The quest for identity and self-understanding in dickinson's "I felt a funeral in My Brain" and Poe's "The Tell Tale Heart"

Abstract

The subject of this research work is an exploration through the therapeutic side of literature, the inter relation between psychoanalysis and literature, and the impact of literary works on the person’s psyche and mental health, not forgetting the discussion of two psychological issues which are the quest for identity and self-understanding through two literary pieces the poem “I Felt a Funeral in my Brain” by Emily Dickinson and the short story “The Tell-Tale Heart” by Edgar Allan Poe”. The work starts by giving the historical background of the field of psychoanalysis citing the most influential figures including their different theories. The latter relies on the link that these two fields have and the cooperation to one another. Then, it continues with exposing the subjects of identity and self-comprehension in two well-known literary works of the 19th century