Mental Deterioration in Eugene O'Neill's Plays The Emperor Jones and Desire Under the Elms: A Psychoanalytic Study
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.31185/lark.Vol1.Iss52.3360Keywords:
Collective Unconscious; Disorder; Fromm; Jung; Mentality; Mother-Fixation; O’Neill; Psychology; Socio-Psychology.Abstract
Diving deep in human mentality and cognitive functions is highly treated by American dramatist Eugene O’Neill (1888-1953) in his dramatic productions. Notably, O’Neill’s plays are based on what he himself calls “hopeless hopes” or “little formless fears”. Thus, the present study aims to discuss and analyze two of O’Neill’s plays; The Emperor Jones and Desire Under the Elms, in relation to psychological and socio-psychological theories to diagnose the reasons and results of mental disorders. The Emperor Jones is analyzed according Carl G. Jung’s theory of the Collective Unconscious. Desire Under the Elms, on the other hand, is analyzed in the view of Erich Fromm’s theory of Mother-Fixation.
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