COMPARATIVE THEORY WRITING
Aristotle and Freud both had similar ideas of people and stories being more than what meets the eye. Aristotle argued that humans have a natural urge to see life imitated, and that by reading or experiencing life and emotions through screen or text, it allows individuals to better grasp and understand their own emotions and how to deal with them properly. Even if a reader is engaged in a fictitious story aligned with tragedy and sadness, Aristotle would say that the reader is still learning how to manage and organize those corresponding feelings that the novel may provoke.
Freud used psychoanalytical tactics when approaching a text, urging that literature on a deeper level is a door to diagnose human behavior or human nature. Freud's ideas encourage a deep analysis in order to gain better understanding of an author’s psyche, in order to understand the true root of the work or art created by them. While both Freud and Aristotle mention natural human urges and tendencies, Freud references attempting to diagnose the causes of human behavior in order to help cure individuals, while Aristotle has a focus on understanding human beings in their complexity.
In Hamlet, I believe the idea of Hamlet Jr. deciding on whether or not to avenge his father would be of interest to both Freud and Aristotle. Aristotle might believe that the act of vengeance is important for readers to experience, to learn how to channel these ideas and emotions in order to aid in future decision making and see a new perspective on the subject. Freud might say that Hamlet Jr’s grief of the passing of his father may be manifesting into the “Ghost” he encounters, a ploy that could have been generated by his wounded and unhappy subconscious.
In Batman: A Killing Joke, I believe that Freud would have seen Bruce Wayne’s alter ego, Batman, as a tool for Bruce to be able to have control over the safety of others, since he did not have that control over his own situation when his parents were both killed in front of him. Freud may have seen this alter ego as a manifestation of Bruce needing to correct the evil taking place in Gotham City, since he is not able to correct the wrongness that happened in his own tragic past or bring his parents back. Aristotle may find it interesting that Batman is ultimately a good character fighting against evil, despite the evil he experienced in his own life. This may in part be driven by a human need for justice.
