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2.1.1.4. The Mythopoeic Approach
Critics who make use of the mythopoeic frame of reference seek to discover certain universally recurrent patterns of human thought, which they believe find
expression in significant works of art pp. 11-13.
2.1.1.5. The Psychological Approach
The psychological approach involves the effort to locate and demonstrate certain recurrent patterns. This approach tries to find the human psychology such as human
personality in the literary work. In applying these psychological theories the student must once again be careful not to take the part for the whole and reduce a piece of
literature to a mere statement of a behavior pattern pp. 13-15.
2.1.2. Psychoanalysis
In 1923, Freud presented his new structural theory of an id, ego, and
superego in a book entitled
The Ego and the Id . Structural theory divides the psyche
into the id
, the ego
, and the super-ego
. The id is present at birth as the repository of basic instincts, which Freud called Triebe drives: unorganized and unconscious,
it operates merely on the pleasure principle, without realism or foresight. The ego develops slowly and gradually, being concerned with mediating between the urgings
of the id and the realities of the external world; it thus operates on the reality principle. The super-ego is held to be the part of the ego in which self-observation,
self-criticism and other reflective and judgemental faculties develop. The ego and the
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super-ego are both partly conscious and partly unconscious. Furthermore, Sigmund Freud’s psychoanalytic theory of personality believes that personality is composed of
three elements. These three elements of personality, known as the id, the ego and the superego, work together to create complex human behaviors.
2.1.2.1. The Id
The id is the only component of personality that is present from birth. This aspect of personality is entirely unconscious and includes of the instinctive and primitive
behaviors. According to Freud, the id is the source of all psychic energy, making it the primary component of personality. The id is driven by the pleasure principle,
which strives for immediate gratification of all desires, wants, and needs. If these needs are not satisfied immediately, the result is a state anxiety or tension.
However, immediately satisfying these needs is not always realistic or even possible. If we were ruled entirely by the pleasure principle, we might find ourselves
grabbing things we want out of other peoples hands to satisfy our own cravings. This sort of behavior would be both disruptive and socially unacceptable. According to
Freud, the id tries to resolve the tension created by the pleasure principle through the primary process, which involves forming a mental image of the desired object as a
way of satisfying the need.
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