A Freudian Analysis Of Sue Bridehead's Morbid Character In Jude The Obscure

In the 19th century, British novelist Thomas Hardy enjoys a good reputation among the literary arena. Jude the Obscure, his highest achievement in his"character and environment novels", has always been regarded as his masterpiece of realism. Hardy's psychological description of characters in the novel is unmatched in his time. Especially, Sue Bridehead's psychological description is unique. The novel has demonstrated clear features of the modern psychoanalytical novel, although it lacks Freud's psychoanalytical terms. In this thesis, the author will analyze Sue Bridehead's morbid character—unbalanced personality and pathological narcissism with Freudian theories, and explore her weak ego, the conflict between her id and superego as well as the troubles brought by her pathological narcissism.The thesis consists of the following parts:The introduction presents the social background of Thomas Hardy's novel Jude the Obscure, the main criticisms at home and abroad, and the purpose of the thesis.Chapter One gives a detailed introduction of theoretical bases– Freudian personality and narcissism theories. Freudian theories are the theoretical frame of the thesis. Only we make clear of the theories, can we understand the character's mind and behavior clearly.Chapter Two analyzes Sue Bridebread's unbalanced personality. From a Freudian perspective, the author holds that Sue's personality is morbid because she cannot keep her personality balanced, which drives her to self-destruction. This chapter consists of three parts: first, the author will analyze society's repressing Sue's id; and then analyze Sue's weak ego—her succumbing to the id or superego; finally, the author will analyze the conflict between Sue's id and superego—Sue's duality and the conflict between Sue's instinct and convention, through which we can see Sue's sharp conflict in her psyche.Chapter Three explores into Sue's pathological narcissism. This chapter consists of two parts: first, the author will analyze Sue's self-centerness; then the author will analyze her aversion to sex. Through exploring her pathological narcissism, we can see Sue's another aspect of morbid character.Based on the above analysis, the thesis finally draws an conclusion that Sue is a tragic woman with neurotic mind. Her unbalanced personality and pathological narcissism is caused by the society where she lives. The morbid character drives her to self-destruction.