Domestic Affections and Other Poems by Felicia Hemans - Essay Example

Name: Course: Tutor: Date: Domestic Affections and Other Poems by Felicia Hemans Introduction This paper seeks to critically examine the two editions of Felicia Hemans’ The Domestic Affections and Other Poems in reference to a psychoanalytic literary criticism theory. Psychoanalytic criticism theory will be used as key literary theory to critically examine Heman’s poems. This literary theory is based on the idea that ideas, forms, concepts, and methods are influenced by psychological connotations or human psychology. Psychoanalytic criticism came from the works of Sigmund Freud, an Austrian psychoanalyst who developed psychoanalysis techniques. Freud developed a model that revolved around the human psychology and how it works. His theory directly and indirectly emphasizes the nature of the “psyche” or the unconscious mind (Freud 21). Later on, other theorists in the likes of Jacques Lacan, Norman Holland, and D.W. Winnicott among many other post-Freudian theorists helped to build on Freud on the psychoanalytic theory. Psychoanalytic literary criticism employs methods of “reading” used by Freud and other theorists to interpret texts. According to this theory, literary texts, such as poems, show and express the secret and unconscious desires as well as beliefs and anxieties of the author (Frankland 2). Moreover, this theory seeks to reveal the unresolved emotions, guilt, fixations, sexual conflicts, psychological conflicts, and unconscious images of the author as portrayed in a text. In this case, it is assumed that the expressions, ideas, events and characters in a text manifest the psyche of the author. One important aspect about this theory is that it justifies the significance of literature since it is based on a literary key for the decoding (Abrams 291). In this paper, the critical reading and analysis of poems in Felicia Hemans’ The Domestic Affections and Other Poems using the “psychoanalytic literary criticism” will focus on psychological principles developed by theorists like Sigmund Freud, Jacques Lacan and others. Using such a theory, the poems will be analyzed based on, for example, the psyche of the author, the effects of the text on readers, and psychological motivations of events, objects, and characters in the text. In other words, using this theory, Hemans’ poems will be analyzed from a psychological lens. This paper will emphasize that Felicia Hemans’ The Domestic Affections and Other Poems manifests the authors’ psychological motivations, unresolved emotions, guilt, fixations, psychological conflicts and unconscious images. Method The findings of this paper will be established by examining some of Hemans poems with reference to psychoanalytic concepts developed by theorists such as Sigmund Freud, Jacques Lacan and Abraham Maslow. In the course of reviewing these poem, some of the factors that will be considered include; the psyche of the author, the effects of the text on readers and how the psychoanalytical concepts developed by the mentioned theorists are epitomized in the author’s expressions and ideas. By having a look at Hemans’ poem “War and Peace,” we can see that this poem portrays one of Freud’s psychoanalytic concepts on the structure of the psyche comprising of the Id, Ego, and Super Ego. According to Freud’s structural model, the psyche comprises of three parts namely, Id, Ego, and Super Ego. The Id is the unorganised personality structure that comprises of the basic drives. It acts based on the “pleasure principle;” therefore, it seeks to avoid displeasure. Freud notes that the Id is the inaccessible or hidden part of the human personality that a person knows little about. The Ego is the organized part of the psyche that is based on the reality principle; thus it mediates on the Id in a realistically and seeks to meet the drives of the Id in realistic way. It represents what is commonly known as common sense or reason and is regarded as part of the human psyche that synthesises information, executes judgement and memorizes situations On the other hand, the Super-ego, is the organized part of the psyche that seeks for perfection and works in contrast to the Id. It represents what is commonly known considered as the conscience and seeks to controls the human sense of what is right or wrong. Whereas, the Super ego strives to act in a socially acceptable and appropriate manner, the Id seeks for instant self-gratification (Carducci 84). In this poem, “War and Peace,” Hemans portrays Freud’s views on different structures of the psyche comprising of the Id, Ego and Super Ego. For instance, Hemans shows the nature of the Id by writing; Thou, bright futurity! Whose prospect beams, In dawning radiance on our day-light dreams; Gild the dark clouds and glitter thro’ the storms; On thy broad canvas fancy loves to trace, Her brilliant Iris, drest in vivid grace; Paints fair creation in celestial dyes, Tints of the morn and blushes of the skies; And bids her scenes perfection’s robe assume, The mingling flush of light, and life and bloom. Thou bright futurity! Whose morning-star Still beams unveil’d, unclouded, from afar; Whose lovely vista smiling Hope Surveys, (Lines 1-12) This extract portrays Hemans disorganized Id that is mainly oriented towards pleasurable aspects. In this case, Hemans tries to show her unconscious desires for pleasure and good things. Although the key theme of the poem is based on war and its subsequent implications, Hemans alludes to her Id and tries shows her pleasure seeking psyche. She portrays unconscious images that desire pleasure. For instance, in line four to eight of this extract, she notes; On thy broad canvas fancy loves to trace, Her brilliant Iris, drest in vivid grace; Paints fair creation in celestial dyes, Tints of the morn and blushes of the skies; And bids her scenes perfection’s robe assume, (Lines 4-8) In addition to Id, Hemans portrays her Ego psyche in the following extract of the poem “War and Peace” Oh! Let the muse expand her wing on high, The shadowy realms, they worlds unknown descry; Let her clear eye-bean, flashing lucid light, Chase from they forms th’involving shades of night; Pierce the dark clouds that veil thy noontide rays And soar, exulting, in meridian blaze! In bliss, in grief, they radiant scenes bestow The Zest of rapture, or the balm of woe! (Lines 15-22) A close look at this extract evidently shows a sharp contrast between this extract and the previous one. This extract shows a more realistic outlook on the situation at hand. It shows Hemans’ Ego that seeks to allude to mediate on the Id, by seeking to be realistic. This extract can be perceived as realistic mainly because its shows that life cannot only be based on good experiences. Unlike the previous extract on Hemans’ ID that only seeks for pleasurable experiences, this extract portrays life as having both good and bad experiences, especially in the lines when Hemans says: “In bliss, in grief, they radiant scenes bestow / The Zest of rapture, or the balm of woe!” Moreover, Hemans, in other extract of the same poem, portrays her Super Ego psyche. For example, she says: Thou , whose lov’d presence and benignant smile Has beam’d effulgence on this favour’d isle; Thou! The fair seraph , in immortal state, Thron’d on the rainbow , heaven’s emblazon’d gate; Thou! Whose mild whispers in the summer –breeze Control the storm, and undulate the seas; (Lines 47 52) This extract shows Hemans innate needs for perfectionism despite of the situation. According to this extract, it is obvious that Herman Super Ego asserts for appropriateness and the need to exhibit strength and character in the midst of turmoil. For instance, in above extract, Hemans cites, “Thou! The fair seraph, in immortal state.” In addition, Hemans’ shows an unrealistic side of her Super Ego which asserts for perfectionism when she notes; “Control the storm, and undulate the seas”. While reading this extract, readers can evidently conclude that Hemans’ super ego is at work since she shows the side of her psyche that seeks for perfection. In some other poems of Hemans The Domestic Affections and Other Poems, Hemans tends to portray her unresolved emotions, psychological conflicts, and fascinations .Her thoughts and the events, as portrayed in some of her poems, are in line with some of Freud’s views in his psychoanalytic theory. Freud’s psychoanalysis theory attempts to find evidence of unresolved emotions, ambivalences, guilts psychological conflicts, and so forth. According to Freud, future issues can be linked to unresolved conflicts from phases in childhood. In addition, Freud observes that human experiences, behaviours, and cognition are mainly determined by irrational and innate ambitions. Most of these drives are mainly unconscious and attempts made to bring some of these drives to awareness can result to psychological resistance that is, in most cases, expressed in the form of defence mechanisms (Weinsten 53-54; Freud 21). A good example of Hemans’ poem that portrays these of Freud’s connotations is the “The Angel of the Sun.” In this poem, Hemans observes: Bright ecstacy’s immortal smile; I see the flames of war consume Fair scenes that smil’d in glowing bloom O’er ev’ ry nation , ev’ry land, I see destruction wave his hand; How dark thy billows, ocean –flood; Lo, man has dy’d thy waves in blood! Nature, how chang’d thy vivid grace! Vengeance and war they charms deface. Oh, scene of doubt , of care, of anguish; Oh, scene, where virtue’s doom’d to languish; Oh, scene, where death triumphant rides, The spear , the sword, the javelin guides! (Lines 14-26) From this extract, readers are able to see Hemans’ unresolved emotions, psychological conflicts, and fixations. Basically, this poem portrays Hemans attempts to bring to awareness some of her innate unresolved conflicts that might have arose from previous phase in her life. The tone set in this extract is one that is based on experience, for example, in line fifteen and eighteen, Hemans notes, “I see destruction wave his hand; I see destruction wave his hand.” These lines show unpleasant experiences from the past that might have caused the author to exhibit unresolved emotions and psychological conflicts in the present as shown in the lines 23-26 of the poem: Oh, scene of doubt, of care, of anguish; Oh, scene, where virtue’s doom’d to languish; Oh, scene, where death triumphant rides, The spear, the sword, the javelin guides! (Lines 23-26) From this extract, readers are able to see Hemans unresolved emotions, psychological conflicts, and fixations. In addition, this extract validate Freud’s sentiments that future issues can be linked to unresolved conflicts from phases in childhood or past experiences (Weinsten 53; Freud 21). Besides Freud , Jacques Lacan ‘s psychoanalytic concepts provide a useful base for critically examining Heman’s poem. Lacan is among the post-Freudian psychoanalytic theorists, known for contributing to Freud’s psychoanalytic theory ( Macey xiv). Over the years, his sentiments have been used in psychoanalytic literary criticism mainly because they seem to provide a strong basis for psychologically analysing literary texts. In his theory on “Structuralism”, Lacan introduces new orders of the psyche namely; the imaginary, the symbolic, and the real (Harari 33). According to Lacan, the imaginary comprises of imaginations, images, and deception. The symbolic part of the psyche revolves around a linguistic dimension and a cultural domain (Harari 33). On the other hand, Lacan’s notion of the “Real” epitomizes reality. Moreover, Lacan focuses on language related issues in his theory. He considers the unconscious as a language (Harari 33). A good example of that is the poem “Address to Thought.” In this poem, Hemans says: Oh, thou! The musing , wakeful pow’ r, That lov’st the silent, midnight hour, Thy lonely vigils then to keep, And banish far the angel, sleep, With all his lovely train; Come, pensive thought! With the i’ll rove, (Line 1-6) She also says: When slow declines the rosy day An ev’ning smiles with partying ray, When twilling spreads her magic hues, (Lines 17-19) In addition to that, she cites: But oh, dread pow’r how sweet thy reign; To virtue’s mild and hallow’d train! The storm around may wildly rave, And winter swell the mountain wave, Yet soft their calms repose! Their minds unruffled and serene, And guardian –seraphs watch unseen, Their eyes to close. (Lines 41-48) By looking at these three extracts, it is evident that Heman portrays the structure of the psyche with regards to the imaginary, the symbolic and the real. In the first and second extracts, Hemans portrays both the imaginary and symbolic aspects of the psyche. The language she uses in these extracts is not literal rather they represent a sequence of her unconscious ideas on her thoughts. In this poem, Hemans tries to explore the nature of her thoughts. By so she portrays her fascinations and shows readers images of her unconscious mind, for example, she notes; “And banish far the angel, sleep; / With all his lovely train; / Come, pensive thought! With the i’ll rove.” In the third extract, she says; “But oh, dread pow’r how sweet they reign /To virtue’s mild and hallow’d train! / The storm around may wildly rave.” The sentiments in this extract can also be viewed as fantasies of the unconscious mind since they touch on ideological or unreal aspects of Heman’s views in this poem. Also, in the third extract of “Address to Thought,” Hemans tries to allude more to Lancan’s sentiments of the “Real” structure of the psyche. It is worth noting, that just like other extracts she uses symbolism to represent the nature of her mind. She vividly shows images of her unconscious mind; however, in this case the images she portrays represent more realistic experiences. An example of that is when Hemans says in this extract, in the lines 46-48, “Their minds unruffled and serene, / And guardian –seraphs watch unseen, / Their eyes to close.” These sentiments show the nature of the human mind particularly with regards to the fact that sometimes one may experience worries, happy thoughts and visions. Another example is the poem “The Call of Liberty,” found in the edition of 1812. In this poem, Hemans illuminates Abraham Maslow’s theory on the Human hierarchy of needs. In this theory Maslow explains that human beings have physiological, safety, intimacy esteem, and self-actualization needs. Here are some of explanations for each one: physiological needs comprise of food, clothing, sleep, and food among many other factors. Safety needs include security of employment, body, health resources and family. Intimacy needs comprise of the need of belonging, close family relations, and friendships. According to Maslow, esteem needs necessitate the need for achievement, self-esteem, confidence and respect from others. On the other hand, self-actualization needs comprise of self-acceptance and a sense for personal achievements (Maslow 236). In most cases, this theory is considered as a motivational theory since it touches on the aspects that motivate people to work. In the poem “The call of liberty” (1812), Hemans shows the innate or unconscious needs of self-esteem and self-actualisation. She says: O patriots! O heroes! O chiefs of renown! Awake in my cause, and contend for my crown, And Vict’ ry shall hallow your shield! Oh! think of your fathers, how nobly they fought! Disdaining each peril, the combat they sought, And round me interpid they stood! They worshipp’d the beam of my sun-darting eye, Exalted my banner, all-dreadful, on high; (Lines 11- 18) From this extract, it is obviously clear that Hemans portrays, as previously mentioned, human needs for self-esteem and self-actualization. The tone set in this poem through the use of punctuation marks shows a strong urge or need for victory, achievement, and triumph over the alleged enemy. The need for achievement and victory portrayed in this poem, especially in the extract stated above, is in line with Maslow’s hierarchy of needs on self-esteem and self-actualization, for example, in the lines 13-15 when Hemans states: “And Vict’ ry shall hallow your shield! / Oh! think of your fathers, how nobly they fought! / Disdaining each peril, the combat they sought”. In addition, this poem is motivational in nature. As seen in the extract, the character in the poem tries to motivate his audience to triumph in a war, so that they can experience a sense of achievement and esteem. This is in line with Maslow’s theory of hierarchy of needs, which is known to be a motivational theory. Conclusion Based on the critical analysis of Felicia Hemans’ The Domestic Affections and Other Poems, it is obviously clear that the poems manifests the authors’ psychological motivations, unresolved emotions, guilt, fixations, psychological conflicts, and unconscious image. In reference to psychoanalytic theories by theorist like Sigmund Freud, Jacques Lacan and Abraham Maslow, this paper has provided a critical analysis of Hemans’ poems by analysing the psyche of the author, the effects of the text on readers and psychological motivations of events, objects, and characters in Hemans’ poems. Works Cited Abrams, Howard. "Psychological and Psychoanalytic Criticism." A Glossary of Literary Terms. 7th ed. Fort Worth: Harcourt Brace College Publishers, 1999, p.291. Cardussi, Bernardo. The psychology of personality: Viewpoints, Research and Applications. New York: Wiley-Blackwell, 2009, p. 84. Freud, Sigmund. "On Dreams." Excerpts. Art in Theory 1900-1990. In Charles Harrison and Paul Wood. Cambridge: Blackwell Pub., Inc., 1993. p. 21. Frankland, Graham. Freud’s Literary Culture. New York: Cambridge University Press, 2000,p. 2. Hemans, Felicia. Domestic Affections and other poems. London: T. Cadell and W. Davies, Strand, by J. M'Creery. 1812. Hemans, Felicia. Domestic Affections and other poems. London: T. Cadell and W. Davies, Strand, by J. M'Creery. 1844 Harari, Roberto. Lacan's Four Fundamental Concepts of Psychoanalysis: An Introduction .New York: Other Press. 2004, p.33. Macey, David. “Introduction”. In Miller, Jacques-Alain & Sheridan, Alan. The Four Fundamental Concepts of Psycho-analysis.London: Vintage, 1998. p. xiv. Maslow, Abraham. Motivation and Personality. New York: Harper. 1954, p. 236. Weinsten, Fred. Freud, psychoanalysis, social theory: the unfulfilled promise. New York : SUNNY press. 2001, pp. 53-54. Read More