Exploring texts through the human psyche.

What is Psychoanalytical Theory? • A literary theory which looks at the

psychology present in the story

• Looks within and without the text

• Based in psychoanalysis- Sigmund Freud

• Everything goes back to the parents & childhood

Sigmund Freud -From Austria -Revolutionized ideas on how the human mind works

-Very controversial for his time -Theory: unconscious motives control behavior -One of the world’s most influential thinkers -Affected the areas of psychology, medicine, literature, and art

Parent Relationships

• Oedipus Complex

• Oedipus—Character in a Greek play

• Oedipus kills his father and marries his mother

• Freud says we go through this phase as a child

– Boys resent their fathers and love their mothers

– Girls resent their mothers and love their fathers

– This is a normal phase for children

– Prepares us for relationships later in life

Conscious & Unconscious Mind

• Conscious Mind—includes everything we are aware of

• Rational thinking

• Memories that we can access when we want to

• Unconscious Mind—a reservoir of feelings, thoughts, and memories outside of our conscious awareness

• Suppressed memories

• Unconscious mind influences us even though we are unaware

Elements of Personality • Part of Freud’s Theory of Psychoanalysis

• Personality is composed of three elements:

• The Id

• The Ego

• The Superego

• These elements work together to create the

complexity of human behaviors

Elements of Personality

• The Id:

• Present from birth

• Entirely unconscious

• Instincts

• “Pleasure Principle” – strives for immediate

gratification of all desires, wants, and needs

• Important early in life for survival

Elements of Personality • The Ego:

• Deals with reality

• Ensures that impulsive behaviors from the id are

expressed appropriately

• Acts like a filter to keep wants and desires in check

Elements of Personality • The Superego:

• Holds our moral standards

• Shaped and influenced by parents and society

• Begins to emerge around age 5

• Perfects and civilizes our behavior

Elements of Personality • Balance!

• Balance between the id, the ego, and the superego

is key to a healthy personality

• What might happen if an adult’s id was stronger

that the ego or superego?

• What might happen if an adult’s superego

suppressed the id completely?

Ok, sooo….what does all that mean?

• Everything possesses meaning-EVERYTHING!

• What the characters do

• What the characters say

• Symbolism—

– Names

– Settings

– Occupations

Connect to The Lion King • Explore the relationship between Mufasa and

Simba and the relationship between Mufasa and Scar. Discuss Oedipus Complex themes in The Lion King.

Connect to The Lion King • When Simba repeatedly disobeys Mufasa as a

child, what level of consciousness do you think his behavior is coming from?

Connect to The Lion King • Many people think that the three hyenas

symbolize Freud’s Elements of Personality. Explain why they might think that.

Connect to The Lion King • Which element of personality is Simba

exhibiting when he is living in the jungle with Timon and Pumbaa? What element of personality is Nala representing when she finds Simba?