Gail T. Houston Presented By: Connie Myerson

Agenda Key Concepts (20 min) Comparison to and Review and Discuss

Why do I have to know about Psychoanalytic Criticism?  Studying P.C. offers a variety of ways to read a text in order to:  Focus attention on the unconscious activity at hand  See how sexuality, desire, and repression are a part of culture  Understand the formation of identity (male/female)

What is Freudian Psychoanalysis? From 1856 to 1938 a psychologist named Sigmund Freud worked to explain the functions of the psyche. He ended up creating a whole new form of psychology called psychoanalysis. He did this by studying the unconscious and how our unrealized desires feed into our actions and work.

Freud’s Models of the Psyche Dynamic Economic Topographical

Dynamic Model Conflict between two forces: The external reality (conscious) Instictual drives (unconscious)

Economic Model Pleasure Principle (bodily drives for pleasure) vs. Reality Principle (the practical concerns of society)

Topographical Model Freud’s Topographical Model is the most widely known today, encompassing such constructs as the Id, Ego, and Superego.  Id- represents powerful natural instincts and bodily urges (the child)  Superego- parenting structure restricting instincts and urges  Ego- mediates between the Id and the Superego

Topographical Model (con’t.)  In this model the ego tries to balance natural instincts and urges of the Id with the strict parenting of the Superego  Some of these urges still manage to break through in eruptions termed “ return of the repressed”  Such eruptions may show up as Freudian slips, phobias and as we will cover later on, fetishes.

The Birds and the Bees (According to Freud!)

Five Stages to Reaching Sexual Maturity Oral Anal Phallic (Oedipus/Castration/Electra Complexes) Latency Genital

Oral Stage When the subject is in the oral stage the mouth is the dominant erotogenic site. Sucking a mothers breast comes to represent a state of oneness with the mother, as well as a sense of total bodily satisfaction not maturing correctly from this stage can lead to oral fixations (always having fingers in mouth/chewing gum continuously)

Anal Stage The child realizes he is separate from the mother-both fears and likes this independence To illustrate this independence they can control their own bowel movements. Because of this the anal region becomes the predominant erotogenic region.

Anal Stage (con’t.) The child also can realize control over their parents by not controlling their bowels Becoming fixated in this stage may lead to anal retentiveness (exerting control over things since they couldn’t in their childhood)

Phallic Stage Child discovers the pleasure involved in the stimulation of the penis or clitoris This discovery can lead to several complexes such as: Oedipus Complex Castration Complex Electra Complex

Oedipus Complex The boy subconsciously desires to kill the rival father and marry the mother

Castration Complex Crucial event in which the boy sees a relationship between the mother’s lack of a penis and his father’s threat to punish the boys “sinful” behavior. The boy thinks the father has castrated the mother and in fear therefore abandons his love for his mother and accepts his father as the masculine role model.

Electra Complex Freud tended to be very sexist in his studies and therefore did not have many theories as to complexes of women except one: He thought that at some point during the phallic stage that the girls wanted to kill there mothers because they were in love with their fathers, just like boys who were suffering from the Oedipal Complex

Latency Stage After passing successfully through their complexes young boys and girls will enter the latency stage where their sexual desires will be put on hold (between ages of 5 and 12)

Genital Stage (yes it’s the last one!!!) Freud believed that heterosexual orientation would be enforced by the Oedipus and Castration complexes, therefore leading a child into the mature phase of sexual organization. This phase completed the childs growth to maturity Note: Freud believed the foundation for society was the heterosexual-headed family unit

Jacques Lacan

Foremost French psychoanalytic, he devised a theory involving 4 groups of conflict, comparable to Freud’s Id, Ego, and Superego The Real, Imaginary, Symbolic Order, and the Phallus as a signifier

The Real Actual world which is unknowable to the individual People are subjects- subjected to many rules and can never experience the Real or merge with it

The Imaginary Utopian state of oneness with the mother World of images, fantasy, and wish fulfillment-mirror stage Thinks mother fulfills all desires when in reality she never has-this is what we pursue in future sexual relationships Ego or unified self does not exist

The Symbolic Order Realm in which child learns to use language and becomes subject to the fathers rule Speaker is subject to language rather than the master of it Language actually obstructs understanding Breaks bond between child and mother, child is subjected to father who imposes societies laws

The Phallus as a Signifier Biological penis and phallus are two separate things Phallus represents existence and worth to Lacan-- it is also a symbl of language and rules over the person Women lack this making them more worthless and have less control over their world

Review Freud 5 stages Oral Anal Phallic Latency Genital Lacan 4 “worlds” Real Imaginary Symbolic Order Phallus as a signifier

Review (con’t.) How do Freud and Lacan compare and contrast? How do these topics relate to Marnie and Austin Powers?