psychoanalysis: a freudian criticism of three works of literature a clockwork orange the picture of...
TRANSCRIPT
Psychoanalysis: A Freudian criticism of three works of literature
A Clockwork Orange The Picture of Dorian Gray
Atlas Shrugged
A Clockwork Orange
• Id, ego, and superego• Dreams• Father figures• Oedipus complex
“What’s it going to be then, eh?”
• Alex freely acts out all desires, giving his id complete control.
• His superego fails to punish him because he sees no wrong in what he is doing.
• Music fuels violence and vice versa.
Dreams are the royal road to the
unconscious
• Dreams that he loses his power – wish fulfillment of keeping power.
• Dream comes true when droogs turn on him.• In jail, he dreams of music and violence, his
two passions that are now taken away.• In prison, he dreams of Ludwig van in form of
castration complex.
Rehabilitation
• Behavior modification program combines violent images with a physically sick feeling
• Ego changes because his relationship to reality is driven by physical sickness in relation to violence
• Superego still craves violence, but ego suppresses the urge to avoid feeling ill
• Becomes a “Clockwork Orange”, alive on the outside, yet mechanical inside
Reintegration
• Alex cannot defend himself because the thought of violence makes him ill.
• Sees F. Alexander as father figure• Oedipus complex fulfilled– Alex raped and
killed F. Alexander’s wife.• F. Alexander seeks revenge by using Alex then
driving him to attempt suicide.
“I Was Cured All Right.”
• Alex envisions his tainted ego leaving his body and new, fresh ego entering, freeing him to act out his id’s desires.
• The ultimate wish fulfillment of regressing into his original state.
The Picture of Dorian Gray
• The Uncanny• Id, Ego, Superego• Oedipus Complex
• The Faustian bargain transfers evidence of Dorian’s age and misdeeds to the portrait.
• The picture becomes uncanny because it is essentially Dorian’s soul manifested in a physical painting.
“If I would be always young, and the picture grow old…I would give my soul for that.”
“The only way to get rid of temptation is to
yield to it…”
• Acts out all the fantasies of his id• Superego dissolves because he has no
conscious and his self-ideal resides in the picture
• Ego is transferred to the portrait because anything that would normally bring him pain is evident in the painting
He has been twenty-one nearly half a
century• He has no need for a superego .• Society continues to accept him despite his
horrid acts because he remains young and beautiful.
• The reader lives out the fantasy of being forever young.
A Schism of the Soul
• Basil (father figure) is horrified at the portrait and Dorian, realizing he’s done something wrong, kills him.
• Has no ego or superego so he destroys the painting. Because the portrait contains those essential parts, Dorian dies.
Atlas Shrugged
• The perfect man?• Sex is not an animal instinct.• Does repression cause everything?
“Who is John Galt?”
The archetypal man
• Galt is in absolute control of himself, thus has successfully repressed all desires.
• Characters view sex as a recognition and sharing of values.
"So you think that money is the root of all
evil? Have you ever
asked what is the root of money?"
• Wealth and values versus living life through alms, altruism, and socialism.
• Possible repressions results in overly passionate views.
Conclusion• All human motivations
and behaviors can have psychoanalytical interpretations.
• The explanations are not always correct, but can me made to fit most circumstances.
FIN