A Horneyan Interpretation Of Edna’s Neurosis In The Awakening

The Awakening,also known as A Solitary Soul,published in 1899,is one of the most representative works of the pioneer American feminist writer Kate Chopin.The work has been banned for more than ten years since it was published because it involved women’s extramarital affairs.The Awakening was rediscovered more than half a century later and became one of the most important American novels in the20 th century.There are many articles at home and abroad that expounded from different perspectives,such as character personality,female consciousness,male image,ethics and aesthetics.However,there is still room for further research from the perspective of Horney’s neurotic personality.This thesis uses Karen Horney’s neurotic theory as the basic framework to interpret the representations,causes,defensive strategies and results of the heroine Edna’s neurosis in The Awakening.This research is a new attempt to interpret the protagonist Edna in The Awakening,and it also provides a new perspective for further research on Kate Chopin and her works.The thesis is mainly composed of three parts: introduction,main body and conclusion.The introduction part mainly introduces the life of Kate Chopin,the main plots of The Awakening,Horney and her neurotic theory,and summarizes and analyzes the current domestic and foreign research of the novel.The main part of the thesis is divided into four chapters: The first chapter introduces the representative performance of Edna’s neurosis.Horney pointed out that there are different neurotic needs in neurotic patients,such as the neurotic need for love and the neurotic need for companionship.The second chapter analyzes the causes of Edna’s neurosis.Horney regards basic conflict as the dynamic structure of neurosis,and the root cause of it is social and cultural contradictions and personal family environment.In the novel The Awakening,the terrible personal family environment and the specific cultural environment cause the basic conflicts in Edna’s heart,and the basic anxiety that arises is the origin of her neurosis.Her miserable childhood and poor married life prevented her from getting the love and care she wanted.Deep-rooted patriarchal thoughts limit Edna’s desire to pursue inner emotions.Under the contradiction between social norms and inner real needs,Edna’s inner conflicts continue to intensify.The third chapter mainly analyzes Edna’s rigid use of interpersonal strategies,blindly moving toward people,moving against or moving away from people.When facing their neurotic needs,neurotic patients usually cannot adopt flexible strategies to deal with their needs like normal people,but adopt rigid strategies to deal with their inner anxiety.Horney divides this kind of interpersonal strategy into three main categories: the strategy of compliance,the strategy of aggression and the strategy of detachment.When Edna adopts the compliant strategy,she appears to be willing to rely on others.When Edna adopts the aggressive strategy,she tends to confront others.When she adopts the detached strategy,she appears to avoid others and force herself to alienate others.Getting freedom and solitude is actually a way of alienating others to alleviate loneliness.In the novel The Awakening,Edna developed neurotic needs in the face of basic inner anxiety,and rigidly adopted the above three strategies,so in the end her basic anxiety not only did not disappear but increased,and her inner conflicts It has not been fundamentally resolved.The fourth chapter analyzes the final results of Edna’s neurosis.Horney concluded that rigid coping strategies will bring a series of terrible consequences to neurotic patients: fear,extreme tendencies,hopelessness,and self-destruction.Tortured by repeated failures in self-salvation,Edna began to fear losing the illusion of the superficial equilibrium she worked hard to create.After her imagined equilibrium was broken,she was very afraid of being abandoned,and after Robert’s return but then completely leaving again,which made Edna feel hopeless toward love,and finally Edna went toward self-destruction.The last part is a summary of this paper.The influence of environmental and cultural factors on individual psychological development is one of the main emphasizing parts of Horney’s neurotic theory.At the same time,Horney also pointed out that neurotic patients should be flexible to face the difficulties and conflicts in life.It is also important that only by facing the real heart can the neurosis be solved fundamentally.Through the analysis of the psychological changes and development of the protagonist Edna in The Awakening,we can provide modern people with a vivid neurosis case,which helps modern people to deal with and resolve anxiety and conflicts more flexibly.In addition,the family environment and social and cultural environment for personal growth also have important impact on the individual’s mental state.Individuals should strive to create a good personal family environment and accept and respond to the social and cultural environment actively.These are all strategies to help modern people get out of the dilemma of their spiritual world.