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Amanda Zerquera

Ms. Cospito

English 2 Honors

19 November 2018

Psychoanalytic Criticism

Psychoanalytic criticism is a literary theory that is heavily influenced by the beliefs and

theories of Sigmund Freud. Freud believes that our truest thoughts and forbidden wishes can be

translated into our dreams and our writings/ works. He also made a theory that the human psyche

is divided into three parts: the id, the ego and the superego. This literary analysis is a way for

psychoanalytic critics to analyze a little bit deeper into an author’s thought process. The purpose

of this criticism is to find out an author’s true thoughts, and actual story This is one of the most

used and popular theories that many authors fill their work with with, one novel that uses this

analysis a great amount is ​Brave New World,​ by Aldous Huxley.

In ​Brave New World ​there are many times that the use of psychoanalytic criticism is very

clearly shown. The first time that Freud’s beliefs are shown are in the very beginning of the book

when Huxley explains the process of conditioning the caste systems; by conditioning

them, the people aren’t able to have an ego or a superego (they do not need to have one). They

are only in touch with their id, or their pleasure principle; in this society everyone always wants/

expects instantaneous satisfaction. In order to receive this instantaneous satisfaction they created

a hallucinant called soma, ​"Six years later it was being produced commercially. The perfect

drug." Whenever something goes wrong in their society, they take soma, and the soma basically
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helps them forget about the issues that they were having in their lives. "Take a holiday from

reality whenever you like, and come back without so much as a headache or a mythology."​Also,

in the book, sex plays a large part in their society. ​Sex is a very common topic in the book; group

sex is glorified and there are multiple times in the book where they will chant out “Orgy Porgy.”

Also, in the book they watch feelys which is filled with pornography. Basically, everyone in this

society only feels happiness; they do not understand feelings of heartbreak or anger. Bernard

Marx, is one of the only characters in the story who represents the ego and the superego. Bernard

Marx doesn’t feel comfortable with talking about his sexuality and he refuses to take soma. He is

one of the only people in the society who feels sadness and other feelings. In the beginning of the

book he questions the society and the conditioning, but towards the end he does begin to

conform.

Freud was able to come up with a new way to view the human mind and how it actually

works. His theories have translated into literature and has become a very popular literary

analysis. When using his analysis, you can get a better understanding of the author and even the

characters. For example, ​in ​Brave New World, ​you are able to see both parts of Huxley’s brain:

the id, and the ego and the superego. ​There are many people who have added to Freud’s theory,

and have made little changes here and there, but it is clear that Freud’s theory is the most popular

and will most likely remain the most popular.

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