What textual dimensions does the psychoanalytic critic examine?
1. The actions of the characters: The most obvious object of examination is of the characters, whose behaviors and thoughts say something about the psyche of the character herself, the author, the community of readers, and the culture in which the text appears. The critic will look for the various psychoanalytic dynamics one might look for in people: repression, projection, and so on. Disadvantage: No matter how logical, the readings of characters can sometimes seem a little beyond the pale. 2. Description, or the creation of the world of the text: Description can be a powerful index of the mind of a character or author. Again, the critic will look for examples of various psychoanalytic dynamics, this time in the text itself rather than in a character. For D.H. Lawrence, nature–especially flowers–tends to signify sexuality, with especial reference to genitalia. So sexuality is displaced onto nature. Those impossibly tall buildings in Blade Runner and Metropolis are phallic. Monsters
