How did Freudian criticism use an author’s writings to explore psychological conflicts?

Freudian criticism applies the psychoanalytic theories of Sigmund Freud to literature by interpreting a text as a reflection of the author's known psychological conflicts. Conversely, critics may use the unconscious revelations found within a work to reconstruct the author's psychic life.1

This approach moves beyond traditional literary analysis by treating writings as evidence of an author's internal state. For example, Ernest Jones famously analyzed William Shakespeare’s Hamlet by tracing the protagonist's indecision to Shakespeare's own supposed Oedipal guilt. Other notable applications include:1

• Edmund Wilson’s The Wound and the Bow, which examines the relationship between an author's psychological trauma and their creative output.1
• Van Wyck Brooks’s The Ordeal of Mark Twain, which utilizes psychoanalytic perspectives to inform biography.1

By focusing on these unconscious patterns, Freudian critics seek to uncover the hidden motivations and emotional struggles that shape both the creator and the narrative.1