense mechanisms of ego and stimulated further theoretical/research work in
personality
 resulted in a serious interest in psychological treatment of mental disorders.

There is some recent research evidence supporting and extending various aspects of Freud's theory,
e.g.,
 The unconscious part of mind can perceive things without conscious awareness (Erdelyi,
1974)
 Defense mechanisms occur e.g. repression appears to occur (Weinberger & Davidson, 1994)
  Anal characteristics are intercorrelated. And oral characteristics are intercorrelated (Weston,
1990)
 Catharsis is helpful for physical/psychological health (Erdelyi, 1994)
 Lab studies have demonstrated transference (Andersen & Baum, 1994)

However there are some negative aspects of this perspective:

 concepts seem poorly designed: �psychic energy� what is it? What units is it measured in?
 lack of scientific proof
 role of environment overlooked
 case-study method (used neurotic wealthy European females)
 over-emphasis on sexual drive
 pessimistic psychic determinism - is there no free will?
 time-consuming and expensive therapy
 low cure rate

Psychoanalysis was “simply non-testable, irrefutable. There was no conceivable human behaviour which would
contradict” it.

Grünbaum was a critic of Karl Popper before he became a critic of Freud. Indeed, it was through Popper
that Grünbaum was drawn to Freud. “The first impetus for my inquiry into the intellectual merits of the
psychoanalytic enterprise,” he writes, “came from my doubts concerning Karl Popper’s philosophy of science”
(xii). The philosophy of science in question was the theory of falsifiability, which Popper proposed in place of
inductivism as the essential measure of scientific knowledge. Popper saw the need for this supposedly more
rigorous standard, he said, when he encountered intellectual systems like Marxism and psychoanalysis that claim
to derive from observation—that is, from some form of inductive reasoning—yet obviously fall far short of true
science. “My problem perhaps took the simple form, ‘What is wrong with Marxism, psychoanalysis, and individual
[Adlerian] psychology? Why are they so different from physical theories, from Newton’s theory, and especially
from the theory of relativity?’ ” Popper’s solution was the notion of falsifiability: these pseudosciences may base
their ideas on observation, but, unlike true science, they advance propositions that are not open to the possibility
of disproof.

3. Tenets/ guide/ principle of the critic

BASIC TENETS OF FREUD’S PSYCHOANALYTIC THEORY

Three levels of consciousness

 Conscious: what we’re thinking about or experiencing at any given moment
 Preconscious: what we can readily call to consciousness (memories, knowledge)
 Unconscious: thoughts, desires, and impulses of which we’re not aware; this is the largest level of
consciousness.

ID
 Only purpose is to satisfy our desires
 Completely unconscious with no basis in reality
 Operates according to the pleasure principle—always seeks pleasure and avoids pains.
 Only part of the personality present from birth.
 The child gradually learns that the id can’t always be satisfied.

EGO
  Develops as child realizes that the id is constrained by reality
 Abides by the reality principle—goal is to bring pleasure within constraints of reality
 Mostly conscious
 Also houses the higher mental functions such as reasoning, problem-solving, and decision-
making

SUPEREGO
 The moral branch of the personality; our conscience
 It can either reward or punish the ego
 Doesn’t consider reality (like the id); it only considers whether the id’s sexual and aggressive
impulses can be satisfied in moral terms
 Can operate on all levels of consciousness, but it’s mostly preconscious

DEFENSE MECHANISMS
 Arise because of the anxiety due to conflicts between id and superego; too much pressure put
on the ego
 Protect the ego and reduce anxiety
 Unconscious, so we’re not aware we’re using them
 Not necessarily bad when used on temporary basis
 Examples: repression, denial, sublimation, regression

LIBIDO
 Sexual energy of the sex instinct
 Sex instinct is the most important of life’s forces and is the basis for most mental disorders
 Sex is much more than copulation and can refer to anything pleasurable
 As sex instinct matures, libido moves from one body part to another, and child moves into a new
stage of psychosexual development.
ADULT PERSONALITY
 Determined by the way conflicts between early sources of pleasure and constraints of reality are
resolved
 When conflicts aren’t resolved adequately, person can become “fixated” at that stage of
development
 Fixation occurs when child’s needs are either not met or are overgratified.

FIVE STAGES OF PSYCHOSEXUAL DEVELOPMENT

 Oral stage
 Anal stage
 Phallic stage
 Latency stage
 Genital stage

Oral stage
 Birth to 1 year
 Mouth is focus of sexual pleasure
 Fixation: smokers, drinkers, loud talkers, people who like to eat or chew gum, dentists
Anal stage
 1-3 years
 Focus of sexual pleasure is the anus
 Voluntary defecation is the primary way to gratify the sex instinct during this stage
 Fixation: love of bathroom humor, interest in bowel movements, extreme messiness, prudishness,
irritability

Phallic stage
 3-6 years
 Focus of sexual pleasure is on the genitals
 All children develop an incestuous desire for opposite-sex parent
 Oedipal and Electra complex develops in males and females, respectively.

Oedipal complex
 Boys have sexual longing for mothers and jealousy of fathers
 Boys want to hurt or kill fathers because they’re a rival for Mom’s affection
 Boy realizes he’s too weak to kill father and develops “castration anxiety” (fears Dad will cut off
boy’s penis)
 Castration anxiety causes repression of desire for Mom and identification with Dad
 Becomes psychologically male at this point.

Electra complex & penis envy

 Girls realize at age 3-4 that they don’t have a penis; blame Mom for castrating them.
 Sexually desire fathers and want to bear father’s child, preferably a son, to compensate for her lack
of a penis.
 Freud didn’t know how girls resolved this anxiety. Thought boys had stronger superego than girls
because they had to go through the mental work of repressing their castration anxiety whereas
girls didn’t.

Latency period
 Ages 6-12
 Nothing much going on here
 Child’s sex instinct is quiet, and libido is channeled into acceptable activity like schoolwork and
play.
 Continues until puberty.

Genital stage
 Age 12 to late adulthood
 Puberty brings maturation of reproductive organs
 Libido is once again settled in the genitals
 Aim of sex instinct is reproduction
 In old age, person might regress to an earlier stage of development.

Is Freud’s theory valid?

 The theory of psychosexual development has NOT held up to scientific scrutiny.
 It is still commonly assumed in the child development community, though, that children do go
through a period where they prefer the opposite-sex parent. This resolves itself by age 5 or 6.

B. DETAILED analysis
4. Analysis of literature/movie using the approach in #3

THE YELLOW WALL-PAPER

by: Charlotte Perkins Gilman

■ Freud’s Id, Ego and Superego

Freud theorized that the psyche was sectioned into 3 segments; the id, the ego and the super
ego. According to his theory, Freud believes that the id wants whatever feels good at the time with no
regard for the reality of the situation. The ego begins to develop as we interact with the world and is
based on the reality principle where the ego understands that others have needs and that sometimes
being impulsive or selfish can hurt us in the long run. It is the ego’s job to meet the needs of the id,
while taking into consideration the reality. Finally we develop the superego where the moral part of us
progress’ due to moral and ethical restraints placed on us by our caregivers and it dictates our belief of
right and wrong.
■ How human mind works
■ How human mental and psychological development occur
■ Root causes of psychological problems
The id, ego, and superego
■ The id and superego were conflicting within Jane
■ The id was the depression and desire to escape
■ The superego was trying to follow her husband to do what was "right"
■ Confinement and suppression
■ Confined but could view her freedom

FIFTY SHADES OF GREY

(MOVIE)

ID

Christian shows to Ana the sort of relationship that he wants. He also shows his
playroom to Ana. As shown in picture 1.7, it uses medium shot, to shows the
surrounding and the objects on the scenes, where there are a lot of Christian’s tools
and gears that he used to satisfy him. It is also show the id of Cristian and how it
works. Id is about the “pleasure principle”. It means that id is about the human
pleasure in the world such as desire, love, and else. BDSM is the kind of Christian’s
desire.
Picture 1 1.7

The id is the site of the energy of the mind, energy that Freud characterized as a combination of
sexual libido and other instincts, such as aggression, that propel the human organism through life,
moving it grow, develop and eventually to die (Rivki, Michael. 2004:391).
It is clear that every person has the id because the id is the birth present and It develops through the life
experience of the person itself. BDSM (bondage, domination, sadism, masochism) represents Christian’s
id. His id works from the rules that he made. If Ana follows the rule she will get a reward, and if she does
not, she will get a punishment with the stuff inside of the playroom.
 In this Fifty Shades of Grey the most prominent of Christian’s id is about his sexual orientation. He
always said to Ana that he does not do romances, he does not do loves, and the relationship he wants is
BDSM. He feels more pleasure and dominant in those moments. Then, Ana unconsciously dragged into the
world of BDSM by Christian and she realizes a new things of sexuality that she never knew before. Firstly,
Ana knows nothing about sex because she is a virgin, so she is very surprised
when she knows about the Christian’s playroom. She knows that Christian
sexual orientation is a sadism and abusive but she still wants to continue her
relationship. She falls in love with him. Slowly, Christian shows her what is
BDSM, one of the Christian’s pleasure. As shown in picture 1.8, it uses the
medium close-up, this technique is position in the middle of the Close-up and
Medium Shot, it is usually used to gives identification and to focus the object.
The scene shows how Christian tied a necktie to Ana hand. As shown in picture
Picture 2 1.8
1.7, there are a lot of tools in Christian’s playroom, but he only uses a necktie to
introduce what kind of pleasure that he wants with Ana. As Bressler said in the literary criticism “unchecked
by any controlling will, the id operates on impulse, wanting immediate satisfaction for all its instinctual
desires” (Bressler E. Charles. 1994:150). On that scene, the id works without ego and superego because it
is characterized of id that wanting immediate satisfaction. In order to satisfy the id any further Christian
needs an ego and superego.

The id is lawless and it is not tolerated with amoral principles, so Christian

sexual orientation about BDSM does not deviate. However, it is a dangerous
part of id (unconscious). In order to counter balance, the dangerous part of
unconscious, Christian mind process two regulating agencies: The ego and
superego. In the pictures 1.7, it shows that there a lot of Christian’s tools and
gears on the playroom but in the picture 1.8, Christian only uses a necktie to
tied Ana. It means that there are more ways to use the other tools in order to
satisfy his id, but he need an ego and superego to do it in order to keep him
safe from criminal things or abusive things. Picture 3 1.8
Whereas the id operates according to the pleasure principle, the ego operates
in harmony with the reality principle. It is the ego’s job to regulate the instinctual desires of the id and to
allow these desires to be released in some nondestructive ways (Bressler E. Charles. 1994:150).

EGO

In order to bridge the Christian’s id, his ego works to find a girl who want have a sort of relationship like
Christian wants because ego is about reality principle. Christian’s id will never be satisfied if his ego not
works.
Firstly, his ego considers whether Ana the suitable girl to satisfy his id or not. He needs Ana consent
whether she can have a sort of relationship that he wants or not. He also convinces her that BDSM is
much more about the pleasure, On the other side she thinks that it is amoral, because she is treated like a
sexslave. It shows how Christian’s ego works and it work gradually.

As Freud said, the ego is rational, logical waking part of mind, so Christian must
have a deal with Ana if he wants to satisfied his id. Then, Christian makes a
contract in his relationship with Ana. It takes a time to convince Ana to take the
contract because it is a new side of sexuality she never knew existed. She need
more time to considers the contract. Finally, she finished in researching the
contract and decides to make a negotiation with Christian. It is shown in picture
1.9 (see appendix), it uses medium long shot and gives a nice balance of the
figures and surroundings. The scene shows how Christian and Ana negotiate Picture 4 1.9
about the relationship contract in the meeting room of Grey’s House Company. It
is also shows on dialogue below.
 Anastasia : I’m good with rope, leather cuffs, handcuffs. Please lose “tape”. And what’s other?
Christian : Cable ties. Can I just say how impressed I ‘am with your commitment to this meeting?
And in that spirit, I’am gonna throw in a sweetener. How about once a week, on a night of your
choosing, we go on date? Just like a regular couple. Dinner, Movie, Ice skating, whatever you
want.
Anastasia : Accepted. You’re very kind.
Fifty Shades of Grey (2015) (01:10:50 – 01:12:21)

The negotiation seems to be agreed by both sides but Ana has not signed the contract yet.
The contract itself is the way how Christian’s ego restricts the dangerous parts of his id. It also shows how
his ego works to make it happen what his id wants into nondestructive ways. Unlike the Id, the Ego considers
societal norms, and rules before acting. It means that if Christian does not have Ana’s consent then he will
break the law that exist and it kind of Amoral act, contrast to the Id that not have morality principle.

SUPEREGO

The next is the superego. “In contrast to the id, the superego operates according to the morality principle
and serves primarily to protect society and us from the id” (Bressler E. Charles. 1994:151). It is clear that
the superego works based on the morality principle. Christian has a playroom where there are a lot of stuff
inside. He makes his own room in order to satisfy his pleasure because he does not want other people
know about his sexual orientation. Whether it is his family or his close friend. He tells Ana that she cannot
tell anyone about his sort of relationship that he wants. He does not want someone know about his sexual
orientation. As shown in picture 2.0, it uses medium shot, the scene shows about
Ana who asked Christian about a paper contract that is already set on the table.

Anastasia : What’s this?

Christian : It’s a non-disclosure agreement. It means that you cannot
discuss anything about us with anyone. I’m afraid my lawyer insists on it.
Anastasia : I’d never talk to anyone about us, anyway.
Fifty Shades of Grey (2015) (00:35:56 – 01:35:21)
Picture 5 2.0
It is how his superego works. His superego controls his id in order to keep it secret
because when the society know about his id, it will damage him. It is also a pressure from the society and
his anxiety that makes Christian must keep up his sort of relationship secret. Christian’s superego always
holds his id when he is on the public. “If allowed to operate at its own discretion, the superego will create
an unconscious sense of guilt and fear” (Bressler E. Charles. 1994:151). Christian superego suppressing
his desires and gives him an unconscious sense of guilt and fear, so he decides not to do his id on the
public. If he ignores his superego it will damage himself.
REFERENCES
 An Introduction to Psychoanalytic Criticism. (2004).Retrieved from:
http://www.readwritethink.org/files/resources/lesson_images/lesson800/psychoanalysis.pdf
 Notes on Literary Criticism.(2005) Retrieved from:
http://portalsso.vansd.org/portal/page/portal/Staff_Portal/Staff_Pages/VSAA_STAFF_PAGES/VSAA_Goff/Notes%20on%20Literary%20Criticism.pdf
 Basic tenets of Freud’s psychoanalytic theory. Indira Gandhi National Open Univesity.
SOCIAL SCIENCES SOCIAL. SCIENCES MPCE 13. Retrieved from: https://www.coursehero.com/file/17225277/freud-erikson-piaget/
 UC-Press E-books Collection. (1982-2004). University of Californa Press. Retrieved from:
https://publishing.cdlib.org/ucpressebooks/view?docId=ft4w10062x&chunk.id=s1.3.37&t
oc.id=ch3&brand=ucpress
 Individual Differences Personality. (2003) Critique of Psychoanalytic Theory. Retrieved from:
http://www.wilderdom.com/personality/L8-9CritiquePsychoanalyticTheory.html
 Sudrazat, Riza Alun. (2016). DIPONEGORO UNIVERSITY SEMARANG.
http://eprints.undip.ac.id/51657/1/Project_Extended_Essay.pdf