A Freudian Psychoanalytical Interpretation on Tragedies of Tess of the D’Urberville

陈雪莹

Abstract：Thomas Hardy is an important writer and poet whose reputation chiefly rests on vivid description of a group of people living at the foot of the social ladder. With the support of Freudian theories， this essay intends to discuss the images of the three protagonists as well as the tragedy of Tess in Tess of the DUrberbilles， and explores the psychological experience and connotation of Hardys naturalistic fiction.

Key words：Thomas Hardy； Freudian theories； Tess； psychological

1. Introduction

Thomas Hardy is one of the representatives of naturalism and fatalism. Part of his works known as the novels of character and environment. His masterpiece， Tess of the DUrbervilles， established his reputation across the world. Of all kinds of analysis on the tragedy of Tess， fatalism enjoys immense popularity among the theories. Essays， however， seldom try to interpret by virtue of Freudian psychoanalysis， though in the category of psychology， to explore the true inward life of Thomas Hardy.

In the light of Sigmund Freud， he divided the psychological structure into three portions： consciousness， preconsciousness and unconsciousness， which constitute human mind. He put forward the mental structure theory that gave rise to the id， the ego as well as the superego. The id is a psychic representation of biology that is completely unconscious and acts as the origin of the instinctual impulse and operates in keeping with pleasure principle， while the ego which complies with the reality principle relates organism to reality by consciousness and always meets with obstacles in struggling for the satisfaction of the id. The superego， mostly unconscious， is the combination of conscience and ego ideal that follow the moral standards resulting from the internalization of social culture. （Liu， 2005： 244） It， as a division of the psyche， censors and restrains the ego. In short， literary innovation is the manifestation of unconscious desires of writers via free association under the control of psychological forces.

2.Struggles of Thomas Hardy

（1）Conflicts Between the Id and the Ego

For Hardy， Tess is symbol of the id. The image of Tess is considered to be a pure and handsome country girl looking forward to a carefree life but falling into the abyss of hypocrisy and evilness. Tesss tragedy commenced with her fathers ridiculous discovery of being the relative of a noble family. She was forced to work in their manor for the sake of economic support of her family and was finally seduced by the decent offspring， Alec dUrberville and lost her virgin. She had already discerned that Alec was a man of hypocrisy and immorality who pays attentions only to sex pleasure rather than pure love before she was rape. What Tess did， however， was not to keep aloof from his place but to continue her job near to Alec until she was defiled by tricks. Yet she has never stopped satisfying Alec even if he is filled with sexual desires， and she has never banished him from the deepest heart. She acts like the ego who always tries to satisfy the id epitomized by Alec， who is filled with forces and drives and sexual impulse.

（2）Conflicts Between the Ego and the Superego

Angel Clare in the novel signifies the superego. What he really differs from Alec is his attitude towards true love between a male and a female. Serious with love and responsible for his affection for Tess， he touches Tess to the soul and shifts her from low self-esteem. Angels love is thus not a desire for sexual pleasure but a pursuit of a certain kind of morality and conscience， though “the desire for pleasure doesnt disappear， even when its sublimated into work” （Clages， 2009： 65）. Angel keeps constraining Tess from doing whatever she feels like. In a word， with such personalities， Angel in the novel is undoubtedly the carnation of the superego.

3. Hardys Quest for the Ego in Tess of the DUrbervilles

The novel Hardy created is not simply a single demonstration of each structure of his psychological experience， but also the wishes for a qualified ego. Tess is the combination of the three stratas of personality. Freud saw personality as having three aspects and can be detected in Tess. Prime and foremost， she was a virgin before she came across Alec， and she felt obsessed with the libido pleasure when it occurred. This is what Freud named id that causes one to be bound up in self-gratification and uncaring to others if too much strong. Further， Tess then encountered Angel and thought it impossible to marry him as an impure woman， and this is the exposure of the ego which is the rational part of mind that makes one extremely sensible but distant if excessive. Finally， she obeyed most of Angels principles and made him a moral ideal unconsciously but she felt guilty all the time， and this is the function of superego which makes one feel ashamed if overly strong. Tess， therefore， as the carnation of Hardy， is a combination of the three structures and is working to explore the balance between the id and the superego. By shaping Tess Hardy tries to express his fear of and anxiety about death and the evil nature of human beings and the inevitable tragedies of men as well.

4. Conclusion

Thomas Hardy successfully modeled a Victorian female image through sophisticated delineation that is in the control of unconsciousness. The work is a reflection of the conflicts that Hardy and people at that time puzzled about， particularly the conflicts between the id and the ego and the conflicts between the ego and the superego. By reading Tess， the unification and split of the three stratas hidden will be fully understood. The maturation of Tess is doomed to be tragic. Hardy， by giving life to Tess， demonstrates his worry about the fragmentation of the society.

【Works Cited】

[1] Clages， Mary. Literary Theory： A Guide for the Perplexed. 上海： 上海外語教育出版社， 2009.

[2] Freud， Sigmund. The Interpretation of Dreams. 北京： 九州出版社， 2005.

[3] Hardy， Thomas. Tess of the dUrbervilles. 上海： 上海世界图书出版公司， 2003.

[4] 刘象愚. 外国文论简史[M]. 北京： 北京大学出版社， 2005.