Perceptions of childhood in Wordsworth’s and Freud’s Writings
The first common thing in Wordsworth’s and Freud’s perception of childhood is the influence of the events that took place in childhood on the future development of the individual. Freud’s theory that all complex of the individual has its roots in early childhood. This idea was adopted by many writers of the early Romantic period. William Wordsworth is one of the most famous and early Romantic poets. One can see the motifs of childhood in many of his works. Thus, in his works, the poet experimented with his past childhood experience to create his adult individuality. According to Freud and Wordsworth, each person has “an inner child.”
Freud used this concept to explain the mental diseases of his patients, and Wordsworth experimented poetically to express the feelings that were the most difficult for him to explain because the roots of these feelings were in his childhood. We can explain the “childhood context” of works by Wordsworth with the theory created by Freud, “childhood memories show us our earliest years not as they were but as they appeared at the later periods when the memories were aroused” (Blank 21). Thus, memories are formed by our previous experience and not emerge in our memory.
Perception of the human form in Giovanni Pico Della Mirandola’s Writings
Giovanni Pico Della Mirandola is the most notable figure of the Italian Renaissance. His works provide us with the clearest understanding of the essence of the literature of the époque. His works and his philosophy present a new way of thinking that was adopted by many authors of all periods. The works by Mirandolla are focused on the philosophy of a human. He describes humans as the center of the Universe and describes it as a unique creator of his “ego” and individuality.
The author says that a person has a choice to become the one he/she wants. According to the philosopher, man is a fourth universe with cannot be placed at any of the steps of the hierarchy of the world. A person has unique freedom of choice. His work Oration on the Dignity of Man, where he introduced his 900 Conclusions, is considered to be a manifest of the literature of the Renaissance. We should study Pico Della Mirandola to understand the basic principles of the period of Renaissance and understand the principles of Romanticism, which adopted the perception of the human form.
Perception of a person in the theory of five sexes
We all got used to the idea that there are only two sexes: male and female. It is a generally accepted idea of Western culture. However, from the point of view of biology, genetics, in particular, there is a gradation from male to female. There are five steps of this gradation, thus, we can conclude that there are five sexes. These days, it is widely discussed in scientific circles. However, if we refer to literature, we can assume that intersexuality is not only the biological term, but it describes the state of mind and it proved the understanding of human nature. The learning of the theory of five sexes is important from the psychological point of view.
According to Freud, there is no single person in our mind we are the composition of male and female. Thus, it depends on our choice, what we are going to be, and which part of us prevails in our real life, consciousness, and subconsciousness.
Perception of heroic individuals in literature
Malcolm X, Gilgamesh, and The Handmaid’s Tale are works of literature that depict heroes of a particular type. Gilgamesh is a typical epic hero that fought against evil creatures and want to gain fame. It is a common character in the ancient world. Malcolm X is a contemporary hero who fights for human rights. As opposed to Gilgamesh, he did not use his physical power, but the power of his mind and law.
The Handmaid’s Tale depicts heroes of the future that will be able to resist the injustice of the future. Thus, we can come up with the conclusion that every period of human history has its heroes. Consequently, every period of the world literature has images of these heroes as literature works present interpretation of our reality.
Works Cited
Blank, G. Kim. Wordsworth and Feeling: the Poetry of an Adult Child. Cranbury: Fairleigh Dickinson Univ Press, 1995.