Psychoanalytic criticism has been the focus of this week’s class. Using psychology to analyze characters and text is very new to me. As we discussed different defense mechanisms, it became clear that many of the characters in the summer reading books exhibited these defense mechanisms.
In The Bell Jar by Sylvia Plath, Esther becomes so depressed that the only way she feels she can deal with her depression is through self-harm and attempts at suicide. Others, like Jay Cee, contribute to Esther’s depression. She asks what Esther’s plans for her life after college are, but Esther is unsure. It is this pressure from others that contributes to Esther’s depression. She ends up cutting herself with razor blades to make herself bleed, attempting to drown in the ocean, and overdosing on medication to kill herself. When people’s negative feelings towards others turns inward unto themselves leading to self-harm, they exhibit the defense mechanism known as somatization. Esther displays this immature defense mechanism leading to the need for psychological help.
In Tender is the Night by F. Scott Fitzgerald, Nicole clearly has a mental illness. When she was very young her father sexually abused her leaving her mentally ill. Nicole seems to exhibit the repression defense mechanism. Repression is when one subconsciously shoves a traumatic memory to the subconscious so it does not affect one’s conscious. Nicole never mentions in Dick’s recollection when she was 16 or at the present time what occurred to her as a child. It seems that she has repressed this memory to her subconscious and that is has had devastating consequences. Repression can lead to “illogical, self-destructive, or anti-social” behavior1 . While Nicole tries to seem normal and sociable, she actually is somewhat anti-social. During Nicole’s own party, Mrs. McKisco finds Nicole having a panic attack on the bathroom floor. Nicole also exhibits illogical behavior such as when she is running away from Dick (and her children) for no reason when they visit a fair.
While it is simple to read these novels and just notice that some of the main characters have mental illnesses, it is much more interesting to analyze their mental conditions in depth. Using psychoanalytic criticism, the reasons for the characters’ mental illnesses as well as the defense mechanisms they employ can be explored in depth.
1 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Psychological_repression
I found the link in mental illness in these works interesting, and even wrote my first blog post on it. I enjoyed the fact that you related them to the aspects of psychoanalysis we have been studying in class as well. Just reflecting during class has led me to realize that many of the stories we have read in the past for class could be interpreted through psychoanalysis. I'm looking forward to doing more of this in the future - psychology is the best.
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