| Three works from Oates are selected to analyze in this thesis, i.e. Four Summers (short story), I’ll Take You There, Middle Age:A Romance (novel). Erikson’s theory, stages of psychosocial development is used to analyze three heroines’psychological crises. These heroines are a little girl named Sissie (Four Summers), a young woman, Anellia (I’ll Take You There) and the middle-aged Abigail (Middle Age:A Romance). According to Erikson’s theory, they are from the third, fifth and seventh psychological stages with specific crises. Extrinsic and intrinsic causes are used to analyze three heroines’ psychological crises. The performance and consequence after crises are also explained in this thesis. Erikson’s stages of psychosocial development offers a new perspective for analyzing inner world crises of heroines by reading Oates’ novels. |
