رویکرد نقد ادبی در ادبیات انگلیسی (The Psychologic Approach)

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The Psychologic Approach: Freud 

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AIMS AND 5 » The psychological has been one of the most controversial, the most abused, and-for many readers-the least appreciated. » No single approach can exhaust the manifold interpretive possibilities of a worthwhile literary work » Each approach has its own peculiar limitations. ¥ the limitations of the historical-biographical approach lie in its tendency to overlook the structural intricacies of the work. Y The formalist approaclu often neglects historical and sociological contexts that may provide important insights into the meaning of the work. 7 ¥ the crucial limitation of the psychological approach is its aesthetic inadeq 

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Abuses and Misunderstandings of the Psychological approach » Some writers who used psychological criticism * Aristotle used it in setting forth his classic definition of tragedy as combining the emotions of pity and terror to produce catharsis. * Sir Philip Sidney, with his statements about the moral effects of poetry, was psychologizing literature * Romantic poets as Coleridge, Wordsworth, and Shelley with their theories of the / imagination. 

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» During the twentieth century, psychological criticism has come to be associated with a particular school of thought, the psychoanalytic theories of Sigmund Freud (1856- 1939) and his followers. » Abuses of the approach have resulted from an excess of enthusiasm, which has been manifested in several ways. 1) the practitioners of the Freudian approach often push their critical theses too. hard, forcing literature into a Procrustean bed of psychoanalytic theory at the expense of other relevant considerations 2) the literary criticism of the psychoanalytic extremists has at times degenerated into a special occultism with its own mystique and jargon exclusively for the in-group. 3) many critics of the psychological school have been either literary scholars who have understood the principles of psychology imperfectly or professional psychologists who have had little feeling for literature as art 

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* Conservative scholars and teachers of literature, often shocked by such terms as Y anal eroticism % phallic symbol ¥ Oedipal complex Y confused by the clinical diagnoses of literary problems * for example, the interpretation of Hamlet's character as a "severe case of hysteria on a cyclothymic basis"-that is, a bipolar disorder 

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Freud's Theories » The foundation of Freud's contribution to modern psychology is his emphasis on the unconscious aspects of the human psyche. > Freud provided convincing evidence, that most of our actions are motivated by psychological forces over which we have very limited control. > In"The Anatomy of the Mental Personality," Freud discriminates between the levels of conscious and unconscious mental activity 

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Conscious and Unconscious we call "unconscious" any mental process the existence of which we are obligated to assume-because, for instance, we infer it in some way from its effects-but of which we are not directly aware Most conscious processes are conscious for only a short period; quite soon they become latent, though they can easily become conscious again Freud defines two kinds of unconscious: which frequently arise (the unconscious which is only latent, and so can easily one which is transformed into conscious material easily and under conditions \ become conscious, the "preconscious) One which such a transformation is difficult, can only come about with a considerable expenditure of energy, or may never occur at all (unconscious) 

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. most of the individual's mental processes are unconscious . because of the powerful social taboos attached to certain sexual impulses, many of our desires and memories are repressed . all human behavior is motivated ultimately by what we would call sexuality.(which has been rejected by Carl Gustav Jung and Alfred Adler) 

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Freud's hypotheses most of the individual's mental processes are unconscious all human behavior is motivated ultimately by what we would call sexuality. (which has been rejected by Carl Gustav Jung and Alfred Adler) because of the powerful social taboos attached to certain sexual impulses, many of our desires and memories are repressed the id is entirely unconscious and that only small portions of the ego and the superego are conscious. 

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ID * The id is the reservoir of libido, the primary source of all psychic energy. * It functions to fulfill the primordial life principle, which Freud considers to be the pleasure principle. * Freud explains this “obscure inaccessible part of our personality" as "a chaos, a cauldron of seething excitement [with] no organization and no unified will, only an impulsion to obtain satisfaction for the instinctual needs, in accordance with the pleasure principle" * He further stresses that the “laws of logic-above all, the law of contradicotion-do \ not hold for processes of the id. * the id knows no values, no good and evil, no morality" ۳ * Its function is to gratify our instincts for pleasure without regard for social conventions, legal ethics, or moral restraint. * Safety for the self and for others does not lie within the province of the id 

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Id: * For centuries before Freud, id was recognized in human nature but often attributed to supernatural and external rather than natural and internal forces there is a certain psychological validity in the old saying that a rambunctious child is "full of the devil." 

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ego ‘The first of these regulating agencies, that which protects the individual, is the ego. the rational governing agent of the psyche. the ego lacks the strong vitality of the id, it regulates the instinctual drives of the id so that they may be released in nondestructive behavioral patterns. a large portion of the ego is unconscious, the ego nevertheless comprises wha we ordinarily think of as the conscious mind. the id is governed solely by the pleasure principle, the ego is governed by the reality principle. Ego: the ego serves as intermediary between the world within and the world without. 

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Superego: superego The other regulating agent, that which primarily functions to protect society, is the superego. Largely unconscious, the superego is the moral censoring agency, the repository of conscience and pride. Acting either directly or through the ego, the superego serves to repress or inhibit the drives of the id, to block off and thrust back into the unconscious those impulses toward pleasure that society regards as unacceptable Freud attributes the development of the superego to the parental influence that manifests itself in terms of punishment for what society considers to be bad behavior and reward for what society considers good behavior. > ۲ ۳ 

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+ An overactive superego creates an unconscious sense of guilt is dominated by the pleasure principle (the 5 * the ego by the reality principle(t! human beings by oppo: * the superego is dominated by the morality principle. ( beha ang: * It was this balance that Freud advocated-not a complete removal of inhibiting factors. * One of the most instructive applications of this Freudian tripartition to literary criticism is the well-known essay "In Nomine Diaboli" by Henry A. * analyzing Herman Melville's masterpiece Moby-Dick with the tools provided by Freud Y Captain Ahab, the monomaniac who leadst he crew of the Pe quodto destruction through his insane compulsion to pursue and strike back at the creature who has injured him, is interpreted as the symbol of a rapacious and uncontrollable id. ¥ Starbuck, the sane Christian and first mate who struggles to mediate between the forces embodied in Moby-Dick and Ahab, symbolizes a balanced and sensible rationalism (that is, the ego). 

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sexual theories * the most controversial (and, to many, the most offensive) facet of psychoanalytic criticism is its tendency to interpret imagery in terms of sexuality. » Following Freud's example in his interpretation of dreams, the psychoanalytic critic tends to see all concave images as female or yonic symbols » all images whose length exceeds their diameter as male or phallic symbols. » even more objectionable to some is the interpretation of such activities as dancing, riding, and flying as symbols of sexual pleasure » Psyche's drooping, trailing wings in this poem symbolise in concrete form Poe’ 9 physical impotence. 7 » flying, to all races, unconsciously symbolises the sex act, and that antiquity often presented the penis erect and winged. 

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Freud's theories concerning child psychology » Freud found infancy and childhood a period of intense sexual experience » During the first five years of life, the child passes through a series of phases in erotic development, each phase being characterized by emphasis on a particular erogenous zone (that is, a portion of the body in which sexual pleasure becomes localized). ۷ tille oral ¥ the anal ¥ the genital » These zones are associated not only with pleasure in stimulation but also with the gratification of our vitil needs: eating, elimination, and reproduction. » ۱۲ for some reason the individual is frustrated in gratifying these needs during childhood, the adult personality may be warped accordingly 

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example Y adults who are compulsively fastidious may suffer, according to the psychoanalyst, from an anal fixation traceable to overly strict toilet training during early childhood. Y compulsive cigarette smoking may be interpreted as a symptom of oral fixation traceable to premature weaning. 

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» the child reaches the stage of genital primacy around age five, at which time the Oedipus complex manifests itself. ۴ the Oedipus complex derives from the boy's unconscious rivalry with his father for the love of his mother. 1. classic Sopho- clean tragedy 2. Nathaniel Hawthorne's "My Kinsman, Major Molineux," 

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THE PSYCHOLOGICAL APPROACH IN PRACTICE * Hamlet: The Oedipus Complex psychoanalyst Ernest Jones ¥ Jones's Hamlet and Oedipus (published as an essay in The American journal of Psychology in 1910 ) ¥ Hamlet's muchdebated delay in killing his uncle, Claudius, is to be explained in terms of internal rather than extemal circumstances ¥ Jones builds a highly persuasive case history of Hamlet as a psychoneurotic who. suffers from manic-depressive hysteria combined with an abulia \ ¥ The ambivalence that typifies the child's attitude toward his father » the characters of the ghost (the good, lovable father with whom the boy identifies) » Claudius (the hated father as tyrant and rival) ل ف یی سس واه سح هط ‎a‏ 

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» Hamlet's view of Claudius, on the other hand, represents Hamlet's repressed hostility toward his father as a rival for his mother's affection. » Acorollary to the Oedipal problem in Hamlet is the pronounced misogyny in Flamlet's character. » The underlying theme relates ultimately to the splitting of the mother image which the infantile unconscious effects into two opposite pictures: 1. a virginal Madonna, an inaccessible saint towards whom all sensual approaches are unthinkable 2. a sensual creature accessible to everyone 

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Rebellion Against the Father in Huckleberry Finn » from the psychoanalytic viewpoint all rebellion is in essence a rejection of parental, especially paternal, authority. » Sociologically speaking, Huck rebels against the unjust, inhumane restrictions of a society that condones slavery, hypocrisy, and cruelty. » Symbolically, Huck and Jim, in order to gain freedom and to regain prelapsarian bliss must escape whatever is represented by Miss Watson and pap Finn » Miss Watson and pap Finn represent extremes of authority: authority at its most respectable and at its most contemptible. » pap Finn is still Huck's sole guardian by law and holds near-absolute power over him, an authority condoned by society, just as Miss Watson has a similar power over Jim. » Miss Watson and pap Finn may be said to represent the superego sing to turn Jim in to the 

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» Water in any form is generally interpreted by the psychoanalysts as a female symbol, more specifically as a maternal symbol. ¥ From the superegoistic milieu of society Huck and fim flee to the river, where they find freedom. > The tension between land and water may be seen as analogous to that between the conscious and the unconscious in Freudian theory. \ » Lacking a real mother, Huck finds his symbolic mother in the river 6 in Freudian terms, he returns to the womb. 

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As James M. Cox has pointed out Huck's fake murder in escaping from pap Fin! crucial to our understanding the central informing pattern of death and rebirth “Flaving killed himself Huck is 'dead' throughout the entire journey down the river. Viewed from a slightly different psychological angle, Huckleberry Finn is a story of the child as victim, embodying the betrayal-of-innocence theme that has become one of the chief motifs in American fiction. Philip Young has detected similarities between Huck's plight and that of the Hemingway hero. * Young sees Huck as the wounded child, permanently scarred by traumas of death violence + This ideal symbol is the dark river itself, which is suggestive of the Freudian instinct, the unconscious instinct in all living things to return to nonliving st thereby achieve permanent surcease from the pain of living. ۲ 

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Prometheus Manqué: The Monster Unbound » Prometheus-was intentional, that subtitle is nonetheless wonderfully ironic. » the fire that her modern-day Prometheus brings to humankind-unlike that so dearly stolen from the gods by his mythic model-is hellish and-like the most ominous enormities of modern science-holocaustal. » some salient psychological elements Y According to Freud, all forms of rebellion are essentially rebellions against the restrictions of patriarchal authority-that is, the controlling powers of the Father. Y To be released from these bonds the Father must die, either symbolically or literally ¥ Early in the novel, Victor rejects the elder Frankenstein's advice against readin the "sad trash" of Cornelius Agrippa. ¥ Later on, of course, the Father must die literally of "an apoplectic fit" in tl arms of his guilty son, whose own rebellion has created the monstrous. 

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» Viewed from the Freudian perspective, Frankenstein's phallic creation may be seen as a projection of his creator's own id, unbound and rampant. » Such are the monstrous consequences of libidinous obsession, unchecked by ego and ungoverned by superego. 

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"Young Goodman Brown": Id Versus Superego The theme of innocence betrayed is also central to Nathaniel Hawthorne's "Young Goodman Brown,” the tale of the young bridegroom who leaves his wife Faith to spend a night with Satan in the forest. At the center of the dark wilderness he discovers a witches' Sabbath involving all the honored teachers, preachers, and friends of his village. The climax is reached when his own immaculate bride is brought forth to stand by his side and pledge eternal allegiance to the Fiend of Hell. the hero resists the diabolical urge to join the fraternity of evil, he wakes to find himself in the deserted forest wondering if what has happened was dream or reality. Henceforth he can never hear the singing of a holy hymn without also he; echoes of the anthem of sin from that terrible night in the forest. 

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premise of Brown's journey Brown's journey is more than a physical one: it is a psychological one as well. On one level, then the village may be equated with consciousness, the forest with the dark recesses of the unconscious. the village, as a place of social and moral order is analogous to Freud's superego, conscience, the morally inhibiting agent of the psyche the forest, as a place of wild, untamed passions and terrors, has the attributes of the Freudian id. Brown himself resembles the poor ego, which tries to effect a healthy balance and is shattered because it is unable to do so. when we first see Satan, he is "seated at the foot of an old tree-an allusion to the "old tree" of forbidden fruit and the knowledge of sin. he is, Brown's own alter ego, the dramatic projection of a part of Brown's psyche, just as Faith is the projection of another part of his psyche. 

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» a living serpent“ a standard Freudian symbol for the uncontrollable phallus. » Hawthorne implies that Brown's problem is that of Everyman he does not suggest that all humans share Brown's gloomy destiny. > Like Freud, Hawthorne saw the dangers of an overactive suppression of libido and the consequent development of a tyrannous superego, though he thought of the problem in his own terms as an imbalance of head versus heart. » Goodman Brown is the tragic victim of a society that has shut its eyes to the inevitable "naturalness" of sex as a part of humankind's physical and mental constitution » Among Puritans the word "nature" was virtually synonymous with "sin." » In Hawthorne's The Scarlet Letter, little Pearl, illegitimate daughter of Hester Prynne and the Reverend Mr. Arthur Dimmesdale, is identified throughout as the “child of nature.“ Hawthorne, himself a descendant of Puritan witch hunters and a member of New England society, was obsessed with the nature of sin and with the psychological results of violating the taboos imposed by this system. 

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» "Young Goodman Brown" from the cradle on he has been indoctrinated with against tasting the forbidden fruit sin and Satan have been inadvertently glamorized by prohibition, he has developed compulsion to taste of them. because of the severity of Puritan taboos about natural impulses, his curiosity has bece obsession. * the very nature of his wilderness fantasy substantiates Freud's theory that our repr ’ desires express themselves in our dreams, that dreams are symbolic forms of wish, fulfillment.