Psychoanalytic Approaches to

Literature
(1) Structure of the Mind, Child
Development & Oedipus
Complex
(2) Dream and Sexual Symbols
(3) Psychological Diseases
Three Premises
 1. most of the individual's mental processes are
unconscious.
 2. all human behavior is motivated ultimately by
what we would call sexuality. The prime psychic
force--libido, or sexual energy.
 3. Because of the powerful social taboos
attached to certain sexual impulses, many of our
desires and memories are repressed.
unconscious
 --cannot be pointed at; can only be
"diagnosed."
 --the reverse of consciousness

 Making itself manifest through "gaps"--

unintended lapses in memory, slips of
tongue, puns and dreams
 Structure of our Psyche
 Superego • Ego  Id
 morality p.  pleasure p.
•reality p
 repository of  repository of
conscience & •Intermediary
pride libido
 reason and  instinct and
morality passion
• protect
 circumspection individual  self-
protect society satisfaction
Child development
 oral stage anal stage phallic stage
latent period genital stage

What is happening in this process ... is a gradual

organization of the libidinal drives . . .
 Oedipus complex and gendering process

 With Oedipus complex starts the process of

socialization
Child development (2)
 oral stage  Auto-eroticism
(sucking)
 anal stage
(withholding, expulsion)  Oedipus complex
 phallic stage
(positive and negative
(castration complex) constellation)
 latent period

 puberty
 genital stage
Child development (2)
 Oedipus complex in  Oedipus complex in
Boys Girls
Positive constellation:  loving Mother
identifies with Father,
loves Mother  loving Father
Negative constellation:
identifies with Mother  Loving Father and
and loves Father identifying with Mother.
Child development (3): Beyond
Freud
Pre-Oedipal
Symbiosis
 Oedipus
(Identification complex &  Transitional
with Mother) its Objects
resolution  (Object-Relation
Theory)
Key Issues in Freud’s Oedipus
complex
 Recognition of Father’s authority
 Development from bi-sexuality to
heterosexuality
 The influence of sexuality, parents and
childhood on our personality
 Are we born to be destructive and
aggressive? Is sexuality the source of our
energy?
Examples of Freud’s Oedipus
complex
 Sons and Lovers
 Peter Pan
 Leonardo
 “Araby”