Application of Psychoanalysis Criticism

The theory of Psychoanalysis’ primary objective is to address where in a text does it express the unconscious desires and anxieties of the author.  I chose Robert Browning’s short story, “Porphyria’s Lover” to analyze.  I learned from this theory that characters within a literary work are mere projections of the author’s psyche and through a reading of “Porphyria’s Lover” I can only interpret that Browning’s psyche was in a state of madness and righteousness.  If I were to improve my essay I would have connected the theory more to answering why and how Browning acted as a God within his poem as the character and outside of it as the author entwined with the great theorists of Freud and Lacan.

 

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