Pyschology

As we learned this week, psychology can be used to help explain Fairy Tales. (As I learned this week, psychology is an incredibly difficult word to spell correctly). However, not every psychologist agrees on the interpretation.

The two psychologists (I just spelled that correctly on the first try!) that our guest lecturer Dr. Mazeroff focused on were Carl Jung and Sigmund Freud. Freud and Jung were both very intense and dedicated - apparently when they first met they talked for 13 hours straight! - but their theories were very different.

Jung's ideas centered around the idea of the "collective unconscious" shared between all humans. He theorized that all humans, everywhere, share certain "archetypes" deep within, a sort of memory of the human race as a whole. These archetypes can be anything - the ones I noted include: the Wise Old Man (Dumbledore, Gandalf), the Primeval Forrest (Forbidden Forrest, Fangorn Forrest), the Shadow (parts of oneself that one did not know existed; read: Voldermort's soul inside Harry), the juxtaposition of Two Worlds (Muggle world vs. Wizarding world, the Shire vs. Mordor), and the Shapeshifter (Snape, Gollum), among others. Jung posited that these basic ideas are embedded into each human's DNA, and that Fairy Tales were a way to transcend all races, continents, and time periods. Jung believes that because the elements of a Fairy Tale are so universal, the minute details carry greater importance. For instance the stones that Hansel dropped were white, which may signify a sort of child-like innocence. Jung believed no part of a story was too small to carry some matter of great importance.

Freud, on the other hand, predictably applied his theories of Id, Ego, and Superego, and of consciousness, to Fairy Tales. Each tale contains dilemmas based on each layer: primal desires (Id), rational decisions (Ego), and moral decisions (Superego). Freud linked Fairy Tales to dreams, in that they supposedly reveal the inner workings of our brains - workings that we may not be aware of. (OMG! Prepositions aren't words I end sentences with!) Freud's model of consciousness, when displayed on a PowerPoint by Dr. Mazeroff, most closely resembles an iceberg. At the top, "above sea level," are the thoughts and perceptions we experience, and are aware of (i.e. "psychology" is hard to spell). Just below the "water" are the memories and knowledge that we call upon as we need it (i.e. The number for the Red Sox box office is 877-REDSOX-9; the number for WEEI is 617-779-0850, or toll-free at 1-888-525-0850). The deepest (and largest) part of the iceberg is the unconscious level - things we want or need or feel, but cannot exactly identify (i.e. Harry Potter returns to the Mirror of Erised because he has never known his family and longs to be loved and cared for). According to Freud, Fairy Tales reflect each aspect of our consciousness, revealing truths we cannot consciously identify.