Psychological Critical Perspective Essay

The utilization of a psychological critical perspective in literature entails the utilization of a specific psychological perspective to be used in the assessment of the various elements within the text as they are related to both the author and the intended audience of the work. Bernard Paris (1997) states that the use of psychology in the analysis of a literary text enables us â€Å"to understand the behavior of characters in literature from the past, to enter into their feelings, and to enrich our knowledge of ourselves and others through an understanding of their inner conflicts and relationships† (p. xii). In line with this, what follows is a psychological analysis of the representations of life and death in Sophocles’ Oedipus Rex and Susan Glaspell’s Trifles. Within Sophocles’ Oedipus Rex, the psychological representation of death is evident in the representation of the sphinx. The sphinx, as a mythical creature, represents perplexity and death. In its many versions, the sphinx may be said to be a representation of perplexity in its employment of riddles in its interaction with human beings. Furthermore, it may be said to be a representation f death since it is depicted as a creature that brings death [or at least bad luck or misfortune] to those who cannot solve its riddles. In Greek mythology and drama, this creature is depicted as a beast with a feminine gender. Though generally regarded as an unhappy monster, the sphinx also serves as a symbol of femininity, power and confusion. In Sophocles’ Oedipus Rex, one may infer that in Greek tragedy, sufferings and tribulations are intertwined with the hero’s existence. To a certain extent, one may say that in the case of Oedipus Rex, the sphinx defines the existence of Oedipus; his ‘being a hero’, so to speak. The same holds true for the sphinx. In other words, the hero and the villain define each others’ being. Note for example that within the text itself, Oedipus’ existence is intertwined with the Sphinx in the sense that the Sphinx and hero are twin-born. In terms of its monstrosity, the sphinx is depicted in many ways. These depictions are as follows. In Oedipus Rex, she is depicted as a singing sphinx that has permitted the oversight of dark secrets as well as a winged maiden with crooked talons who sang darkly. Oedipus’ incapacity to discern both the oracle at Delphi and the true nature of the sphinx and its closeness to himself present us with a rather different view about human nature and the ancient Greeks’ belief in fate. The sphinx reminds us of two things. First, it reminds us of our inability to fully know ourselves because of human nature’s enigmatic character. Second, it poses significant questions with regards to human freedom and our capacity for choice. In other words, it toys on the idea whether freedom and choice are mere illusions that human beings would like to think that they possess when in fact, they do not. Within this context, life and death are represented within Oedipus Rex in such a way that it places emphasis on the difficulty of discerning the conditions of life. Such a difficulty is mirrored in the portrayal of the Sphinx as well as the Sphinx’s relation with the hero of the text. As opposed to this, Susan Glaspell portrays life and death differently in Trifles. Trifles recounts the tragedy that occurs within marriage during instances wherein there is an absence of homosocial dimensions in a woman’s life. Within the text, life and death are represented in such a way that they are made to be seen within the context of a masculine gaze. The reason for this lies in the subjectivity of the portrayal of both freedom and objectivity within the text. Consider for example the case of Mrs. Hale and Mrs. Peter who both tried to conceal the evidence of Minnie’s crime. One might note that such a decision mirrors a certain amount of freedom on both characters’ part. Both characters may be said to possess freedom in the negative sense that they may choose to omit specific information that they have however the subjectivity of this freedom is evident if one considers that the psychological reason for omitting such an information may be traced to their embeddedness within a masculine point of view that requires them to maintain the existence of order within their immediate surroundings. Life and death, within Trifles, may be said to be determined by a patriarchal point of view. Such a point of view, however continuously contradicts the feminists perspective as can be seen in the controversies that arose as a result of Minnie’s death. References Bernard, P. (1997). Imagined Human Beings: A Psychological Approach to Character and Conflict in Literature. New York: NYU P. Glaspell, S. (2003). Trifles. Np: Thomson Wadsworth. Sophocles (1991). Oedipus the King: Oedipus Rex. Trans. George Young. London: Dover.