Through the Literary Looking Glass
Looking at Critical Theories
Freudian Psychoanalytic Criticism
Feminist Criticism
New Historicism
Why?
 To encourage you to re-think your reading practice and to
introduce you to several quite distinct approaches to the
reading and analysis of texts.
 The biggest hurdle for you this year is to learn to personally
engage with the text and respond perceptively to it.
 Hopefully approaching a text from a different literary
perspective will allow you to do this.
 You will then be able to select one approach and apply it to
Othello or another text for your achievement standard.
The field of literary theory
 Sprigs from the idea that there is no set way to look at a text.
 In a world where young people are being increasingly
encouraged to think for themselves, the notion of fixed
interpretations according to one person’s reading of a
situation is becoming less tenable.
 Just looking at a text from the liberal humanist view (what
we do now: largely reading it in isolation, analysing plot,
character, setting, structure, style, theme is the most
important, assumptions about the author’s intent etc) is not
necessarily the right and only way to study a text.
Freudian Psychoanalytic Criticism
 Sigismund Freud (1856 –1939) was an Austrian
neurologist who became known as the founding father of
psychoanalysis.
Activity 1
 Read pages 21-27
 Make notes on the following:
 Id=
 Superego=
 Ego=
 The balance between the id and the superego=
 The Oedipal complex=
 Dream analysis=
Activity 2
 Read the Freudian analysis of Lord of the Flies pp.27-28
 Read the analysis of Miss Brill using this theory pp.31-32
Applying Freudian Analysis of Othello
Activity 3
 Fill out the chart that helps you draw out the classic Freudian
symptoms or processes that are in Othello and answer the
more general questions.
Chart
Classic Freudian
Symptoms
Id/Superego imbalance
Castration
Unresolved Oedipal complex
Repression
Sublimation
Transference
Projection
Freudian Slip
Seen in Othello
How does the presence of
this element influence the
text as a whole and your
reading of it?
General Questions
 Is there a main character who grapples with psychological
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emotional or moral issues?
What do you know about this character’s early childhood?
What do you know about his/her parental figures (or lack
thereof)?
Does the character display a healthy id/superego balance in
his her actions, interactions and view of the world/
Are his/her actions ever rash or violent?
Can you recognise any elements of dream work in the novel?
(eg. Sublimation, projection)?
 Can this text be compared to other works by the same author
on a psychological level? Are there repeated character types
or symbols? What would they say about the author?
 What is it in this text that makes it appeal to your own
psyche on some level? Why might that be?
 If you were to relay the entire plot to a psychotherapist as a
dream you had last night, which elements would he/she be
most interested in? (characters, setting, plot, style, etc)
Feminist Criticism
 Write a few sentences explaining what you think feminist
criticism is. What would you do if you were using a feminist
approach? Make sure you explain how literature can affect
socialisation.
Activity 1
 Read the feminist criticism of Great Expectations pp.52-53
 Read the analysis of Miss Brill using this theory pp. 56-58
Applying Feminist Criticism to Othello
 When applying feminist theory you need to use a text to
interrogate the society in which it is written
(Elizabethan/Jacobean). Therefore, you need to do some
research on the role of women in this time period and the
mechanisms by which the patriarchy was enforced.
 Using a New Historicist approach along with a feminist
approach would work well (see our next theory!)
Activity 2
 Keep the feminist approach in mind answer these questions for
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Othello
Who has the most power in the text (male vs female characters)?
How is this power upheld?
Does the text centre around a male or female protagonist?
Does the text contain any symbolism that could be read in terms
of gender and power?
In what ways does the text conform to or add to social
‘constructions’ of the role of women?
Does the language in the text seem masculine or feminine? Is the
language used by female characters different from that used by
male?
Reading - The Role of Women in
Othello: A Feminist Reading
Make summary notes under these headings paying particular
attention to how the feminist reading is linked with historical
research:
 Women as possessions
 Women as submissive
 Women as temptresses
3.8 Through a Critical Lens
Develop an informed understanding of literature and/or
language using critical texts
4 CREDITS
What to do!
Choose a text (Othello ) and a lens to ‘frame’ your investigation
2. Choose a topic
3. Develop a hypothesis to frame the investigation.
For example: The Hunger Games on the surface looks to be a
film about gender equality but underneath really just serves to
reinforce patriarchal society.
Or Children can not think morally for themselves in a world where
there are no laws or parental control as seen in Lord of the Flies.
Or Emilia’s remark in Othello, “They are all but stomachs, and we all
but food” (3.4.104) reveals a realistic view of the relationship
between men and women in Jacobean England.
1.
Research
 Identify at least two secondary sources: One should be Through
the Literary Looking Glass
Try to find other non-literary materials that can be read alongside it. These
could be:
 Any non-fiction book published around the same time period as the
original text.
 Biography
 Excerpts from the media at the time
 Books of private diaries or letters
 Accounts of speeches given
 Government records
 History textbooks or historical investigations of that period
 Articles
Selecting, Evaluating and Recording
your findings
 It is essential that you provide evidence of your research
process
 You must evaluate each secondary source’s reliability
and usefulness to your investigation.
 You need to record all of your useful information as you
go, reflecting on how it helps you to develop insights
about your primary text.
 These will be used to show authenticity and help me to
see if you are on the right track.
Locating Sources
 These may be located in our library, any of the district
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libraries
On databases such as EPIC
The National Library
The internet
The history department
From Mrs Kelly 
Source
Information
related to
hypothesis
Evaluation
Tiffany,
Grace (2008)
"The pity of
it, lago!" in
Shakespeare
Newsletter
Vol 58 Issue
1 pg 31
Othello's and
Desdemona's love is
based on the
pity of stories which are,
in a way,
performances;
Desdemona's pitying
response
has itself been a sort of
performance, as Iago
notes: "And when she
seemed to shake and fear
your looks, she loved
them most" (3.3.20708).
Reliability:
Written many published
critical essays
about
Shakespeare and so is a
reliable
source
Usefulness:
She has a different view
on
Desdemona and so is
useful to my
investigation
Contradicts my
hypothesis by saying
Desdemona was not
deeply in love
with Othello but only
pitied him
Presenting your
understanding/findings
 A report is the standard way to do this
 However you could present this as a seminar
 Or annotate a collection of selections from you primary
source
Bibliography
 Like any good research assessment you must include a
bibliography 
Possible Topic for 3.8
 A Freudian reading of Othello as a whole
 A Freudian reading of Iago/Othello
 A feminist reading of a Emilia or Desdemona or Bianca or all
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three
A feminist/New historicist reading of the role of women
A feminist/New historicist reading of what was expected of a
daughter in Elizabethan/Jacobean England
A feminist/New historicist reading of what was expected of a
bride in Elizabethan/Jacobean England
A feminist/New historicist reading of what rules for
courtship/marriage existed at the time of the play?
 A New historicist reading of race in Elizabethan/Jacobean
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England.
A New historicist reading of religion in Elizabethan/Jacobean
England.
A New historicist reading of Venice in Elizabethan/Jacobean
England.
A New historicist reading of the role of Moors/Venetians in
Elizabethan/Jacobean England.
A New historicist reading of war and the military in
Elizabethan/Jacobean England.
A New historicist reading of military hierarchy in
Elizabethan/Jacobean England.