Conformity Or Freedom:A Psychoanalytic Interpretation Of The Flight From The Enchanter

Iris Murdoch, born in Dublin, is one of the most outstanding female writers in Britain. After the publication of her first novel Under the Net in 1954, Murdoch completed, in her literary career of more than 40 years,26 novels,1 short story,6 plays and 2 poetry collections. These great achievements help lay a solid foundation for her important position in British literature in the post-war era.Murdoch is also a philosopher who publishes 5 great works of philosophy. She studies philosophy at Somerville College, Oxford when she is young, and works for the United Nations Relief and Rehabilitation Administration after the Second World War. The two world wars give rise to the turbulent social situation, and shake the traditional cultural values. Murdoch witnesses that many people are persecuted just because of their origins. Their countries are ruined and perished, and they become refugees who have to emigrate, or even are forced to death. Therefore, Murdoch also changes her philosophical thoughts to some extent. She does not believe in absolute freedom of individuals any longer, but pays more attention in her novels to the matters of individual existence and the way to freedom.Erich Fromm, a psychoanalyst of Jewish parentage, is also persecuted for some time by the sadistic governance of the German Nazis during World War Ⅱ. This experience is an important and direct source of his theory of social psychology. In his Escape from Freedom, Fromm proposes his understanding of social character, and analyzes the masochistic and sadistic strivings in an authoritarian society. He draws a blueprint for a sane society, hoping to point out the direction of democracy and freedom for people in modern society. Therefore, both Murdoch and Fromm try to find ways out for people’s existence in the contemporary society, and they happen to hold similar views. Relying on Fromm’s theory of social psychology, the author of this thesis will make thorough analyses of sado-masochistic tendencies of major characters in Murdoch’s second novel, The Flight from the Enchanter, and find out the reasons for many characters’ inability to escape from "the enchanter", so as to understand Murdoch’s view of freedom in this novel.This paper is divided into six parts. In Chapter One, the author briefly introduces the life and achievements of Iris Murdoch, summarizes the criticism of Murdoch’s novels at home and aboard, and presents his unique perspective to analyze Murdoch’s second novel, FFTE. Chapter Two is the summary of Erich Fromm’s theory of sado-masochism in the authoritarian society, laying a solid theoretical foundation for this thesis. Chapter Three and Four are body parts of the thesis. The author makes thorough analyses of masochistic strivings of representative characters and sadistic domination of the enchanter Mischa by close reading of this novel, trying to explain reasons for masochists’inability to escape from the symbiotic relationship with the enchanter and find roots of their authoritarian characters. In Chapter Five, the author first analyzes Murdoch’s understandings of the tragic destinies of the characters in FFTE, then points out her view of freedom reflected in this novel, and at last tries to evaluate her view of freedom and indicates the limitation of her theory by Fromm’s psychological theory. Chapter Six is the conclusion of the whole thesis.