Applied Psychoanalysis: Explorations and Excursions

In the early days of the development of the theory and practice of psychoanalysis Freud took particular notice of the plays of Sophocles and Shakespeares Hamlet. This was largely in support of his description of the Oedipal phase of human development.Later he and many psychoanalysts as well as many non-analysts utilized the concepts relating to the impact of a dynamic unconscious and the effects of early life experiences as a lens through which to enlarge our understanding of a variety of cultural phenomena. Accordingly philosophy psychology history anthropology as well as other disciplines were studied. Similarly some writers of fiction used psychoanalytic concepts to characterize their characters. It is interesting to note as did Freud that some writers did so quite unconsciously as did Schnitzler Stendhal and Proust. Unfortunately although many of these works provided readers with valuable contributions some were formulaic and scanted the overdetermined world surrounding their subjects.As the author of the following essays I trust I have generally avoided the pitfalls of such constricting views.