Nights At The Circus Literary Analysis

Psychological criticism has roots as far back as the fourth century BC, when Aristotle “commented on the effects of tragedy on an audience, saying hat by evoking pity and fear, tragedy creates a cathartic of those emotions” (Dobie 54). More recently, however, psychological criticism has been shaped and influenced by the work of Sigmund Freud. He developed theories concerning “the workings of the human psyche, its formations, its organization, and its maladies” that, while further refined by other theorists, are still the basis of the modern approach to literary criticism (Dobie 54). Freud’s theory of the tripartite psyche is used to classify and define the conscious and unconscious mind into the id, ego, and superego. When examined using this theory, Margaret Atwood’s The Handmaid’s Tale, a dystopian novel about a patriarchal totalitarian government that has replaced the United States of America, is particularly interesting.

Women and femininty is a recurring theme in this novel mainly because of the time period it is set in.

It is not just the feminism of gender, it is also about racial and ethnic equality, equal capacity, gender, spirituality, class, and all the signs that define one of us. As we see the feminist novel deals not only with what we are, but also with our ways of living. The narrative nucleus in this novel revolves around the concerns of women, their stories and the lives of women. It is unlikely that there will be a consensus on what makes a novel

Throughout the late twentieth century, a prominent subject in literature, as exemplified by Laura Esquivel and Ariel Dorfman’s productions, was the contrary standard of feminism. During this era, the popular conception of a woman’s obligations included housework, bearing children, and remaining submissive to their husbands and male authority figures; although, feminism thoroughly opposed the entire notion. In the article, Feminism in Death and the Maiden and Like Water for Chocolate written by Justine M. Baek, she states that “The theme of feminism is present in Ariel Dorfman’s play, Death and the Maiden, and Laura Esquivel’s novel, Like Water for Chocolate. Both works showcase strong female protagonists endeavouring to escape and solve the

The approach reads literature as an expression of unconscious desire. Psychoanalytic theorists may focus on the author’s psyche, the psychological effect on the reader, or the phases of emotional and sexual development. The theory examines conscious and unconscious motives of characters and author, and it interprets literature through overt and covert content. Joseph Conrad’s Heart of Darkness can be linked to psychoanalytic theory. The story’s narrator, Marlow, describes his journey up the Congo River working in the ivory trade.

     Psychoanalytic criticism is a type of literary criticism that analyzes and classifies many of the forms of psychoanalysis in the interpretation of literature. As the Concise Oxford Dictionary defines psychoanalysis, as a form of therapy that is concluced ‘by investigating the interaction of conscious and unconscious elements in the mind' (Barry 96).

the main emphasis in this novel lies in the gender relations built through identity, sexuality, and

The primary difference between these two streams of feminism is ‘how much respect [each approach gives] … to the brute fact that everyone gets categorised as either male or female.’ Additionally, the deconstructionist notion of ‘breaking down a text into its constituent differences’ will be employed as part of the methodology to apply these theories. As the novel has presented the challenge of an unreliable narrator, it may initially be hard for me to refrain from interpreting the text through a psychoanalytical perspective. However, my experience with principles of Deconstruction should assist me in analysing the text and formulating a feminist reading to advance the current understanding of the novel.

The first couple lines of the novel steer the reader in a direction geared towards feminism. Feminism is sometimes linked with the idea that men and women are equal and in the opening lines, the narrator illustrates a different message.

During this semester, we studied many English literature theories. We started with New Criticism and ended last week with cultural studies. By far, the most interesting one for me was Psychoanalysis because it helped me understand the possible reasons behind actions and behaviors. Sometimes we read literature without even thinking why things unfold the way they do but after reading the psychoanalysis theories by Sigmund Freud along with some readings by Parker and Tyson I have found myself understanding texts differently. I am going to expose how psychoanalysis relates to the following texts: A&P short story, Passing by Nella Larsen, The Great Gatsby by Scott Fitzgerald and the movie The Crying Game by Neil Jordan.

Women have played a very important role in the development of psychology, though they are not recognized as major contributors. In this paper we are going to be focusing on the works and contribution of Anna Freud. She is known for her construction of child psychoanalysis theory and her interpretation of child psychology. Anna Freud (1895-1982) is famous as being involved in the foundation of the child psychoanalytic movement. She was the youngest of Freud’s children and the only one to whose life was devoted to psychoanalysis. Her development of child psychoanalysis has been greatly noted in the history of psychology. Anna Freud kept the basic ideas that her father developed. However, her interest laid in the psyche and how it was constructed. She also took interest in the where the ego stood in the structure of the psyche. She saw the ego as the “seat of observation”; it is from the ego that we can clearly see how the

This novel deals with the struggle of women to gain equal treatment. Male dominance is seen as the societal norm-shown when Albert says "Men s 'pose to wear the pants". This metaphorical expression refers to the stereotypical male dictatorship. Control takes various forms and is experienced by all of the female characters specifically through sexual aggression. There is a common

The second approach to feminist literary criticism that Showalter describes, the woman as writer, does not rely upon this male understanding. Showalter also refers to this approach as “gynocritics”, appropriated from the French terminology “la gyncritique” (147). What this approach relies upon for its focus of analysis is the role women themselves play in the creation and understanding of literature. The focus then is upon literature created by women themselves, and is not limited in its analysis to female characters because of this. Showalter describes this approach as “more self-contained and experimental, with connections to other modes of new feminist research” (147). One of the majour goals in literary criticism that the gynocritic approach aims for is the creation of a specialized language unique to the criticism of female created literature. This is required, Showalter describes, in order to truly step away from the male-dominated rhetoric often associated and employed in the criticism otherwise.

Woman were taught to be seen and not heard, they were to be oogled by men, while being silent and angelic like creatures themselves such as the infamous ‘Madame Bovary’ by Gustave Flaubert where gynocritics have analysed Emma Bovarys position in an imperial society ‘interpreting her existential malaise and obsession with fantasy as a product of her limited role in bourgeois society’. In Tony Tanners article for example he argues that Emmas sickness relates to the woolliness of her position in society. Woman were seen as unfit and simply incapable of writing. Millett argues that sexual politics is mens attempt of maintaining dominion over woman. This theory encouraged universities to make a study into falsely projected images and stereotypes of woman in fiction. Thus, encouraging other writers to get involved such as, Elaine Showalters ‘A literature of their own’, and Susan Gubar’s ‘The madwoman in the attic.’ This study of female representation in literature aimed to undo a patriarchal strategy which included ‘feminine’ and ‘female’ as one, regardless of differences in personality, and ‘to avoid patriarchal notions of aesthetics, history

Three aspects are important while analyzing a text according to Psychoanalytical Criticism. These are the author, characters and the reader. Psychoanalytic critics handle the text like analyzing the author’s own inner world as Ann B. Dobie stated her book Theory into Practice, An Introduction to Literary Criticism: “They see work as an expression of the writer’s unconscious mind, an artifact that can be used to psychoanalyze the writer, producing psycho-biography.” (2015, p. 62). Hence, it is important to have background information about the writer’s own life story in order to grasp the reason of characters’ attitude in the text. Symbols, dreams and conflicts have a vital role for the writer because they are the messengers to the reader who has been in communication with the text. The reader is also important as s/he is going to get the messages and reach the repressed feelings of the author. In this respect analyzing a text