A Psychoanalytic Interpretation Of The Mill On The Floss

As an enormously intelligent and prolific English Victorian writer, George Eliot is well known for the unique ideology, the exquisite writing technique, the vivid depiction of the characters, together with the complicated psychoanalysis of the characters. Since her novels create the new depth in terms of the psychological descriptions, George Eliot is considered to be the pioneer of the psychological novel. One of her early works-The Mill on the Floss is considered to be a masterpiece in the history of English literature. Apart from this, The Mill on the Floss is also a good representation of reflecting the psychoanalysis.This thesis attempts to undertake a psychoanalytic study of The Mill on the Floss in the light of Sigmund Freud's theory of the structures of mind. According to Freud, the mental apparatus consists of the id, the ego and the superego. The id is an important part of our personality which supplies all the mental power of human beings. It contains the basic desire, the impulse and vitality of human beings. In addition, the id is governed by the pleasure principle. Compared with the id, the ego represents reason and common sense, acting in accordance with the reality principle. Moreover, restricted by the outer factor, the ego tries to reconcile the relationship among the external world, the id and the superego. As to the superego which is governed by the morality principle, it pursues the ideal perfection. Furthermore, the superego remains the character of the father and censors the thought and behaviors of human beings.The thesis is made up of three chapters. Chapter I focuses on the analysis of Maggie and tries to prove that she is mainly an id-dominated character. Her uncontrollable impulse is mainly reflected in two aspects: her Electra complex and her sexual desires for Tom and Stephen. Chapter II attempts to explore Tom and the Dodsons who act as the embodiment of Maggie's superego. Tom's attitude towards Maggie's love and the Dodsons'restriction on Maggie's behaviors can be analyzed by Freudian theory concerning the superego. Chapter III intends to analyze such characters as Dr. Kenn and Lucy to demonstrate that they are the representatives of Maggie's ego. Ego's mediating function and cohering function are able to reconcile the relationship between the id and the external world and the relationship between the id and the superego.To sum up, by the elaborate analysis of these main characters and the relationships among them, Maggie can be considered to be a character mainly dominated by the id, and Tom and the Dodsons can be taken as the embodiment of Maggie's superego, while Dr. Kenn and Lucy as the embodiment of her ego. Moreover, it shows that George Eliot's The Mill on the Floss unconsciously reflects Freud's psychoanalytic theory. Thus, it is feasible to interpret the literary works by means of the structures of mind in Sigmund Freud's theory.