Freudian Interpretation Of Bloom's Personality Structure In Ulysses

As one of the most distinguished masters in the stream-of-consciousness literature, James Joyce's (1882-1941) masterpiece Ulysses is considered as the "encyclopedia" of stream of consciousness. In Ulysses, Joyce profoundly reveals the delicate inner world of characters by employing techniques of stream of consciousness, such as internal monologue, free association, fantasy, etc. Through vivid presentation of Bloom's hallucination, dream, free association, etc, Joyce fully exposes Bloom's delicate inner world and complex psychological structure, and thus successfully creates the "decent all round man" (Norris, Joyce for Beginners 140).American scholar Joseph Frank holds that "Joyce cannot be read—he can only be re-read" (Frank 234). And the same is true about the classical figure Bloom. As the saying goes, "there are a thousand Hamlets in a thousand people's eyes". Similarly, we may say "there are a thousand Blooms in a thousand people's eyes". Therefore, this thesis intends to re-read Bloom in the ligkt of Freudian personality structure.Freud divides human personality into three significant components:the id, the ego and the superego. The id consists of various primitive desires and instincts. Regardless of social conventions and moral restraints, the id follows pleasure principle and strives for immediate satisfaction. As the core of personality, the ego follows reality principle and seeks gratification of the id in socially acceptable patterns. The ego tries to find a balance among the id, the superego and the external world through coordination. The superego, which is formed through internalization of moral standards of parents and society, is at the top of the personality and consists of two parts:the ego ideal and the conscience. It observes moral principle and functions to supervise and standardize one's behaviors.Under the framework referred, through specific analysis of text, the thesis probes into Bloom's personality structure: his repressed id in reality, his releasing ego in hallucination, and his sublimated superego in the course of spiritual pursuit and gradual improvement of human nature. The study on Bloom's personality structure provides a new perspective for interpretation of Bloom, the main character in Ulysses.This thesis is composed of three chapters apart from introduction and conclusion, which are as follows:The introduction mainly devotes to Joyce's literary achievement, literary significance and previous studies on Ulysses and reasons for employing Freudian personality structure as the theoretical approach to this thesis.Chapter One mainly presents Bloom's repressed id, which is on account of the loss of his son Rudy and his sexual ability as well as his unharmonious relationship with his wife Molly and people around him. All these factors contribute to Bloom's isolation and frustration, thus he chooses to repress the id.Chapter Two mainly demonstrates Bloom's releasing ego and released id in hallucination. The pattern of hallucination is employed by Bloom's ego to release his primitive instincts and repressed id.Chapter Three mainly probes into Bloom's sublimated superego. Under the guidance of superego, Bloom follows moral principle and shows humanistic attitude towards his spiritual son Stephen, his wife Molly and people around him. During these processes, Bloom's spirit is purified and his superego gets sublimation.After the analysis of Bloom from Freudian personality structure, the author comes to the conclusion that Bloom is not cowardly or vulgar as misunderstood by some people. On the contrary, he is a "decent all round man" (Norris, Joyce for Beginners 140) with love, compassion, great ambition and awareness of social justice. Through the portrayal of Bloom, Joyce probes into the darkness of human spirit and presents us the complex human nature. Thus, the interpretation of Bloom in light of Freudian personality structure can not only shed light on the understanding of the profound human nature but also provide significant guidance for the formation of healthy personality in modern society.