After attending class during a lecture covering over
psychoanalytic criticism, which is rooted in the studies of Sigmund Freud, the
supposed father of psychoanalytic thinking, I have learned that it involves
taking the various aspects of an individual's relationship between the
conscious and unconscious mind into consideration, primarily focusing on the
three entities known as the id, ego, and superego. The id usually serves as the
source of an individual's desires, needs, wants, and impulses, particularly
those influenced by sexual and aggressive drives. The superego serves as the
opposite of the id while functioning as a standard for what is moral and
socially acceptable as well as the source of ideal aspirations. The ego exists
as the line of mediation between the other two entities, balancing the two extremes within
the psyche of the individual. Each entity, being extremely complicated, can
lead a person to subconsciously act out while he/she is unaware of the actions
in which he/she puts in effect. They are both used as part of Freud's
structural hypothesis about mental functioning, which can be used as a means of
understanding texts, especially by categorizing a character as an id, ego, or
superego figure. The famous Carl Jung, the most important psychoanalytic theorist
after Freud, elaborated a number of concepts that have led to numerous ways of
aiding people as well as ways of analyzing texts. According to Jung, for
example, the concept of the archetype is a universal theme that can be found
within dreams, myths, religions, and works of art, independent of the personal
unconsciousness of individuals. Another concept built by Jung concerns with the
duality formed between the anima, the female element found in all males, and
the animus, the male element found in all females, that is symbolized in
hermaphrodites, witches, priestesses, medicine men, and shamans. Jungian
thinkers state that while the anima's most frequent manifestation is in the
crude, primitive form of erotic fantasy, it does have a positive side that enables
men to do such things as find the right marriage partner and explore their
inner values, leading them to more profound insights into their own psyches.
Functioning in the same way for women, the animus is formed by the father of
each woman that can lead to coldness, obstinacy, and hypercritical behavior.
Conversely, however, it can also help a woman to develop inner strength, to
take an enterprising approach to life, and to relate to men in positive ways.
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