ENG 665 Psychoanalytic Approach to Literature
This seminar course explores the influence of two major figures in psychoanalysis—Sigmund Freud and Jacques Lacan—on literary criticism. We study their interpretations of literature, especially Freud’s reading of Oedipus Rex and Hamlet and Lacan’s lectures on Hamlet and Poe’s "The Purloined Letter." Students then develop their own psychoanalytic perspectives on literary works of their choice, culminating in a major critical paper.