Analyzing works of literature from different critical perspectives allow readers to retrain his or her mind to think critically. One 's ability to think critically while reading literary texts is pivotal, especially since literary criticism requires one 's mind to read a text through a specific literary lens. When one applies a particular literary theory to a text, he or she embarks on a unique journey; a voyage a that allows him or her to question both the text and its author—in order the text 's essential message. For instance, if a reader decides to view a literary text through a psychoanalytic lens, he or she is required to ideas of psychology and apply it to the text. How so? Think about: the author can either choose to focus on the author (the psychology of the author) or focus on the psychology of the characters. When analyzing a text from a psychoanalytical perspective, readers typically ask himself or herself the following questions: Why do characters react the way he or she does? What fears and nervous ticks do the characters have? Why? On the other hand, if a reader chooses to analyze a text through the lens of feminism, he or she will not apply psychological ideas; instead, he or she will ask questions such as the following: What …show more content…
This paper focused on analyzing Gilman 's “The Yellow Wallpaper,” through the lens of psychoanalysis and feminism. From a psychoanalytic perspective readers got the opportunity to learn that the narrator 's temporary nervous depression became a lifelong depression; her husband John, an authoritative figure, prevented her from growing as person—individuality for person growth. Now, through the lens of feminism, readers got the chance to learn that during the nineteenth-century, women lived in a restrained world, where men serve as the decision makers. Analyzing a literary text through different lens enables readers to embark on different voyages; where each destination allows readers to view a text from