A Freudian Lens to the Female Protagonists in M.E.Braddon’s Lady Audley’s Secret (1862), D.H.Lawrence’s The Virgin and The Gipsy (1930) and Jeanette Winterson’s Oranges Are Not the Only Fruit (1985)

Abstract

The present dissertation centers upon a psychological examination of the main female characters in M.E.Braddon’s Lady Audley’s Secret (1835), D.H.Lawrence’s The Virgin and the Gipsy (1930), and Jeanette Winterson’s Oranges Are Not the Only Fruit (1959). The precise point that is meant to be exposed from this investigation is to expose the function of Freud’s the tripartite model of the mind and its influence on the female characters in the chosen works. More precisely, more attention is drawn to the character’s actions through which an attempt is made to reveal the inner conflicts they face before getting to a flexible identity; that of the id and the superego. The attention, also, is indicated to the permanent contradiction between moralities and desires that are exceptionally shown during the analysis of the narratives from a psychological perspective. To form the dissertation, a good knowledge about the three narratives and the theory itself is provided to the reader in the early parts. Also, the following chapters emphasize the psychological nature of the characters in relation to their societies and investigate its influence on their personalities. Accordingly, and after examining the females’ bahviour throughout the narratives it is found that the unconscious plays an integral role in shaping their identities and reaching autonomy. The three authors managed to show what did their protagonists overcome to finally have a strong and flexible personality.