How Do Modern Readers Respond To Freud's Reading Of Shakespeare?

Abstract

This piece of study aims to argue about the topic that how do modern readers respond to Freud's reading of Shakespeare. The motive here is to discuss the strengths and weaknesses of his theories, and also to provide an underline of the ways in which Lacan has improved on these. The arguments are provided on each of the chapters including Chapter I in which Hamlet's behavior related to the Freudian theory "Oedipus's complex" is discussed, Chapter II in which Macbeth and Lady Macbeth are analyzed according to Freudian theory, and Chapter III in which it is discussed that according to specific Freudian theories, how mind, sexuality, and instincts work. Moreover, Freudian psychoanalytic critics are also highlighted in the argument. The connection between psychoanalysis and literature is also lime lighted in the study. Finally, the purpose of Lacanian theories and their modern interpretations are also included in the later sections of the paper.

How Do Modern Readers Respond To Freud's Reading Of Shakespeare?

Introduction

There are a countless number of aspects of Shakespeare's plays that contain numerous elements of modernity. The most significant features that make Shakespeare's play more interesting include universality and realism. After interacting with the scenes from Shakespeare's work, readers believe that they would have acted or spoken in the similar way in which Shakespeare's men speak and act. However, since the time of psychoanalysis came into existence, there have been numerous of Shakespeare's plays that are being analyzed and studied by Lacan and Freud. Both of them have given a number of theories in which one can read Shakespeare in new perspectives. As a matter of fact, most critics are interested not in a Freudian reading of Shakespeare, rather they are interested in Shakespearean readings of Freud. According to the perception of most of the people, Freud is to seen as an articulated version of Shakespeare. It is also of immense important to know what modern readers think of Freudian's texts and theories and how they respond to them.

Discussion

The discovery of unconscious by Sigmund Freud at the end of nineteenth century has played the role of a defining factor in the intellectual life of twentieth century. Almost everyone ranging from the juvenile delinquent to the scholars of his study are being touched by Freud's ideas. Moreover, psychoanalysis has also affected history, biography, literary criticism, and the study of Shakespeare. However, Freud was not a critic, he was a psychologist, and thus his literary remarks and comments about Shakespeare were mostly considered as incidental to the main study of Freud. Therefore, as a result of this factor, Freud's insights about Shakespeare are scattered through his work (Holland, www.jstor.org).

Modern reader's response to Freud's reading of Shakespeare

In a simpler meaning, there may be two possible positions as described by the Freud's psychoanalysis. One is that psychoanalysis is applied to arts and interprets arts. Secondly, in contradiction, art interprets psychoanalysis. According to Freud, all the human dynamics are always deeply understood by artists, and Freud has ...