PSYCHOLOGICAL CRITICISM

- Psychological critical theory applies the theories of psychology to a text to better

understand its characters
- Based largely on Freud, this theory hinges on the belief that an examination of
people’s (characters’) unconscious desires.
- Drives governing human behavior
- Id (It in Latin) – the animal nature that says, “Do what feels good.”
- Ego (I in Latin) – the reality-based part of your personality that makes
decisions to satisfy the Id and Superego
- Superego (Above I in Latin) – the socialized “conscience” that tells you
what’s right or fair
- Oedipus Complex​– Every boy has the unconscious desire to have sex with their
mother; consequently, sons are deeply afraid of their fathers, and fathers are
deeply threatened by their sons.
- Elektra Complex​– Every ​daughter​ has the unconscious desire to have sex with
their father; consequently, daughters are deeply afraid of their mothers, and
mothers are deeply threatened by their daughters.
- Of course, these complexes have their origins in literature and mythology.
- Psychological criticism is a way to understand characters, not diagnose them.
- Macbeth kills King Duncan because he unconsciously recognizes the king as a
father-figure. Hence, Duncan is a rival for power and the affections of the people.
- In the latter acts of the play, Macbeth has indulged his id so often that his ego
has lost the ability to restrain it.
EXAMPLE: ​https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TGXLbLya3kk​(last year’s)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XIm_hWj-StE
FREUD’S THEORY→ Psychoanalytic
- Psychoanalysis was founded by Sigmund Freud (1856-1939). Freud believed that
people could be cured by making conscious their unconscious thoughts and motivations,
thus gaining “insight”.
- The aim of psychoanalysis therapy is to release repressed emotions and experiences,
i.e. make the unconscious conscious.
- Psychoanalysis is commonly used to treat depression and anxiety disorders.
- It is only having a ​cathartic ​(i.e. healing) experience can the person be helped and
"cured".
- http://www.simplypsychology.org/psychoanalysis.html
ID (“It” in Latin)
- According to Freud, as children develop, there comes a time in which the child
must adopt the characteristics of one of the parents. During this process of
identification, the child adopts the characteristics of the same-sex parent and
begins to associate themselves with and copy the behavior of significant others.
In addition, Freud stated that this process also involves the development of the
child's superego (our moral guide in life - the moral component of personality)
which is done by incorporating characteristics of the parents superegos into the
child's own. So, a young male child will begin to take on characteristics of the
father (act more like his father than his mother in the sense of being a male) and
will develop a superego that has similarities to the moral values and guidelines
by which the parents live their lives (e.g., if the parents are honest people, the
child may come to realize that honesty is important and that lying is wrong).
- http://www.alleydog.com/glossary/definition.php?term=Identification#ixzz3UX8NDokO
EGO (“I” in Latin)
- According to Freud, the ego is the part of personality that helps us deal with
reality by mediating between the demands of the id, superego, and the
environment. The ego prevents us from acting on every urge we have (produced
by the id) and being so morally driven that we can't function properly. The ego
works according to the reality principle which helps us direct our unacceptable
sexual and aggressive urges to more acceptable targets. For example, when you
walk down the street and see an extremely attractive person, the ego, working on
the reality principle, helps us realize that it is not socially acceptable to cross the
street, grab the person, and have sex with them. Instead, the ego tells us that
there will be other, more appropriate people, places, and times to fulfill these
needs.
- http://www.alleydog.com/glossary/definition.php?term=Ego#ixzz3UX85VWub
SUPEREGO (“Above I” in Latin)
- According to Freud, humans have three main components to their personality
that cause us to behave the way we do and make us who we are; the id, ego,
and superego. The superego (Latin for "over the I") acts as our moral guide and
mediates between the id and the ego. The superego contains the conscience,
which makes us feel guilty for doing or thinking something wrong and good when
we do something right.
 - http://www.alleydog.com/glossary/definition.php?term=Superego#ixzz3UifuNz00

SUMMARY OF LIKE WATER FOR CHOCOLATE

● Like Water For Chocolate is a story of two women, Tita De La Garza and her mother, the
Mama Elena.
● Tita, the protagonist, strives for love, freedom, and individuality, and Mama Elena, the
chief antagonist, stands as the prime opposition to the fulfillment of these goals.
● This mother-daughter relationship is fraught with difficulty, when Tita is brought into the
world after her father's sudden death.
● Mama Elena is the opposite of a nurturer, never forming any bond with Tita.
● Tita develops a relationship with food that gives her the power to nurture and give outlet
to her emotions.
● Both of them share a characteristic that defines both their individual struggles and their
conflict with each other.
● The revelation that Mama Elena herself suffered the pangs of lost love is an important
thematic complement to Tita's deprivation.
● The reaction of each woman to her predicament helps delineate their differing
characters.
● Whereas Mama Elena lets the loss of love turn her into a sinister and domineering
mother, Tita, while obeying her mother's command outwardly, engages in a lifelong
struggle for love, which she eventually wins through the strength of spirit.

THREE EXAMPLES:
- In Sigmund Freud’s psychoanalytic theory, he believed that people’s
psychological disorder could be cured by releasing repressed emotions and
experiences by making the unconscious conscious
- Tita’s cooking was able to express her unconscious thoughts through her
cooking which became conscious to the people that were consuming the
food she cooked
- EXAMPLE ONE​ Unconscious motives of Tita and Pedro wanting to have sex
 (human nature=sex and hunger)
-ID wanting to have sex with Pedro
-Superego Tita knew she shouldn’t have sex with Pedro
-Ego Even though Tita knew she shouldn’t have sex with Pedro, but she did have
sexual relationship with him anyways.
Quotes
“You had no right to have a boyfriend...According to family tradition, which you were
breaking.”
“You don’t have an opinion, and that’s all I want to hear about it. For generations, not a
single person in my family has ever questioned this tradition, and no daughter of mine is
going to be the one to start”

Explanation: From the quotes we can see that Mama Elena had been telling Tita she
does not have the right to get married, even though she knew it would be wrong to have
sexual relationship with her sister’s husband(which is pedro), she did not denied having
contact with Pedro, although the image of she shouldn’t have any contacts with Pedro
appeared clearly in her mind (SUPEREGO), Tita and Pedro still had sexual relationship
somehow(ID).

EXAMPLE TWO
- Tita’s recipe made rose petal sauce, her desires to have Pedro was expressed
through her recipe, after Gertrudis ate rose petal sauce, she had a burning
passion to run away with her love, and caught the shower on fire.
- Symbolism
- Unconscious mind (Tita)
Quotes
“Surely the heat from her body, which was inflamed by love, would travel with that gaze
across an infinite distance, with no loss of energy, until it landed on the star she was
watching.” pg 25
“She worried that Gertrudis was cold, as cold as she was, but then she decided, no, she
wasn't. Most likely she was near a fire, in the arms of her man, and that would surely
warm her.” pg 25

Explanation: The symbolism of rose petal sauce was the desire of love, rose symbolizes
love, as Tita’s unconscious mind of wanting Pedro’s love, she expressed her feelings by
her recipe. Although Tita couldn’t get her desires of love from Pedro, rose petal sauce
had include her internal feelings, as Gertrudis ate it, she had a burning passion to run
away with her love, and caught the shower on fire. Gertrudis’s action of running away
because of love, reflects to Tita’s desire, the desire of having Pedro and his love.
 - Tradition was passed down in the family, causing Mama Elena forcing Tita to
take care of her until she passed away. Mama Elena thought it was reasonable
because her generation is also treated in the same way.
- Tita’s Id unconsciously wants Mama Elena to die when she is protecting the
house from the rebels. It is her instinct/desire (?) She unconsciously wants that
because Mama Elena is obstructing her from her love: Pedro.
Additional to Example 2:
UNCONSCIOUS MIND: In addition to serving as a central organizing principle, food is often a
direct cause of physical and emotional unrest, and serves as a medium through which emotions
can be transmitted. Tita prepares most of the food in the novel, and she uses food to express
her emotions because her lowly cultural status affords her no other opportunity to do so. The
sexual frenzy that compels Gertrudis to leave the ranch is occasioned by the transmission of
Tita's passion for Pedro into the dish she prepares for dinner. These incidents suggest a
simultaneous commodification and uncontrollability of emotion; food is a potent force in the
world of the novel, and it lets Tita assert her identity.

SYMBOLISM: Images of heat and fire permeate the novel as expressions of intense emotion.
Because heat is the catalyst that causes food to undergo chemical change, substantial waves of
it are present at many of the moments when food is being prepared. In the science of cooking,
heat is a force to be used precisely; the novel's title phrase "like water for chocolate," refers to
the fact that water must be brought to the brink of boiling several times before it is ready to be
used in the making of hot chocolate. However, the heat of emotions, cannot be so controlled.
Heat is a symbol for desire and physical love throughout the text: in Gertrudis' flight from the
ranch; Pedro's lustful gazing at Tita in the shower; and the post-coital death of Pedro, among
many other instances. The inner fire of the individual constitutes an important theme in the
novel, and much of Tita's struggle centers on cultivating this fire. These uses of fire point toward
a duality in its symbolism, as a source of strength and a force of destruction. The coupling of
death and desire that occurs when the love between Tita and Pedro is freed epitomizes this
duality.
SCRIPT:
NK​ (4)| ​KT​ (4)| ​NUT​ (3)| ​SF​ (2)
Introduction:
*(TITLE) PSYCHOLOGICAL LENSES A BY: NIKKI NUT KUANTING SANFRAN*
*Psychological Criticism + Psychoanalytic Theories (Mental Brain) | Sigmund Freud*
- 1. (SF): The psychological criticism is an approach to literature that draws
psychoanalytic theories based largely on Sigmund Freud to get a better
understanding of the text and its characters
*Conscious Level Iceberg*
- 2. (NK): The human mind is like an iceberg. It is mostly hidden and below the
surface lies the unconscious mind. The basis of this approach focuses on the
idea of human’s unconscious which includes the impulses, desires, and feelings
which a person is unaware of but still has an influence on the emotions and
behaviors​​[26 seconds]
*Motivations | Symbols*
- 3. (NUT): Critics use psychological approaches to explore the motivations of
characters and the symbolic meaning of events and also speculate about the
writer’s own motivations​​[21 seconds → fast forward]
*ID*
- 4. (KT): Freud assumed that personality consists of three parts- the id, the ego,
and the superego
- The ID is in the unconscious mind which contains the instinct propelled by
the pleasure principle and wants immediate gratification, like the “DEVIL”
telling us to “Do what feels good”
*SUPEREGO*
- 5. (NUT): The Superego operates on both the conscious and unconscious level,
like the “ANGEL”, this sense of conscience tells you to think about what is right or
wrong
*EGO*
- 6. (NK): The Ego’s job is to provide standards for judgment and make decisions
to satisfy the Id and Superego to protect the conscious mind from threatening
thoughts buried in the unconscious​​[14 seconds]
*EXAMPLE OF ID | EGO | SUPEREGO*
- 7. (NK): As you cram for the finals, the id tells you to sleep because you are tired
or go to the party because you will have fun. The superego tells you to study
because it is the right thing to do. The ego makes some kind compromise telling
you to study for two hours, drop by at the party for a bit, and then go to sleep.
*OEDIPUS COMPLEX*
- 8. (KT): The Oedipus Complex is Freud’s theory of psychosexual sexual stages
of development to describe a boy’s feelings of desire for his mother and jealousy
and anger towards his father. A boy feels like he is in competition with his father
for possession of his mother viewing his father as a rival for her attentions and
affections.
*ELECTRA COMPLEX*
- 9. (KT): The Electra Complex is a psychoanalytic term used to describe a girl’s
sense of competition with her mother for affections of her father which is
comparable to the oedipus complex.
*LIKE WATER FOR CHOCOLATE*
- 10. (NUT): ​Looking at “Like Water For Chocolate” a novel based on magical
realism written by Laura Esquivel.​The book is a story of two women, Tita and
her mother, Mama Elena. Tita is the protagonist who strives for love, freedom,
and individuality. Mama Elena is the antagonist who is trying to stop Tita from
fulfilling these goals.
*EXAMPLE 1*
- 11. (NK)
- The first example from looking through the psychological lense would be the
unconscious motives of Tita and Pedro wanting to have sex.
[#1+glasses+sex symbol]
- Mama Elena is telling Tita, “You don’t have an opinion, and that’s all I want to
hear about it” (Esquivel, 11)
[the mouth and ear]
- since it is known that the youngest daughter can’t be married according to the
family tradition and Tita will never have the right to be in contact with Pedro.
[3 girls+married couple+tita and pedro holding hands]
- In Tita’s case, the Id is telling her to have sex with Pedro, while the superego
tells her that she shouldn’t have sex with Pedro because he was married with
Rosaura, her sister. The Ego is that even though Tita knew she shouldn’t have
sex with Pedro, she was engaged in a sexual relationship with him anyway.
aun neee sed laaa
*EXAMPLE 2*
- 12. (SF): The second example is food which serves as a medium which emotions
can be transmitted.
[#2, plate, and emotions]
- Tita prepares most of the food in the novel and uses food to express her
emotions since there was no other way for her to do so.
[]
 - When Tita was making her rose petal sauce, her unconscious desires to have
sex with Pedro was transmitted through her recipe,
[rose+chicken leg+sex symbol+recipe]
- after Gertrudis ate rose petal sauce, she had a burning passion to run away with
her love, “, and the desire to have sex with him as shown in the quote, “Most
likely she was near a fire, in the arms of her man, and that would surely warm
her” (Esquivel, 25).
[gertrudis eating, fire, RUN!]
- The symbolism of rose petal sauce also represented the desire of love that Tita
had for Pedro.
[rose=heart]
- The heat, fire, and burning passion all represented the intense emotion since
heat was a symbol for desire and physical love in Gertrudis’ flight from the ranch,
Pedro’s gaze at Tita in the shower, along with Pedro’s death.
- [burning+fire+intense face+gertrudis run+shower+pedro’s death]

*EXAMPLE 3*
- 13. (KT): The third example is Tita’s unconscious desire of wanting Mama Elena
to die.
[Tita’s thinking bubble with mama elena’s tomb]
- Tita had mentioned in a quote, “While she was in her hiding place, she had
prayed that nothing bad would happen to Mama Elena, but unconsciously she
had hoped that when she got out she would find her mother dead” (Esquivel, 92).
[Tita hiding with thinking bubble of mama elena’s tomb]
- Those thought flooded Tita’s head since her mother was her only obstacle
separating her from her lover, getting rid of her meant that she could stay with
Pedro happily.
- Both Tita and Mama Elena had suffered the pangs of lost love that were
repressed in their unconscious mind, causing both of them to suffer heavily.
- As a result, Mama Elena had let her loss of love turn her into an authoritarian and
oppressive mother leaving Tita in a lifelong struggle for love.