Freud
The father of psychotherapy, Sigmund Freud (1856-1939) is a force to be reckoned with in Psychology. He was far more experimental than many people would like to admit, but his ideas were the foundation for not only the mind, but for the ideas that contrasted and reacted to him; through disagreement, new conceptions of the human mind were created.
For our purposes, it is important to understand Freud's construction of the mind. When we write analytically about literature, the 'conscious' and 'unconscious' parts of the text and of the author are essential elements. Yet, what does that even mean and what do we look for? What do you write about? This page is here to help.
Lit. Application Checklist
⭘ Identify unconscious desires, conflicts, and motivations in characters.
⭘ Analyze the use of defense mechanisms in character interactions.
⭘ Explore manifestations of the Oedipus complex and Electra complex in familial relationships.
⭘ Examine symbolism and dream sequences for insights into characters' inner lives.
⭘ Assess the role of sexuality and taboo in character development.
⭘ Look for patterns of repression, denial, projection, and sublimation in character actions.
⭘ Evaluate how characters cope with anxiety and distress.
⭘ Consider the influence of early childhood experiences on character behavior.
⭘ Reflect on the implications of Freudian concepts for thematic interpretations of the text.
Strengths
Foundational psychologist; essential for understanding broader context of psychology
Clear, decisive labels that prescribe a stable perspective on a behavior
Dream analysis (Link)
Excellent diagnostic tool with extremely useful 'defense mechanisms'
Superb for exploring subconscious violence, sexuality, and other typically taboo behaviors
Weaknesses
Outdated with an (arguable) overemphasis on sexuality
Lack of empirical support; Freud's questionable methods for forming conclusions
Deterministic Viewpoint
Patriarchally biased viewpoint with almost no consideration to multicultural elements or plurality
Overused
Tretyak's Commentary
Just about every undergraduate English or Literature class will have someone submitting a paper applying Freudian psychology. Moreover, many of those will do it poorly, simply identifying the Id, Ego, or Superego and then concluding that the primary protagonist is a mother fornicator.
As it has been applying in literature, this lens has been dismissive of the complexities of life and the characters suffering from it. Papers often treat characters as patients needing to be fixed, minimizing their significance in a work and suggesting that a character's viewpoint cannot be valid until they balance out their ego, learn coping mechanisms, or etc. It's a diagnostic tool with the purpose of identifying a character's flaws and coping mechanisms and their reaciton to the environment. However, it falls drastically short (compared to other lenses) in its ability to make broader thematic connections in literature.
In short: this is the first psychological lens you need to learn and the last lens you should consider applying. It is so frequently used by elementary literary analysts playing with their first attempts at psychoanalytic lenses that it is hard to determine who has a refined perspective on this lens, and who is merely experimenting with their first outing in a college literary course. And I haven't even mentioned his cocaine obsession yet...