The (Re)Source of Creativity: A Psychoanalytic Reading of Dr. Seuss’s You’re Only Old Once!

Abstract

In this article, I use Sigmund Freud's "Creative Writers and Day-Dreaming" to provide an explanation for the creativity of Theodor Geisel, better known as Dr. Seuss. Freud suggests that creative writing is a substitutionary form of play that is (1) related to the present in that the writing is the product of some current activity or happening; (2) linked to a past (usually infantile) experience of the fulfillment of a wish; and (3) representative of a vision of the future where the current wish is fulfilled. In his essay, Freud did not interpret any particular piece of creative writing in light of an author's personal experience to validate his theory. He offered, rather, abstract speculations. In this article,