The Neurosis Of Nathaniel Hawthorne Essays - Freudian Psychology

The Neurosis Of Nathaniel Hawthorne The Neurosis of Nathaniel Hawthorne The influence of Freuds theory of the dynamics of human personality extends far beyond the discipline of behavioral science, reaching into areas such as humanities, philosophy, and literature. Freud believed that a work of literature is the external expression of the authors unconscious mind. Therefore, we must treat the work of literature as a dream, then reveal hidden motivations and repressed desires by applying psychoanalytic techniques. In the story Young Goodman Brown, by Nathaniel Hawthorne, I will explore the use of symbols and repressed images by the author that are conveyed throughout the story. To understand better the approach of psychoanalytic criticism, we must first define a general concept of the theory behind it. Psychoanalytic theory finds its roots in psychoanalysis, the medical technique developed by Sigmund Freud in 1900. Freud published a book entitled The Interpretation of Dreams that outlined a complete theory of dreams and focused on unconscious mechanisms and their relation to consciousness. Psychoanalysis was born. Although not originally intended to be a school of literary criticism, Freud later began to develop a connection between literature and psychoanalysis. This created a new understanding of the artwork (the literary piece itself), the artist (writers including their writing process), and the audience (readers and their responses). Psychoanalysis is said to have several different meanings. For literary purposes the best definition as described by Robert Mollinger would be a theory of the mind that can serve as an explanatory model for literature(31). Central to Psychoanalysis is the tripartite model. The tripartite model is best described by our textbook Literary Criticism: This model developed by Freud separates the human psyche into three parts, the id, ego, and superego. The id is the source for all psychosexual desires and psychic energy. The id operates on the pleasure principal, demanding immediate satisfaction. The ego is the rational and logical part of the mind. It operates as a balance or regulator to the id. The final part is the superego, an internal censor that allows people to make moral judgments in light of social pressures. (150-151) Between the id, ego, and superego, exists an ever-changing balance is created. When the ego cannot meet the needs of the id and superego, a neurosis is created: It is these unresolved conflicts (i.e. neurosis) that Freud seeks to resolve so the patient can return to normalcy. (Bressler 153) Using this tripartite model is an important element for dream interpretation, which is the basis for my criticism of Young Goodman Brown A psychoanalytic criticism of Young Goodman Brown will view the entire story as a single dream of Nathaniel Hawthornes. Freud believed that dreams stored hidden repressed sexual desires, anger, rage, guilt, and emotions from the unconscious. Therefore, our psyche recreates these repressed feeling and emotions through our dreams. When the critic analyzes the literature as a dream, he then unlocks the hidden messages, repressed desires, and underlying motivations of the author. Central to the story of Goodman Brown is his curious journey with the stranger. Although the reader is never directly told why Brown meets with the stranger, a psychoanalytic criticism lends a different and unique perspective to his travels. On the surface of the story, the meeting of the two men may be simply seen as chance encounter; however, their characters and actions represent far more. Hawthornes writing is very closely related to his conflicts with religion during his life. Central to his struggle in Young Goodman Brown is the conflict with gay and lesbian relationships versus the Puritan church. Hawthorne uses his characters as symbolic images to represent his feeling and thoughts about the religious culture at work during the late 1800s. No different, the stranger Goodman Brown meets in the woods is a projection of Hawthornes conscience through Brown. I hope to demonstrate that Hawthornes conscience has created the character of the stranger through a neurosis produced by his unresolved conflict with gay relationships versus his puritan society beliefs. The stranger represents Hawthornes struggle with sin, his ids primary pleasures, and the close relation between sin and the devil. Within the first few paragraphs of the story, Brown states, what a wretch I am to leave her on such an errand.but no

Verb Agreement

7 Classes of Noun/Verb Agreement 7 Classes of Noun/Verb Agreement 7 Classes of Noun/Verb Agreement By Mark Nichol Below youll find seven classes of noun/verb agreement you need to understand. 1. Indefinite Pronouns Most indefinite pronouns correspond to singular verbs: â€Å"Someone has left her plate on the table.† â€Å"Everybody is entitled to his or her opinion.† â€Å"Each boy is responsible for his actions.† To confirm, test for the proper verb form by writing a simple sentence in which is follows the pertinent pronoun: â€Å"Someone is missing† (not â€Å"Someone are missing†). The proper verb form for some indefinite pronouns depends on the reference: â€Å"All of the soup is gone. (Soup is a single entity.) â€Å"Some of the comments are favorable. (The comments are counted as separate entities.) The indefinite pronoun none can be singular or plural depending on the context: â€Å"None of the jewels are missing.† (None of the components of the whole entity in question are missing.) â€Å"None of the jewelry is missing.† (Not one part of the whole entity is missing.) 2. Conjunctive Phrases The simple conjunction and cannot necessarily be replaced by such phrases as â€Å"along with,† â€Å"as well as,† and â€Å"together with†: â€Å"The doe along with its fawns is resting in the meadow.† (This sentence is correct, however, if â€Å"along with its fawns† is inserted into the sentence â€Å"The doe is resting in the meadow,† which requires bracketing commas. The same is true of the other phrases.) 3. â€Å"Either/Or† and â€Å"Neither/Nor† Neither and either refer to two compared or associated objects as individual entities and are therefore usually employed with singular verbs: â€Å"Neither she nor I are ready for that.† â€Å"Either option will work for me.† Informally, however, an exception is made in such constructions as â€Å"Are either of you ready?† In â€Å"either/or† and â€Å"neither/nor† constructions with a mixture of singular and plural nouns, the verb form is determined by whether the closest noun is singular or plural: â€Å"Either the captain or one of the lieutenants are leading the patrol.† â€Å"Neither the students nor the teacher remembers hearing anything.† However, because the plural noun and the singular verb still clash in the second sentence despite their lack of proximity, it is advisable to construct the sentence so that the singular pronoun precedes the plural one: â€Å"Neither the teacher nor the students remember hearing anything.† 4. Positive and Negative Subjects in Combination A subject consisting of positive and negative sentiments that differ in singular and plural form should be followed by a verb that corresponds with the positive element: â€Å"The delivery of the speech, not its contents, is the issue.† As with â€Å"either/or† and â€Å"neither/nor† constructions, perhaps it is best to rearrange the sentence so that the singular noun is in proximity with the verb: â€Å"It is not the contents of the speech, but its delivery, that is at issue.† 5. Expletives In sentences beginning with such expletives as here and there, the actual subject, which follows the verb, determines the verb form: â€Å"There is a word for that.† â€Å"Here are several choices.† 6. Plural Nouns for Single Objects Plural nouns that name single objects, such as scissors and pants, are matched with plural verbs unless the phrase â€Å"pair of† precedes the noun; in that case, pair is the subject: â€Å"Scissors are dangerous.† â€Å"A pair of scissors is required for this activity.† Some other nouns ending in s are also singular in meaning: â€Å"The mumps is a disease you don’t hear much about anymore.† Meanwhile, others stand for a single thing but call for a plural verb: â€Å"Thanks are in order.† 7. Fractional Phrases Phrases referring to a mathematical portion may, depending on the context, be singular or plural: â€Å"A small percentage of the employees are opposed.† â€Å"A large percentage of the cargo was damaged.† â€Å"Three-fourths of the land is forested.† â€Å"One-third of the trees are oaks.† Numbers expressed as part of a mathematical operation are linked with a plural verb, but the outcome of a computation is expressed as a single entity: â€Å"Ten and six are added together to equal sixteen.† â€Å"Ten minus six is four.† Want to improve your English in five minutes a day? Get a subscription and start receiving our writing tips and exercises daily! Keep learning! Browse the Grammar category, check our popular posts, or choose a related post below:The Letter "Z" Will Be Removed from the English AlphabetWhen Is a Question Not a Question?