How Do You Use Freudian Literary Criticism?
To use Freudian literary criticism, it’s helpful to look at the general Freudian ideas. The critique involves applying these to any piece of literature. Sigmund Freud had several wide ranging influences on western thought beyond his famous “stages of psychosexual development” and one task of the holistic Freudian critique is to challenge the narrow view of Freud’s work and explore other less sexual areas of his work in relation to literary theory. Explore the various “levels of the mind” as they relate to characters or mass psychology in the literature. Freud separated the mind’s force into a trinity: id, ego and superego. The way characters use these three mental powers to navigate life’s events is central to a Freudian analysis. Look at the “mental energy” of a character. Freud used the word “libido” in a general sense to illustrate use of mental energy. We tend to use libido and it’s inherent “mojo” as a sexual references, but that’s not the only application of the term. Look at the
