An Analysis Of Michael Cunningham’s The Hours From The Perspective Of Anxiety Theory

As the most famous book of Michael Cunningham’s, The Hours has won the PulitzerPrize and the PEN/Faulkner Award. It describes three women’s thoughts and activities indifferent time and space by using Virginia Woolf’s novel Mrs. Dalloway as a clue. Thepsychological disorder and spiritual anxiety that the characters have experienced are typicaland universal in the modern world. By the special narrative structure and stream-of-consciousness style, Michael Cunningham probes the anxiety that men are experiencing in thepost-industrial era through depicting the spiritual crisis that people encountered in thetwentieth century.Scholars and critics analyze the novel from various perspectives, such as feminism,postmodernism, gender theory and so on. Yet the anxiety of modern man has not been fullyresearched. Psychological anxiety haunts everyone and exists all along human’s life, whichmakes it a classic subject to research. To study this book from the perspective of anxietytheory is to observe the psychological state of the whole human race.This thesis aims to interpret The Hours from the perspective of Sigmund Freud’s anxietytheory. It consists of five parts: Introduction, three chapters and Conclusion.The Introduction gives an overview of the author, the novel, the theoretical basis and theliterature review. The significance of the thesis is also included: in light of Sigmund Freud’sanxiety theory, this thesis attempts to probe the existing anxiety of the main characters andtheir defense mechanism, and then probes the essence of the novel—in what way anindividual can achieve spiritual independence.The characters’ initial anxiety state manifests itself in their inclination in thesubconscious to return to the maternal. Virginia move away from the city life which she longed for, her initial anxiety comes from her separation from her spiritual pillar. Laura’sfeeling of being deprived of her freedom has formed her initial anxiety. Clarissa’s initialanxiety manifests itself in her separation from her soul which is caused by the differencebetween two value systems.The subsequent anxiety that the characters have experienced is closely connected to theworld around them. Virginia’s subsequent anxiety shows in her concern about the livingcondition of women in a world that is trapped by war and patriarchy. Laura’s inability ofperforming as a competent mother and wife and her concern of the women’s living conditionconstitute her subsequent anxiety. Clarissa’s subsequent anxiety comes from her worries ofthe complexity of the modern world and her incompetence of communicating with herdaughter.Defense mechanism includes repression, projection, displacement, retrogression and soon. Through the function of defense mechanism, an individual can avoid or alleviate negativepsychological state. However, excessive defense may cause an individual’s illusion anddesperation. Virginia’s defense to the anxiety has not saved her from the dreadful life andeventually leads her to suicide. Laura’s defense to her anxiety helps her leave for a broaderpsychological space. Clarissa’s defense mechanism helps her through the confusion andanxiety with the death of Richard as a powerful catalyst.Anxiety state is a normal state that exists all through men’s life, and one shouldunderstand his own anxiety symptoms and regard this signal as a positive reaction to theuncertainties and difficulties that may appear in life in order to seek inner independence, thusto strive for self-realization.