Wish fulfillment

Definition

Wish fulfillment is a psychological concept where an individual's desires and wishes are expressed through dreams, fantasies, or creative works. This idea suggests that people often create or engage in narratives that reflect their deepest longings or unmet needs, allowing them to experience a sense of satisfaction or relief in a safe space. It is closely associated with the notion that literature and art can serve as a means of escape or a platform for exploring personal aspirations.

5 Must Know Facts For Your Next Test

1. Freud believed that dreams are the primary means of wish fulfillment, where repressed desires can manifest without censorship.
2. In literature, characters often embody the author's unfulfilled desires or represent idealized versions of themselves, showcasing wish fulfillment.
3. Wish fulfillment can also be seen in fantasy genres, where characters embark on adventures that allow them to live out aspirations they cannot achieve in reality.
4. Artistic expression frequently serves as an outlet for artists to explore and communicate their personal wishes and conflicts.
5. The concept emphasizes the importance of understanding underlying motivations in both creators and audiences when interpreting artistic works.

Review Questions

• How does the concept of wish fulfillment help in understanding character motivations in literature?
  • The concept of wish fulfillment provides insight into character motivations by revealing their deepest desires and unmet needs. Characters often act in ways that reflect their aspirations, whether consciously or unconsciously, allowing readers to see the underlying psychological drives that influence their actions. By analyzing these motivations, we can better understand the complexity of characters and the themes present in the narrative.
• Discuss the relationship between repression and wish fulfillment in psychoanalytic criticism.
  • Repression plays a crucial role in wish fulfillment as it highlights the tension between unconscious desires and societal norms. When individuals repress certain thoughts or feelings, these unacknowledged wishes often resurface through dreams or creative expressions as a form of fulfillment. Psychoanalytic criticism examines how these repressed desires manifest in literature and art, offering a deeper understanding of characters' struggles and the conflicts they face.
• Evaluate how wish fulfillment can be interpreted differently across various genres of literature and art, and what this reveals about human psychology.
  • Wish fulfillment manifests differently across genres, revealing the complexity of human psychology and individual aspirations. In fantasy literature, characters may experience overt wish fulfillment by achieving extraordinary feats, while in realism, it might be more subtle, with characters striving for personal growth or emotional resolution. This variance shows how different genres allow for diverse explorations of desires—whether through escapism or grounded narratives—highlighting the myriad ways humans cope with their realities and express their inner conflicts.

Related terms

Psychoanalysis: A therapeutic approach developed by Sigmund Freud that emphasizes the exploration of unconscious thoughts and feelings to understand behavior.

Repression:

A defense mechanism where individuals unconsciously block out painful or undesirable thoughts and feelings from their awareness.

Symbolism:

The use of symbols to represent ideas or qualities, allowing deeper meanings to emerge in literature and art.