Produced by Chris Curnow, Christopher Wright and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net (This file was produced from images generously made available by The Internet Archive) THE EROTIC MOTIVE IN LITERATURE THE EROTIC MOTIVE IN LITERATURE BY ALBERT MORDELL AUTHOR OF "THE SHIFTING OF LITERARY VALUES," "DANTE AND OTHER WANING CLASSICS," ETC. [Illustration] BONI AND LIVERIGHT NEW YORK 1919 COPYRIGHT, 1919, BY BONI & LIVERIGHT, INC. _First printing, May, 1919_ _Second printing, July, 1919_ _Printed in the U. S. A._ CONTENTS CHAPTER PAGE I INTRODUCTION 1 II EROTICISM IN LIFE 20 III DREAMS AND LITERATURE 31 IV THE ŒDIPUS COMPLEX AND THE BROTHER AND SISTER COMPLEX 51 V THE AUTHOR ALWAYS UNCONSCIOUSLY IN HIS WORK 63 VI UNCONSCIOUS CONSOLATORY MECHANISMS IN AUTHORSHIP 83 VII PROJECTION, VILLAIN PORTRAYALS AND CYNICISM AS WORK OF THE UNCONSCIOUS 97 VIII GENIUS AS A PRODUCT OF THE UNCONSCIOUS 107 IX LITERARY EMOTIONS AND THE NEUROSES 118 X THE INFANTILE LOVE LIFE OF THE AUTHOR AND ITS SUBLIMATIONS 132 XI SEXUAL SYMBOLISM IN LITERATURE 150 XII CANNIBALISM: THE ATREUS LEGEND 172 XIII PSYCHOANALYSIS AND LITERARY CRITICISM 179 XIV KEATS' PERSONAL LOVE POEMS 199 XV SHELLEY'S PERSONAL LOVE POEMS 209 XVI PSYCHOANALYTIC STUDY OF EDGAR ALLAN POE 220 XVII THE IDEAS OF LAFCADIO HEARN 237 XVIII CONCLUSION 244 CHAPTER I INTRODUCTION I This work is an endeavour to apply some of the methods of psychoanalysis to literature. It attempts to read closely between the lines of an author's works. It applies some principles in interpreting literature with a scrutiny hitherto scarcely deemed permissible. Only such suggestions have been set down whose application has been rendered fairly unimpeachable by science and experience.