Humans have a natural tendency to criticize what they read, hear, or see. This tendency has allowed humans to grow intellectually as well as physically. A famous psychologist Ivan Pavlov once said, “Don't become a mere recorder of facts, but try to penetrate the mystery of their origin" (Pavlov). This quotation expresses the desire of truth that humans seek. The desire to penetrate the mystery of ones origin is the driving force behind literary criticism. Furthermore, critics use different techniques to unveil the mystery behind different stories. Specifically, psychological criticism can be used to unveil these mysteries. Psychological criticism can be defined in many different ways. However, the reason something is referred to as being psychological …show more content…
Miller and Miriam to the author Truman Capote. The double figure present in the story revolves around Mrs. Miller. Mrs. Miller represents a very lonely and sad personality and on the other hand Miriam brings out a complete opposite personality. Michael J. Larsen, author of Capote’s “Miriam” and the Literature of the double, observes that Miriam brings an almost magical and much needed ray of light into Mrs. Miller’s boring lifestyle (Larsen 53). At the begging of the story Mrs. Miller is described as lonely and plain, and as the story progresses Mrs. Miller become just the opposite. She strays away from her everyday life and almost begins a new. At one point in the story Mrs. Miller wakes up feeling better and she opens the window to discover a thawed, mild-as-spring day (Capote). These types of descriptive words can be interpreted as rejuvenating and refreshing. As the story progresses one finds that Miriam is more than just a little girl. Miriam begins to represent the side of Mrs. Miller that is suppressed (Larsen 53). At certain times in the story the reader comes to find Mrs. Miller fixed on Miriam. She seems as if Miriam is starting to control her life. One sees this when Mrs. Miller buys food in preparation for a guest or when she lets Miriam take the pin her late husband gave her. All of these little details show how much of a psychological effect Miriam truly has on Mrs. Miller. The result of this obsession is a woman who cannot grasp reality and realize who she really is. The representation of the double figure throughout the story helps us connect the characters and their characteristics to those
The structure and planning of both crimes, the murder of the Countess committed by Hermann and the two murders and the robbing committed by Raskolnikov, were poorly constructed and organized. Illustrated perfectly by the multitude of flaws within each crime. Further, this comments on the intent of the criminal. Pushkin makes the reader believe that Hermann is in love with Lizaveta. When Hermann looks up at the window and, sees Lizaveta, he also sends her love letters, and visits her window countless times to watch her (Pushkin 226-229). Hermann’s true actions are revealed to the reader when he goes into the study and watches the Countess instead of going up to Lizaveta’s room. Hermann’s spends a large amount of time to methodically manipulate
B. Psychoanalytic critics were particularly interested in the horror genre for its uncanny characteristics. The story deals in the realm of the id, ego and superego, all fighting for control of the body. Past horrors are dealt with through the ego defence mechanism, with a lot dealing with repressed sexual tendencies. They also deal with mental health, a term not used during this era, with people who could have schizophrenia, bipolar, or a number of other name illnesses today.
Laurie S. Miller was an assistant professor at Clarion University. She was also the advisor The Clarion Call and the Society of Collegiate Journalists. Also was the former adjunct professor at Point Park University, former instructor at Indiana University of Pennsylvania, and West Virginia University, Morgantown, W.Va. As if that was impressive enough the late Miller was a former reporter for the Tribune-Review in Greenburg and worked at The Daily Courier in Connellsville. Miller of 320 Evergreen Drive, Mt. Pleasant, Pa. was born July 10, 1958. She leaves behind her loving son Dylan S. Ramsier of Greensburg, Pa., her mother Margaret E. Miller of Dawson, her sister Janice L. Covert of Jacksonville, Fla., and her two bothers Robert M. Miller and Scott E. Miller of Connellsville, Pa., and
One thing that is particularly crucial to the development of an understanding of the wider story line is the fact that Miriam is also Mrs. Miller’s first name. The fact that the two main characters in the story share the same name is indicative of their relationship. Another key moment in the story is when, shortly after meeting Miriam, Mrs. Miller
Truman Capote's writing techniques are an essential component to the overall effect that his message gives to the readers. The use of rhetorical as well as literary devices work hand in hand to show the reader just exactly what Capote was trying to convey through his words. At first glance, it may be difficult to decipher the message, however once one digs deeper the message becomes much clearer. Capote wants the audience to understand the importance of living life to the fullest because it can change drastically in the matter of minutes. Although he explains very little that directly relates to his true purpose, his subtle use of stylistic devices work in cohesion to express his ideas, thus the importance of living life to the fullest at all times is greatly emphasized.
Motifs that continuously reoccur in “Miriam” by Truman Capote and Of Mice And Men by John Steinbeck include the loneliness the migrant workers experience when traveling alone and how Miriam experiences insanity from being isolated for such a long time. Loneliness can change a person drastically, and we observe this through the migrant workers and through Miriam. The migrant workers travel alone and isolate themselves from everyone else, and Miriam lives alone and is also isolated from society. The human experience relates between the books and we are able to clearly identify the human experience. In ‘Miriam’, Miriam has been isolated for such a long time she is driven into insanity because of it.
Throughout life we are asked to analyze multiple different things. For example, take kids in sports that are analyzing how they played in their previous game. Even some parents are known to overanalyze their kids events which often leads to them getting ejected. Often times we are asked to review stories or poems that we have read in English class and although at times that can be hard we are all slowly getting better at it. Robert Burns To a Mouse and To a Louse has multiple romantic philosophies.
Miller is not feeling good that night and she is having strange dreams as a symbol
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.
Freud’s theories have launched what is now known as the psychoanalytic approach to literature. Freud was interested in writers, especially those who depended largely on symbols. Such writers tend to tinge their ideas and figures with mystery or ambiguity that only make sense once interpreted, just as the analyst tries to figure out the dreams and bizarre actions that the unconscious mind of a neurotic releases out of repression. A work of literature is thus treated as a fantasy or a dream that Freudian analysis comes to explain the nature of the mind that produced it. The purpose of a work of art is what psychoanalysis has found to be the purpose of the dream: the secret gratification of an infantile and forbidden wish that has been repressed into the unconscious (Wright 765).
Reading a narrative from a psychoanalytic perspective can prove to be a sometimes frustrating experience. Psychoanalysis often disregards the actual texts and verbal context of a piece of literature in favor of the Freudian and Lacanian ideas, which seek to find encrypted motifs in the depths of every creation in order to reveal the author’s unconscious mind. Nevertheless, the critiques of psychoanalytic interpretation of literature claim that such interpretations focus on the content of the text at the expense of the literary form and temporal dimension, which can reduce the literary plots to lifeless machinations. Furthermore, psychoanalytic interpretation of a text may tell us less about the author’s unconscious mind and more about the
Character development within novels with complex plot structures proves to be a difficult task necessitating the author to add their own inner thoughts and experiences to weave a more realistic story. The historical background of a writer helps glean on information about that person’s unconscious and subconscious processes that become apparent within an author’s literature. As the author develops their thoughts throughout a novel attempting to paint a clearer picture of their purpose, their own persona becomes a part of the literature. Psychoanalytic theory attempts to further this claim by taking information from one’s childhood, inner taboo thoughts and hidden motivations, and synthesizing them for a better picture of the author’s
In Miriam, by Truman Capote, amidst loneliness, Mrs. Miller becomes face to face with a young girl whose personality is the complete opposite to her own, a girl who is not afraid to ask for what she wants, while Mrs. Miller is recluse and avoids asking too much from other people. Gradually, as Miriam pushes Mrs. Miller over the edge, she begins to lose the polite, withdrawn part of herself who gives in to passivity. Realizing her faults, Mrs. Miller avoids any of her past characteristics and any qualities that remind her of Miriam. Through characterization, conflict, and tone, Truman Capote uses Miriam to reveal to the reader that self-preservation and detachment can tear a person apart, just as Mrs. Miller herself became a hollow shell of a person.
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). One of the most popularized
In the story, the reader can note the use of indirect and direct characterization to visualize character Mrs.Miller before and after she met Miriam. Before she met Miriam “her interests were little and she had no friends to speak of” (page 1 Capote) To me, this examplifies that as said before, Mrs.Miller is quite lonely and blane although she has very little interests which means she’s probably home a lot and rarely goes anywhere which may cause her to become insane in the long run. Since Mrs.Miller is so isolated and rarely goes out there may be a possibility she could develop a sickness, such as schizophrenia which would cause her to imagine things and think of situations with Miriam that are just a fragment of her imagination. When the readers read the book they see that as Mrs.Miller went to the movie theatre and met Miriam, she changed to a more alive person than what she was before she met her, which in my opinion proves that maybe Miriam had changed Mrs.Miller by just talking to her for that short amount of time. Although, we see Miriam go to Mrs.Millers house later that day, she tries to get Mrs.Miller to give stuff to her and she also tries to get Mrs.Miller to kiss her as shes leaving. Later on that night Mrs.Miller is sick and goes to rest. The following morning Mrs.Miller stayed in bed “only rising once to feed the canary and drink a cup of tea” (page 8 Capote) This means that Mrs.Miller had gotten a little shooken-up on how Miriam showed up last night, so maybe that’s just the beginning of her insanity.