THE PSYCHOANALYTIC APPROACH (AKA: FREUDIAN)

Definition
The theory of personality organization and the dynamics of personality development that guides psychoanalysis. Psychoanalytic criticism originated in the work of Austrian psychoanalyst Sigmund Freud, who pioneered the technique of psychoanalysis. His theories are directly and indirectly concerned with the nature of the unconscious mind.

Where did the Psychoanalytic Approach come from?

-Sigmund Freud was the founder of this approach. He discovered new techniques that allowed human behavior to be understood.
- It is a theory often used by critics to analyze the behaviors of characters in a written work. This analysis surfaces a deeper meaning and conveys the text in transparent manner.
- This approach addresses the following questions:
Were this character's feelings genuine or counterfeit?
How did these characters feelings influence others?

Pros
So what does all of this psychological business have to do with literature and the study of literature? Put simply, some critics believe that we can "...read psychoanalytically...to see which concepts are operating in the text in such a way as to enrich our understanding of the work and, if we plan to write a paper about it, to yield a meaningful, coherent psychoanalytic interpretation" (Tyson 29).

Cons!
Psychoanalytic criticism could have faults because the psychoanalytic theories on which the criticism is based are metaphoric theories. These theories have a lot of room for doubt.
Another way this approach could conflict is focuses to much on the authors emotions, which are unprovable. Unless the author tells you what he meant when he wrote it.
Next this approach has no regards for the ascetics. By reading in psychoanalytic point of view you minimize the literary values of a novel or poem etc.

A psychoanalytic approach to the poem "My Last Duchess" by Robert Browning would show the mourning of loved ones, spots of joy and too much pride. When the author wrote this poem he could've lost someone that he loved because there is obvious evidence of mourning a loss of life. The majority of this poem is the Duke talking about a painting of his past Duchess. "That’s my last Duchess painted on the wall, looking as if she were alive"(Lines 1-2). Next, the author portrays the painting to blush when the duke is around. The duke calls this the Duchess's "spots of joy." The author could believe that even when your love ones pass away you can still feel their presence. Finally in the poem the duke considers himself to be supreme because he believes that confronting the duchess will be "stooping" down to her level. "Her wits to yours, forsooth, and made excuse, E'er then would be some stooping; and I choose never to stoop"(Lines 34-35). The Dukes pride could show that the author might've had somebody in his life who was full of himself or perhaps the Duke is reflection upon the author.

Continued...
Finally in the poem the duke considers himself to be supreme because he believes that confronting the duchess will be "stooping" down to her level. "Her wits to yours, forsooth, and made excuse, E'er then would be some stooping; and I choose never to stoop"(Lines 34-35). The Dukes pride could show that the author might've had somebody in his life who was full of himself or perhaps the Duke is reflection upon the author.

Literary terms
Bildungsroman -The German term for a coming-of-age story

Dystopian novel -The opposite of a utopia, a dystopia is an imaginary society in fictional writing that represents, as M. H. Abrams puts it, "a very unpleasant imaginary world in which ominous tendencies of our present social, political, and technological order are projected in some disastrous future culmination"

Hyperbole -the trope of exaggeration or overstatement.

Verbal irony - (also called sarcasm) is a trope in which a speaker makes a statement in which its actual meaning differs sharply from the meaning that the words ostensibly express

Verbal irony - (also called sarcasm) is a trope in which a speaker makes a statement in which its actual meaning differs sharply from the meaning that the words ostensibly express

Dramatic irony-(the most important type for literature) involves a situation in a narrative in which the reader knows something about present or future circumstances that the character does not know

Situational irony -(also called cosmic irony) is a trope in which accidental events occur that seem oddly appropriate, such as the poetic justice of a pickpocket getting his own pocket picked.

Litotes- A form of meiosis using a negative statement

Paradox - Using contradiction in a manner that oddly makes sense on a deeper level.

Persona-An external representation of oneself which might or might not accurately reflect one's inner self, or an external representation of oneself that might be largely accurate, but involves exaggerating certain characteristics and minimizing others.

Rhetoric-The art of persuasive argument through writing or speech--the art of eloquence and charismatic language

Utopian Novel- is a term for any writing that presents the reader with a perfect society in the physical world, as opposed to a perfect society existing in an afterlife

Verisimilitude-The sense that what one reads is "real," or at least realistic and believable.

CREDITS

• Burris, Skylar H. N.p., n.d. Web. 05 Jan. 2015.
• Poets.org. Academy of American Poets, n.d. Web. 04 Jan. 2015.
• "Psychoanalytic Criticism." Psychoanalytic Criticism. N.p., n.d. Web. 05 Jan. 2015.
• "Psychoanalytic Literary Criticism." Princeton University. N.p., n.d. Web. 06 Jan. 2015.