Maslow & Psychoanalytical Literary Criticism

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Need a little motivation this morning? Take a look at this!

  1. Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs and the concept of self-actualization
  2. and from the School of Life: Why Maslow's Hierarchy Matters
  3. School of Life: Stream of Consciousness.

How to use Maslow & Stream of Consciousness in your writing:

  • Consider your protagonists and characters in your stories. 
  • Use Maslow's Hierarchy's different levels to represent the needs and motivation of your characters. Assign a different level to each character. 
  • What is at stake for these characters? Answering this question should allow you to consider what conflicts the character most cares or thinks about. 
  • It is likely your protagonist will need to "self actualize"--this is similar to Jung's idea that a hero is "called" to action. How will your protagonist reach his/her self actualization?
  • Then develop your characters in your stories. Ratchet up what's at stake for your characters!
  • Use psychoanalytic concepts to enrich the inner lives of your original characters, including stream of consciousness. Stream of consciousness is also a great way to overcome writer's block! Try it!

Psychoanalytical Literary Criticism:

Freud, Lacan, Jung, and Frye also use psychoanalytical theory when analyzing literature. You can read about them at the links.

1. To find out what Psychoanalytical Literary Criticism is, click here and here.
2. To learn how to do it, click here!

Apply what you learn today to the literature you are reading. Can you identify a character's motivation or needs? Can you notice how an author uses stream of consciousness in getting into the mind of a character?

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