After Oedipus

Book excerpt: Exploring the dialogue between psychoanalytic and literary discourses, the authors examine the models of plot, character, and ways of reading which each of these discourses has developed in interpreting Shakespeare. Since Freud's writings on Oedipus and Hamlet, Shakespearean tragedy has been paradigmatic for psychoanalytic theory and criticism. In this ambitious and highly imaginative book, the authors trace the dialogue between psychoanalytic and literary discourses by examining the models of plot, character, and ways of reading which each tradition has developed through its interpretation of Shakespeare.