Related Words

Fulfillment: Responding to requests from potential visitors.

Wish Fulfillment: In psychoanalytic criticism, wish fulfillment refers to something in literature that satisfies the conscious or subconscious desires of either the creator or the reader of a work. A writer o . . . View Full Definition

Jungian Psychology: The term refers to the theories of the Swiss psychologist, Carl Gustav Jung (1875-1961). Jung was a student of Freud, but he rejected Freud's ideas of infantile sexuality (i.e., the Oedipal . . . View Full Definition

Freudian Criticism: A psychoanalytical approach to literature that seeks to understand the elements of a story or character in a story by applying the tripartite model of the psyche developed by the late ninete . . . View Full Definition

Loathly Lady: The motif of a ugly hag who will under set conditions transform into a beautiful maiden, or more rarely a beautiful maiden cursed to revert to a hideous or inhuman shape under different cond . . . View Full Definition

Oedipal Complex: The late Victorian and early twentieth-century psychologist Freud argued that male children, jealous of sharing their mother's attention with a father-figure, would come to possess a subcons . . . View Full Definition

Thanatos: Freud's term for a subconscious desire for self-destruction--a secret longing to die--a death wish. See also wish fulfillment. (Greek, 'death')

Fairy Tale: In common parlance, a tale about elves, dragons, hobgoblins, sprites, and other fantastic magical beings set vaguely in the distant past (once upon a time'), often in a pseudo-medieval world . . . View Full Definition

Naturalism: A literary movement seeking to depict life as accurately as possible, without artificial distortions of emotion, idealism, and literary convention. The school of thought is a product of post . . . View Full Definition

Escapist Literature: Not to be confused with escape literature, escapist literature is designed primarily for imaginative entertainment rather than readings designed for provoking thought or addressing serious s . . . View Full Definition