ipl-logo

Psychoanalysis In The Wizard Of Oz

1135 Words5 Pages

Psychoanalysis of the Wizard of Oz Of the many literary theories that have come about over the years, one of the most interesting is the idea of psychoanalysis. Psychoanalysis was first introduced in the 1880s by Sigmund Freud, he claimed that unconscious desires were the reasoning behind most behavioral problems. Furthermore, Freud speculated that one’s subconscious desires were influenced by what happened in one’s childhood ("Purdue OWL: Literary Theory and Schools of Criticism", 2018). Freud also said that children go through various stages of development where they focus on one body part or another, such as the oral or anal stage, and that children may fixate on their parent of the opposite sex, known as the Oedipus Complex ("Purdue OWL: Literary Theory and Schools of Criticism", 2018). After reading about psychoanalysis it is easy to apply the theory to one of the most beloved movies of all time, The Wizard of Oz. Revealing the character’s inner conscious, I believe helps reveal the …show more content…

The wicked witch of the west wants her sister’s ruby slippers, which apparently have magical powers. However, Glinda has magically put the shoes on Dorothy’s feet. The wicked witch of the west vows to get Dorothy and regain her sister’s shoes, “I’ll get you my pretty and your little dog too” ("Quotes from "The Wizard of Oz", 2018) Besides her vow to the shoes, very little is known about the motivations of the Wicked Witch of the West. Many other mediums in literature and movies have attempted to explain her intentions, including occasionally making her an antihero. Psychoanalytically speaking, the witch’s inner desires are a mystery because so little is known about her. One could speculate that maybe she wants the magical slippers because they belonged to her sister and she wants something of hers to remember her

Show More
Related

Rhetorical Devices In The Things They Carried

606 Words | 3 Pages

We are able to understand the significance of the characters actions. Without

Read More

Buddhism In L. Frank Baum's The Wizard Of Oz

1109 Words | 5 Pages

  After realizing she “isn’t in Kansas anymore”, she and her little dog Toto meet Glinda.  Glinda is a kind, sweet, caring, and compassionate Witch...unlike the Wicked Witch of the West who tries her best to make Dorothy’s journey very difficult.  Glinda the Good Witch of the North  is there to help Dorothy on her journey back home.  

Read More

Abigail And Elizabeth In The Crucible

587 Words | 3 Pages

She is mean. She shows that she is mean by threatening the lives of the girls if they say anything about witchcraft. “Let either of you breathe a word, or the edge of a word, about the other things, and I will come to you in the black of some terrible night and I will bring a pointy reckoning that will shudder you” (act 1 line 460) She also shows that she is mean when she is coping Mary making the pastors in the court believe that Mary is a witch. “

Read More

The House On Mango Street Shoes Analysis

1240 Words | 5 Pages

My two shoes waiting beside the bed” (108). The house of her dreams will be her house because she doesn’t want to be controlled by a man as so many of the women in her stories were. The shoes waiting beside her bed could represent her old life that is still a part of her, but which no longer binds her down since they are beside the bed and not on her feet. This new house could represent the freedom she feels when she writes her stories. When she writes her stories down, “Mango says goodbye” and that old house “does not hold me with both arms.

Read More

Search For Identity In Patricia Leavy's Blue

538 Words | 3 Pages

Observing each character, the book draws attention to the inner dialogue and struggles they

Read More

Beauty In The Short Story Marigolds By Eugenia Collier

707 Words | 3 Pages

The marigolds symbolized her childhood and innocence, which were deeply treasured. Once Lizabeth destroyed the marigolds, she was no longer a child. In lines 134-137, she remarked, “For as I gazed at the immobile face with the sad, weary eyes, I gazed upon a kind of reality that is hidden to childhood. The witch was no longer a witch but only a broken old woman who had dared to create beauty in the midst of ugliness and sterility.” As a child, Lizabeth had childishly saw her as a witch who strangely wanted to grow beautiful marigolds during a terrible time, but she realized that Miss Lottie just wanted to create happiness for herself and anyone that happened to pass by and look at her marigolds.

Read More

The Wizard Of Oz: The Wicked Witch Of The West

1133 Words | 5 Pages

The Wicked Witches of Oz correspond to the major corporations during the election of 1896. The Wicked Witch of the East is the ruler of the eastern land of Oz. She is the equivalent to the real worlds banks. Because of her wickedness a house was dropped on her leaving “her two feet, still sticking out from under a block of wood.” (Baum).

Read More

The Dynamic Character Dorothy In The Wizard Of Oz

323 Words | 2 Pages

As the story of The Wizard of Oz plays out the character Dorothy goes through significant change, she is a dynamic character. Her heart turns from wanting to grateful as she matures into a young lady, which is important to this plot, because her journey of growing up impacts the entirety of the story and it impacts all of the characters she encounters along the way. The entire story begins with Dorothy frantically begging for the attention of her preoccupied aunt and uncle. Everything about her actions and words hint at self absorbent and immaturity. Not caring for the duties that her caretakers were tending to she throws herself into the mood and feelings of nobody loves me, driving her away from her home into danger, but the danger changes

Read More

Literary Analysis: I Stand Here Ironing

962 Words | 4 Pages

Sigmund Freud and his theories on childhood development were extremely popular and widely accepted all the way up until the 1960s (Felluga). Freud put great emphasis on the impact early childhood development had on becoming a well-adjusted adult. He claims, “The structure of the psyche receives its final form during childhood, specifically at the time of the Oedipus complex” (U. of California). This complex is essential in identifying with either the mother or father, in order to establish sexual orientation (Felluga). During this stage, from ages 4-7, the child finds ways to deal with separation anxiety, and it is also the time that the ego fully matures into the superego: “an internalization of the parental function that eventually manifested itself in your conscience” (Cherry).

Read More

The Theme Of Epiphany In Raymond Carver's Cathedral

860 Words | 4 Pages

The narrator begins to change as Robert taught him to see beyond the surface of looking. The narrator feels enlightened and opens up to a new world of vision and imagination. This brief experience has a long lasting effect on the narrator. Being able to shut out everything around us allows an individual the ability to become focused on their relationships, intrapersonal well-being, and

Read More

Psychological Issues In One Flew Over The Cuckoo's Nest

1010 Words | 5 Pages

One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest The film, One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest, prompts very important aspect of the human condition. In the movie, the protagonist, Mac McMurphy, is deemed dangerous, so the mental institute tries to suppress him (Kesey). The film highlights various aspects of human conditions like psychology, sociology and philosophy. The mental institute tries to suppress the mentally challenged people rather than to try to communicate with them.

Read More

Analysis Of Cinderella By Grimm Brothers Grimm

830 Words | 4 Pages

Earlier in the story, when asked what they wanted by their new father, they replied with “beautiful dresses”(Grimm 8), “pearls and jewels”(Grimm 9). This characterizes the two as individuals who are passionate about appearance. This could also be seen in the film when they were dressing for the ball later that night. The large size of their feet which prevented them from fitting the slipper is a comparison to their insatiable demand for more. When they did sever off chunks of their feet, the shoe, a symbol of status and power, hid their wounds

Read More

Wizard Of Oz Film Analysis

857 Words | 4 Pages

The fact that they made the ruby slippers heels, a more grown-up shoe, is also telling. They originally belonged, we assume, to a grown-up witch - but when Dorothy has her black utilitarian flats traded for the very sexy red heels - it makes her seem one step closer to adult-hood. Her hairstyle is also eventually made more grown-up; once she reaches Oz, her braids are traded in for a looser style. On the other hand, the Wicked Witch of the West has a green face which indicates to the audience that she is evil and unfriendly. She is also in all black with a cone-shaped head piece and broomstick to add on to the image of being evil.

Read More

Mental Illness In One Flew Over The Cuckoo's Nest

673 Words | 3 Pages

Ken Kesey uses his novel, One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest, to describe the lives of patients in a mental institution, and their struggle to overcome the oppressive authority under which they are living. Told from the point of view of a supposedly mute schizophrenic, the novel also shines a light on the many disorders present in the patients, as well as how their illnesses affect their lives during a time when little known about these disorders, and when patients living with these illnesses were seen as an extreme threat. Chief Bromden, the narrator of the novel, has many mental illnesses, but he learns to accept himself and embrace his differences. Through the heroism introduced through Randle McMurphy, Chief becomes confident in himself, and is ultimately able to escape from the toxic environment Nurse Ratched has created on the ward. Chief has many disorders including schizophrenia, paranoia, depression, and post-traumatic stress disorder, and, in addition to these illnesses, he pretends to be deaf and dumb.

Read More

Sigmund Freud: The Second Wave Of Psychoanalysis

1528 Words | 7 Pages

Psychoanalysis was first introduced by Sigmund Freud and is now known as classical psychoanalysis. The theory, as defined by Sigmund Freud, is the dynamic between underlying forces that determine behavior and personality. He stressed the importance of human sexuality, childhood experiences, and the unconscious processes. However, his theory was seen as misogynistic and narrow focused. Consequently, classical psychoanalysis was criticized and rejected by many scholars.

Read More

More about Psychoanalysis In The Wizard Of Oz

Open Document