Psychoanalysis is concerned with analysis of mind i.e. the psyche’s structure and its relation to the body, and use that as the basis for treating certain kinds of sickness. It is popularly known as “talking cure” and some of its central concepts are: penis envy, the Oedipus complex, the phallic symbol. As these terms suggest, psychoanalysis is closely associated with gender, sex, familial relations and the fact that their expression and construction are not always available to the conscious mind which are also central interest to feminism. Psychoanalytic and gender feminists believe “women’s way of acting is rooted deep in women’s psyche.”

Sigmund Freud described psychoanalysis as a phenomenon of the 20^th century, also acknowledging the works of the 19^th century precursors. Freud together with his colleague Josef Breuer wrote Studies on Hysteria (1895) which is a collection of five case histories of women suffering from reminiscences and also explains the facts that women fears and phobias, hallucinations and physical symptoms ( such as amnesia, asthma, feeling cold, neck cramps, stammers etc) all turned out to have their origin in repressed memories. Breuer also admits that the symptoms disappeared once they had been given verbal utterance which later became a therapeutic technique. During his self-analysis, Freud established three principles: the unconscious part of mind, analysis of dreams and the relationship between unconscious and conscious thought processes. Later he divided this into the id (the central location of unstructured instincts), the ego (the realistic element) and the super-ego (the internalized parental function, moral, critical).

Between 1893 and 1895 Freud developed his theory of the Oedipus complex and infantile sexuality. In the Oedipus complex, the small boy loves his mother and experience a jealous hatred of his father which is resolved by the castration complex i.e. the father steps in to forbid the boy access to his mother, on the pain of losing his organ, and the boy, in obeying, identifies with the father and the power he wields. Freud makes the little boy model for both the sexes and describes the little girl as his deficient version. In the girl’s case, according to Freud, she now loves her father and hates the betraying mother who has sent her into the world so insufficiently equipped. It is clear from these comments of Freud’s why Oedipus complex is problematic for feminist psychoanalysis, as it constructs women as the inferior ‘second sex’ and in addition to this Freud also ignores the social position of women he wrote about. However, Melanie Klein argues that the Oedipus complex occurs much earlier than Freud suggests and the infant’s drives focus not on the father and his anatomy but on the mother.

From 1953 the very influential French theorist and trained psychiatrist, Jaques Lacan inaugurated a “return to Freud” in his seminars and writings bringing structuralist and post structuralist theories of language to bear on Freud’s central concepts of the unconscious, the construction of gender etc. The biggest issue to feminist approaches to Lacan is the role of what he called phallus in the theory of language and his subject. Lacan pointed out that the distinction between penis and phallus is fundamental to Freud’s differentiation between biological and psychic reality. The phallus exists outside anatomical reality and is the signifier of the mother’s desire. He claims that this is a neutral third term, a signifier of lack. Feminists critics point out how it is hard to separate the phallus from the literal organ, the penis , if only because of verbal and visual coincidence and points out that his theory is non biological and non essentialist, as the feminine position is open to both men and women.

Psychoanalytic feminist thought has also followed another route, i.e. the area of masquerade, or gender as a performative strategy. Joan Riviere in her essay discusses three case studies which have in common the fact that ‘women who wish for masculinity may put up a mask of womanliness to avert anxiety and the retribution feared from men’. Opponents of claims that the idea of masquerade is liberatory point to its political implications. The potential that masquerades offers is a deconstruction of the idea of biological determinism or the real women not yet disfigured by patriarchal social relations. Masquerade has also been used to not only analyse the female spectator but the very possibility of representation of the female body on screen.

Thus the future of psychoanalytic feminism seems very rich. As well as the ‘return to Klein’, signaled for instance by the establishment of Women’s Therapy Centre in London, psychoanalytic feminism underlies recent developments in lesbian theory, gender studies and queer theory.

Rabindranath Tagore was a man with many talents. He was famously known as ‘Gurudev’ (Master Teacher), ‘Kabiguru’ (Master Poet) and ‘Bishwakabi’ (World Poet).  He was a Novelist, a Philosopher, an Educationist, and a Painter. He had early success as a writer in Bengal and is well known worldwide for his novels, essays, short stories, travelogues, dramas, and thousands of songs. Among his prose, short stories are highly regarded. He initiated his career in short stories in 1877 when he was only six years old with Bikharini (The Beggar Women). In his stories he portrayed mostly the life of poor and common people in India and this collection of short stories can be found in his three volumes “Galpaguchchha”.

Let’s find out some of the epic short stories from Tagore’s Galpaguchchha:

1. KABULIWALA (THE FRUITSELLER FROM KABUL)

It is the story of an Afghani merchant from Kabul who comes to Calcutta every year to sell dry fruits and while living there he befriends a five-year-old girl called Mini who reminds him of his daughter in Kabul. It was first published in 1892. This is va ery emotional and sensitive story which portrayed a father’s deep love for his daughter. This story is adapted many times as a Bengali and Hindi movie in 1957 and 1961 respectively and also as a part of television series named “Stories by Rabindranath Tagore”.

2. GORA

It is set in 19^th century India, during the British Raj and reflects the social, political and religious scene in Bengal. It was first published in 1910. This is the story of two Hindu Bengali friends – Gora and Binoy, and two Bramhin Bengali sisters – Sucharita and Lalita. Gora (Gourmohan) is the central character in the story who represents the undying spirit of struggle for freedom from the British. The story revolves around how people were subjected to the demands of the society and what consequences they had to face on violating such demands. This story not only reflects the complex social life in colonial India but also a brilliant story of conflicts and self discovery.

3. ATITHI (THE RUNAWAY)

It is the story of a boy Tarapada who is restless, runs away from home frequently and has great zeal to learn and explore the world. It was first published in 1895. This story is gently engaging and will definitely indulge you. This was made into a film of the same name by famous director Tapan Sinha and is also adapted as a part of television series named “Stories by Rabindranath Tagore” in Epic Channel.

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4. KSHUDITA PASHAN (THE HUNGRY STONES)

Tagore developed the idea of The Hungry Stones when he was 17 years old. It is a story of a Tax Collector posted in a remote area under Nijam Rule who despite being warned about supernatural events in the nearby marble palace is drawn towards it and refused to return to the terms of real life. It was first published in August 1895. Its main underlying theme is the contrast between reality and fantasy.

5. GHARE BAIRE (THE HOME AND THE WORLD)

Ghare Baire is set in the early 20^th century in India. This story demonstrates a conflict between the ideas of Western culture and revolution against the Western culture which Tagore had with himself. These two ideas are portrayed in two of the main characters, Nikhil, a rational man who opposes violence, and Sandip, who will let nothing stand in his way from reaching his goals. It was first published in 1916. This story portrays nationalism, a clash between tradition and modernism, the importance of religion, the role of women and love and union. It was first adapted as a film under the direction of Satyajit Ray in 1984 which was also released at the Cannes Film Festival in France and was also nominated for the Golden Palm award, one of the highest awards received at the Cannes Film Festival.