Psychoanalysis, Feminism and Shakespeare...Final Comments on Critical Theory and the Academy

As a former liberal humanist--swiftly converted to a struggling novice literary theorist through the rigors of critical theory and the academy, I became particularly charmed with the world of psychoanalysis and feminism and how these theories can be applied to examine a text. However, once I had selected my text on which to write my critical essay, I was immediately startled by the connections between psychoanalysis and feminism and was even taken by surprise realizing that my use of feminist theory and a bit of New Historicism arose sort of spontaneously out of research and analysis. All of a sudden I was taken back by how both of these theories can be applied to a text and how they specifically relate to the culture in which the text was written. So many fascinating ideas and thoughts began running through my mind, my only regret being that even the time allotted for me to write the essay did not allow enough preparation for me to fully get all of my ideas down on paper. As Helena would I would both remark, "Tis partly my own fault"...anyway...
First of all, what interested me most about this class was specifically the relationship between literary theory and the political and ideological turmoil of the 20th century, or any time period for that matter. The way in which ideology is experienced by our culture and how it is tied up in very intimately personal ways was fascinating to me and was first was introduced during our discussion of Marxism...which was an area of interest to me when psychoanalysis was introduced. This ideological and political aspect tied up in culture can also be applied to human relationships and the human personality, as well as the social order. The motives of human society are what intrigued me and was what I wanted to focus on for my critical essay. For the text I chose A Midsummer Night's Dream (because I happen to love the play) and first focused myself on interpreting sexuality and social order through the representation of the two leading female characters (Hermia and Helena). I referred Freud and discussed how every human being undergoes a repression of the 'pleasure principle' by the 'reality principle' and how this repression affects whole societies, particularly the patriarchal hierarchy. From there I discussed how women are often associated with animal imagery and are in many ways tamed through the process of establishing harmony and unity...at the end of the play the patriarchy is not overthrown, the fearful element of oppression is taken out of the equation, and the joyous turn of events seems only temporary...through my progression in writing this paper I also discussed how Athens is a male-oriented oedipalized world and how Hermia has a terrible dream which signifies several things about the social order as well as her inner emotions and motivations...All of a sudden I was finding connections between psychoanalysis and feminism and I did not even realize it! The fact that I can discuss both of these theories in my paper and think critically about them points to how much I have learned in this class and how I can relate these theories to one another, even fusing them together to examine this play and Renaissance culture--which I want to say a few words about now. It seemed to me that Shakespeare's female characters undergo constant suffering in terms of being restrained and tamed in order to fit within the patriarchal structure...and seemed as though passivity and dependency on others are played out as traditional roles for women of the time period and fits into the accepted norms concerning romantic passion and desire...the women even justify cruelty of men by lowering themselves to men--reflecting a typical psychology of love during the Renaissance, in which a man was to woo a woman and the woman was to maintain a timid role...leading to the destruction of the female self. After writing about this in my paper I later realized that I was making use of a tiny bit of New Historicism in that I was focused on patriarchal structures and their perpetuation! All of these thoughts and ideas seemed so exciting and fascinating for me to think and write about...I only wish I could spend more time developing these thoughts and further combining these theories and seeing where I end up...
Just to wrap up a bit at the end of this post, I would like to thank a few people for helping me get through this difficult experience. I will definitely admit that I was close to tears leaving this class several occasions, seemingly having had all of what I had previously known about literature, authorship, etc. completely turned upside down. I also have to thank Terry Eagleton for writing The Significance of Theory and Literary Theory An Introduction because throughout the course I read through these books and they greatly helped me sort through my confusion. *Also, the participation of others in the discussions of the class greatly helped me understand the topics and helped inspire me to muster the courage to participate in class, even though I still felt confused at times. Thank you!!