Psychoanalytic Theory

Example:

A mind to murder, P.D James (novel)

Scotland Yard Commander Adam Dalgliesh has been on leave following the death on duty of a member of his team, DS Sarah Hillier. His superiors order him back to work to investigate the murder of the Director of the Steen Clinic, which specializes in psychiatric cases. Dalgliesh and his team can't quite figure out why they've been assigned to what seems to be a straightforward murder case but it's clear that his superiors want him to get in and out as quickly as possible. There is any number of possible suspects and as Dalgliesh is fond to say, the motive for murder is inevitably greed or love.

When the administrative head of the Steen Psychiatric Clinic is found dead with a chisel in her heart, Superintendent Adam Dalgliesh of Scotland Yard is called in to investigate. Dalgliesh must analyze the deep-seated anxieties and thwarted desires of patients and staff alike to determine which of their unresolved conflicts resulted in murder.

With "discernment, depth, and craftsmanship," wrote the Chicago Daily News, A Mind to Murder "is a superbly satisfying mystery."

Interpretation:
Psychoanalytic Theory includes the experiences and anxieties of the author. It also seeks evidence of unresolved emotions, psychological conflicts, guilt, ambivalences, and so forth.

A mind murder is a story of a commander who investigates the murder in a psychiatric clinic. He wants to solve the crime and he also want to analyze the anxiety and desires of patients to determine which of their unresolved conflicts resulted in murder. The story is connected to the author's life. Her husband suffered in an illness and he was confined in a psychiatric clinic. What happened to her family was the reason why she come up to this novel which fits to Psychoanalytic Theory.