Psychoanalysis is a collection of ideas surrounding the deeper inner workings of the human brain. The theory was developed by Sigmund Freud and looks at the human life as a whole, in which the adult life is influenced by their earliest years. It carries the idea that humans are driven by desires which are often hidden in their unconscious and thus may be acted out in later years of life. Freud developed psychoanalysis as a therapy to release repressed emotions and experiences to help patients overcomes traumas, for example . It aims to make the unconscious thoughts conscious as the manifest symptoms are understood to be caused by latent disturbances . Psychoanalysis soon became recognised and has since been used as a method in psychoanalytic biographies. An example of psychoanalytic biographies are: Eric Erikson, Young Man Luther: A Study in Psychoanalysis and History (London: Faber, 1959) and Otto Pflanze, Bismarck and the Development of Germany (Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1963). These biographies take specific aim at the subjects personality in an attempt to deconstruct their character, uncover their unconscious, and provide an in depth look at their personality. This essay, with specific reference to Bisma
rck, will look at how biographers who have undertaken psychoanalytic biographies on him have dealt with the problems at hand of using such an approach, whilst also analysing the strengths this method provides. It will argue that the strengths outweigh the weaknesses because of the opportunity it provides in critically analysing an individual whilst also being able to illuminate specific personalities with its use, which thus creates a better sense of a biography because it provides the reader with a deconstruction of the individuals character. Freuds psychoanalysis created implications on psychologists, historians and biographers alike. In specific context for this essay, it led to biographers needing to consider the subject life in a holistic way; including the influence of early years, parents, family background, and traumas. Moreover, the need to consider sexual urges and behaviour, and to try to discern latent motivations as well as those which are on the surface. The consensus surrounding the notion of use of psychoanalysis in biographies follows the lines of it being a necessary tool to uncover the persons true character. By not considering its use, one is excluding themselves from critically analysing the subject.