Analysis of Oedipus complex in Sons and Lovers.docx

1、Analysis of Oedipus complex in Sons and LoversAnalysis of Oedipus complex in Sons and LoversIntroduction The Oedipus complex is always a hot topic in the world. The Oedipus complex is also called Mother Fixation. Generally speaking, it refers to the process of psychological tendency of a man. Oedipu

2、s complex is that no matter what age the man always obeys and attaches to his mother. Actually we designate that this kind of person has not weaned in the psychologically. Freud put forward this theory at first. He believed that the Oedipus complex is an important factor in the development of indivi

3、dual personalities. There are a lot of scholars and writers discusses about the definition of Oedipus complex and its manifestations in literary works. Some scholars thought that children who live in a good family and social environment are unlikely perplexing deformity feelings Oedipus complex. Som

4、e experts believed that the Oedipus complex is a kind of common phenomenon. In a short, scholars dont reach a consensus. Based on the viewpoints of experts from all walks of life, this term would be discusses again. This papers writing structure is shown as follows: The essay firstly introduces the

5、background information of the times and brief introduction of author and novel. And then this paper will analyze the embodiment of Oedipus complex in Pauls childhood, teenage days and after Pauls mother died. And more the essay will illustrates negative effects of Oedipus complex in modern life with

6、 real examples, and finding ways to solve it correctly. Eventually according to current research status of Oedipus complex, this paper will explores negative influence of Oedipus complex to society, especially to Chinese families.1. Background Information of Sons and Lovers The third published novel

7、 of D.H. Lawrence, taken by many to be his earliest masterpiece tells the story of Paul Morel, a young man and a budding artist. This autobiographical novel is a brilliant evocation of life in a working class mining community. The original 1913 edition was heavily edited by Edward Garnett who remove

8、d eighty passages, roughly a tenth of the text. It was not until the 1992 Cambridge University Press edition was released that the missing text was restored. In1999, the Modern Library ranked Sons and Lovers ninth on a list of the 100 best novels in English of the 20th century.1.1 Brief Introduction

9、 about the Author David Herbert Lawrence is one of the greatest and most controversial English novelists in the 20th century. D.H. Lawrence was born in miners family of England in 1885. His birthplace is now a museum. Lawrences early education was at Greasley Beauvale Board School, near Eastwood, an

10、d later, after winning a scholarship in 1898, he attended Nottingham High School. He also studied at Nottingham University and spent a brief time teaching at the Davidson Road School. His father was a totally illiterate miner and his mother, a primary school teacher who was born in a noble family wa

11、s a woman of strong character and refinement. The broken marriage of D.H. Lawrences parents led to an unlucky family. The differences in Lawrences parents backgrounds often led to family conflicts, with his father preferring to spend his wages on drink, to help deaden the pain of working long grueli

12、ng hours underground, whilst his mother was more concerned with the childrens upbringing, welfare and education. Growing up in a poor and broken family, the young Lawrence was physically weak and full of illness. He had a deep feeling with his mother which was different from normal one. D.H. Lawrenc

13、es mother died in 1910. He helped her die by giving her an overdose of sleeping medicine. This scene was re-created in his novel Sons and Lovers. Though he lived in an unfortunately family, it doesnt influence his literary career at all. During his life-long literary career, he had written more than

14、 ten novels several volumes of short stories and a large number of poems. Lawrence is not only a great novelist but also a famous poet, a sharp essay author, an experienced traveler and a productive literature reporter. At the same time he spreads his genius to many fields such as commentary philoso

15、phy and drawing. However he is first of all a novelist. The important point is that these novels win immense reputation. He dares to break the writing way of other writers in the 19th century. With especial style and vivid psychological depiction he describes the primal and natural beauty to show th

16、e instinctive power of human beings. Lawrences works are understood hardly so he is the controversial figure in the history of literature all the time. A few writers and critics in the same epoch appreciate him but most of them dont agree with Lawrence. Some people think he is a heretic in emotion a

17、nd morbid sexual maniac others regard his belief as strange and inconceivable one. In1950s a current began to raise which recognized and reappraised Lawrence and his work. After the publication of the novel Sons and Lovers Lawrence was settled his position as a famous novelist. The Rainbow and Women

18、 in Love are two of his novels. They make Lawrence became one of the great novelist in 20th century1.2 Brief Introduction about the Novel In the 20th century, the work Sons and Lovers aroused a great sensation in the literature world. More and more people begin put their attention to Oedipus complex

19、. Most people believed that it was a strong evidence for Freuds theoryOedipus complex. Sons and lovers is an autobiographical novel, much of which is taken from Lawrences own early life in the midland coal-mining village of Eastwood. In the novel, Lawrence shoed us a picture of coal-miners life in t

20、he English Midlands according to his life experience that developed the historical and social atmosphere in that period. In the work Sons and Lovers, Mrs. Gertrude morel, the mother, was a woman of strong character and refinement. Her husband was a miner who drank heavily and he was irresponsible wh

21、ich often led to terrible quarrels in the family. Paul Morel grew up in such a miserable setting. The mother lavished her love on him and determined to save him from the shadow of the coal mine. But when he was in love with Miriam, Mrs. Morel was afraid that she might lose him. So she did her best t

22、o prevent Paul fall in love with her. Finally, Paul and Miriam have to divorce from each other. Clara is Pauls second lover; she also fails by the possessive mother. 2. Embodiment of Oedipus complex In the Sons and Lovers Men who have Oedipus complex do what their mothers ask them to and cant do wha

23、t their mothers dont allow. They believe that their mothers are the ones who love them most and could rely on so that they dont want to leave their mothers and they desire to stay with their mothers forever. In opposite, the mothers put most of their attention to their children. They try their best

24、to protest their children. They decide everything for their children because they believe that they know what their children need. In their childrens life nobody can take the place of their mother. Many evidence like this can be found in the novel. 2.1 Definition of Oedipus complexThis term, Oedipus

25、 complex, derives from one of the Greece and Rome mythologies. There was a prophecy that the new prince of Oedipus realm would be the person who killed his father and married his mother, after hearing the prophecy, the Oedipus King decided to dissent his son to the desolate mountain. Luckily, the yo

26、ung prince was rescued and brought up by a shepherd and was sent to Oedipus realm country as the son of Oedipus realm. The prince did a lot of charitable deed that the people regarded him as a hero and then supported him as the king of Oedipus realm. Becoming the king of Oedipus realm, the young kin

27、g married the queen of Oedipus realm. One day he knew the truth that the queen was his mother and his father had been killed by him as a passenger. Realized this, the young Oedipus king dug out his eyeballs and then led a vagrant life. According to the story, the Austrian psychologist Freud had pose

28、d the theory of Oedipus which also called Oedipus complex. In 1900 the publication of the Interpretation of Dreams by Austrian psychologist Sigmund Freud marked the real establishment of psychoanalysis theory. In the Totem and Taboo which was published in 1913 Freud said “the earliest sexual target

29、of boy is his mother.”1 That is to say he always wants to occupy his fathers position scramble for mothers love with his father .This is Sigmund Freud advanced a theory of personality development that centered on the effects of the sexual pleasure drive on the individual psyche. At particular points

30、 in the developmental process, he claimed, a single body part is particularly sensitive to sexual, erotic stimulation. These erogenous zones are the mouth, the anus, and the genital region. The childs libido centers on behavior affecting the primary erogenous zone of his age; he cannot focus on the

31、primary erogenous zone of the next stage without resolving the developmental conflict of the immediate one. The Oedipus complex occurs during the phallic stage of psychosexual development (age 36 years) when also occurs the formation of the libido and the ego yet it might manifest itself at an earli

32、er age. The phallic stage is the setting for the greatest, most crucial sexual conflict in Freuds model of development. In this stage, the childs erogenous zone is the genital region. As the child becomes more interested in his genitals, and in the genitals of others, conflict arises. The conflict,

33、labeled the Oedipus complex (The Electra complex in women), involves the childs unconscious desire to possess the opposite-sexed parent, and to eliminate the same-sexed one. In another words, during this stage boys seek genital stimulation and develop both unconscious desires for their mother and jealousy and hatred for their father