English Literature

The psychological perspective of analysis can easily be identified as the type of literary criticism that focuses on the psychological aspect of the characters and answers the questions on why they did what they did. Their whole character growth and development are taken into consideration and most especially, their motivation for their actions and words are scrutinized in terms of why they happened because of the psychological state of their minds. The psychological perspective of analysis both envelops the science of psychology with its technical terms and the close reading of the literary work also known as formalism. Most famous and notable for the psychological analysis of literature is the psychoanalysis pioneered by Sigmund Freud wherein he relates motivations of characters as being offspring of their unconsciousness, sexuality, and suppressions controlled by the society. When a literary work is seen through the psychological perspective, it is psycho-analysis which is usual applied, and this can be understood more in the psychoanalytical study of Susan Glaspells Trifles and Sophocles Oedipus the King.

The play Trifles written by Susan Glaspell is the type of literature that feminists would most likely love to analyze since it portrays the oppressions done to women by the patriarchy-dominated society. The play centers on the investigation of the sheriff, the witness (who also happens to be the neighbor), and the County Attorney on the murder of John Wright as committed by Mrs. Wright. The men in the story are finding angles on the reason why a nice woman like Mrs. Wright would think of killing her own husband. Naturally, the wife of the sheriff and the witness tag along, and they are the ones who discover the reason due to their observations on why Mrs.Wright would kill her own husband. The men laugh at their observations and call them such trifles since they are not worthy of attention.

The tragic play of Sophocles is more known as Oedipus Rex, and is part of a trilogy with Antigone and Oedipus at Colonus being the other two. Oedipus Rex or Oedipus the King focuses on the life of King Oedipus and the whole unraveling of his identity. In the play, it is revealed that Oedipus has killed his own father and committed incest by marrying his own mother unknowingly since he has no idea that they are his real parents. It is discovered that when Oedipus was born, a prophecy was foretold that Oedipus would kill his own father and because of this, his mother gave him away to have him killed. As everything comes to the open, Oedipus feels aghast over what he has done he relinquishes his throne and exiles himself.

Using the psychological perspective of analysis, Trifles makes it quite obvious on why Mrs. Wright would kill her own husband, and this is explained by the inspection done by Mrs. Hale and Mrs. Peters over Mrs. Wrights things. They understand that the trifles that the men laugh at are actually very important aspects of Mrs. Wrights identity as a woman, wife, and person. Thus, in a psychological perspective, Mrs. Wright committed the murder because subconsciously, she was feeling suffocated by the restrictions placed by her husband. The patriarchal society does not help with alleviating these feelings with their support of a man ruling and having the say in the house. The neglected wifely duties can be interpreted as Mrs. Wrights unconsciousness coming to the surface, and she fights back against her duties since she associates this with her husbands suppressions. The caged bird can also be a symbol of the feelings of Mrs. Wright as she feels locked up by both restrictions imposed by her husband and the society. Lastly, there are two other important things which make Mrs. Wright as a very valuable character in terms of psychoanalysis, and this is the murder of John Wright and the keeping of the dead bird. The murder is of course, Mrs. Wrights resort to free herself, and this violent act surfaces as the id of a person, which according to Freud, is the part of a human being that knows no distinction between right and wrong. Thus, Mrs. Wright felt the need to kill her husband and she did it even if it was wrong. On the other hand, the keeping of the dead bird and even allotting some form of shrine for it can be seen as the secret attraction of Mrs. Wright to dead bodies even if it was just a bird. Necrophilia in literature is not uncommon, but Mrs. Wrights shrine for the bird can be interpreted into two ways one is that she harbors feelings for things already past, and the other is she harbors a desire for dead bodies. The latter can be supported by the fact that she killed her husband and refused to acknowledge that he was dead. If it was not for their neighbor asking for the husband, there is a likely chance that she would have kept the dead body as it was.

With the case of Oedipus the King, it is much more controversial since the famous Oedipus Complex derives from this play and the Complex being the incest relationship of a son with his mother. The situation is that a son develops feelings for his mother and in light cases, he just looks up to her. In serious and dire cases however, his feelings go as far as harboring sexual desires for her. This relationship can be explained by various motivations with regard to the character and experiences of the son, but in Oedipus case, it is quite simple. Following the plot of the play, 1) Oedipus leaves the kingdom of his adopted parents upon learning that he is not their real son 2) he kills his own father unknowingly when he meets him and 3) he marries his mother as a form of a prize with helping to liberate her kingdom. Oedipus killing his father is caused by the surfacing of his unconsciousness.

Even if Oedipus acted out in self-defense, the fact that he killed someone else is morally wrong. This killing is both a manifestation of his unconsciousness over the realization that he has never known real affections with his parents (and most especially with his mother), and then he also unconsciously eradicated his competition for the affections of his mother. Oedipus repressed sexual desires for his mother and it comes out when he marries her and she becomes his wife. While he was not really sure that she is his mother, he still refuses to believe it even if evidences are stacked against him to the point that there is an overwhelming proof of it eventually, he has no choice but to also believe it.

To conclude, the motivations of both the characters of Mrs. Wright and Oedipus over their crime of killing may be explained by the psychological turmoil that they have been experiencing over restricted norms and repressed sexual desires. The psychoanalytic reading of Trifles and Oedipus the King helps readers to understand better the development of the character and coaxes a deeper appreciation for the literary work and its theme. While there are various symbolisms in the two plays, their tone and theme are somewhat the same. The tone is that of being gloomy since the tragic hero and heroine meet such sad endings. However, even if they have such tragic fates they were able to liberate their desires even for a little while. In the end, they were able to feel a little bit amount of freedom.