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Sigmund Freud's influence to the time of the lost generation and its writers. (1) The influence of Freud's theory of psychoanalysis on contemporary writers cannot be underestimated. The beginning of 20 th century was signified with decline of Christianity to the degree that it ceased to have any philosophical validity. Philosophers and writers were beginning to suspect that human behavior is motivated by something deeper than just rational reasoning. We can say that Freud's theory was being subconsciously anticipated by many people, who strived to find a solid philosophical ground for their worldviews. Sigmund Freud was able to address peoples anxieties, by suggesting that they all derived out of socially suppressed instincts. He suggested that it is a subconscious sexual drives that stand behind the creation of new political doctrines, as well as they define the code of social behavior.
Despite its controversial nature, this idea became very popular among many prominent people of the time. The most striking feature of Freud's theory is that it is potentially capable of explaining every aspect of human sexuality, as being directly linked to behavior. According to Freud, it does not matter how far humans have progressed, in cultural or scientific sense of this word our blind desires are behind our rationale. Freud idealized sex, just as Marx idealized economy. He used to apply an empirical knowledge, gained during his observation of mentally ill individuals in his clinic, do explain the essence of social dynamics. Only later in time, Freud's theory became the object of increasing criticism.
Nevertheless, up until the beginning to WWII, the theory of psychoanalysis was being thought of in terms of scientific breakthrough. This is why; there is no surprise in fact that topic of suppressed sexuality and peoples unconsciousness, in general, became literary legitimate, at the time. (2) Scott Fitzgeralds book Tender is a Night can serve us as the best example of work of fiction, which is being based on Freudian ideas. Novels plot is not overly complicated. The prominent psychologist Dick Diver marries one of his former patients, Nicole, who had developed an irrational fear of men, because of being sexually abused by her father, when she was a child.
We meet him when Rosemary Hoyt is beginning to fall in love with Dick. This romance is disrupted when Nicole is beginning to have a mental breakdown, because one of Dicks friends had accidentally killed a man. It results in deterioration of relationship between Nicole and Dick, which eventually forces him to begin acting in socially inappropriate manner. Dicks ends up turning into alcoholic, with Nicole leaving him to marry another man. What is truly remarkable about Fitzgeralds novel is the fact that author focuses on incest as a site of narrative reorganization.
Even novels structure corresponds to Freudian classical framework, which is composed of cause, effect and consequential sense of guilt, which negatively affects characters behavior. The character of Nicole is especially representative, in this respect, because she is both: damaged and damaging. This goes well with Freud's view of persons unconsciousness as such that has a potential to influence his rational behavior. Even though that cured Nicole is described as passionate lover, it does not suggest that she is being freed from the destructive seed of incest, which she carries deep inside. In fact, the reason while she seemingly does not show any signs of being mentally unstable, at the beginning of novel, is that she associates Dick with her father. It is not by pure accident that psychologists name is Dick.
Just as Freud, author was implying that penis allegiance is foundation of relationship between genders. Also, just as Freud, Fitzgerald considered a mental damage as something irreversible. Nicole's father Warren is mentioned only a few times, throughout the novel, only so that we could get a first hand account of Nicole's molestation, because she was not willing to admit even to herself that this had ever happened: It just happened, he said hoarsely. I dont know -- I don't know. After her mother died when she was little she used to come into my bed every morning, sometimes shed sleep in my bed.
I was sorry for the little thing We were just like lovers -- and then all at once we were lovers -- and ten minutes after it happened I could have shot myself She almost -- she seemed to freeze up right away (Fitzgerald). The graphic description of this episode does not only serve the purpose to establish a basis for the plot. By emphasizing its importance, author strived to explain the dynamics within his novel. Fitzgerald was a first contemporary author to fully integrate the act of incest into the story to such a degree, that it continues to indirectly define characters actions, throughout Tender is the Night.
The structure of Fitzgeralds novel corresponds exactly to Freud's vision of subconscious sexual instincts as being irrational. We cannot find logic in novels structural composition. At first, the story of Divers sounds almost liker an epic. It is a very rational account of respectful couple having leisurely time at French Riviera. However, the attentive reader will not miss a little inconsistencies in the first part of Tender is the Night. This, of course, was being done author on purpose these inconsistencies are better thought of in terms of symptoms.
The linear narrative breaks up in the middle, when we are being brought back to the time when Dick and Nicole just had met. After this, readers are taken back, even though that it complicates reading this novel. Nevertheless, it appears that rather an innovative structure of Fitzgeralds novel is meant to increase its literary effect. Nicole represents a classical case of psychoanalysis. She was being sexually seduced, when she was a child. Her memories of this event had sublimated itself into desire to take a revenge on her parents, although she associates them with somebody else.
It also causes her to become a hysterical person, because her attention seeking reflects cannot be fully actualized. When her mother dies, Nicole wants to sleep in her bed. Thus, it appears that the true reason why Nicole became mentally unstable is that her deep-seated anxieties were being instigated and suppressed, at the same time, by the society. This shows that Fitzgerald was not just an admirer of Freud, but he strived to develop his thesis even further. The theme of child abuse expresses itself in different forms, throughout the novel.
Dick clearly lacks parental qualities, which would allow him to become a loved father. Apparently, he does not care whether his daughter Topsy adores him or not, because he is not intending to marry her. At the same time, the nature of his relation with Rosemary does not leave a doubt that he was thinking of her with fatherly love and this is exactly the reason why he was having erotic fantasies about her. Thus, we see that novels plot is actually more twisted than it appears on the surface. However, there is one importance difference about how Freud and Fitzgerald viewed human sexuality.
Freud did not consider incest as being something unnatural, from psychiatric point of view, because it corresponds to peoples primeval instincts. Fitzgerald, on the other hand, tries to rationalize incest as well, but he does a very poor job, because the incest in his novel is represented as something emotionally despicable. This is probably because Fitzgeralds lifestyle was not just as decadent as Freud's, who became a cocaine addict, which explains the fact how he was able to get a psychoanalytical insight on such things as pedophilia and insect. Freud suggested that human behavior is defined by both: instinct of life, which is sexuality, and the instinct of death, which is our subconscious strive towards calmness or nirvana, which can only be accomplished though destruction of flesh. At the end of Fitzgeralds novel, Dick Diver gives in to his instinct of death, while getting drunk. He is clearly looking for trouble, even though that he does not realize it: But Dicks necessity of behaving as he did was a projection of some submerged reality: he was compelled to walk there, or stand there just as another man once found it necessary to stand in front of a church in Ferrara, in sackcloth and ashes.
Dick was paying some tribute to things unforgotten, unshriven, unexpurgated (Fitzgerald). Still, Freud does not refer to death instinct as something unnatural; this is why Fitzgerald does not deprive Dick of his dignity, even while describing him being in drunken stupor. Author did not want to say that things could have turned out differently, if Dick acted in socially appropriate manner. We get the impression that Dicks attraction towards marginalization was programmed in him from very beginning, even though that he did not have a slightest idea about it.
Something simply triggered this program and ever since, Dicks downfall became irreversible. Nicole is also shown as someone, whose behavior can change drastically, as soon as the right psychological trigger is found. This is nothing but a popularization of psychoanalysis in very simple and accessible form. The task of psychologist is to find what had triggered a mental deviation, on the part of patients who seek help. In Nicole's case, it was the fact that she had witnessed a murder, which made her well-suppressed feeling of her own unworthiness to resurface. In Dicks case, it was Rosemary, who awakened a lions instinct in him, when he started to loose affection towards his own children, while subconsciously hoping that Rosemary would become his child and wife at the same time.
This, of course, was impossible. Many critics suggest that even though that Nicole did contribute to Dicks downfall, this contribution should not be underestimated, as some readers tend to do. Without marrying Nicole, Dick might still have a chance of living a normal life. It is the fact that he was well aware of mechanics of Nicole's illness, which prevented him from applying his knowledge to himself. Dick failed to realize that he could not think of Nicole as his wife, while trying to figure out what would constitute the best treatment for her as mental patient. (3) The Freudian motives in Tender is the Night are self-evident. However, it would be wrong to suggest that Fitzgeralds sole purpose in his book was promotion of Freud's ideas.
It appears that theory of psychoanalysis for Fitzgerald was one of the tools, which he thought would help him to understand the surrounding reality. Despite the fact that this theory became very popular at the time Fitzgerald was writing Tender is the Night, it nevertheless proved as not being universal enough to explain human behavior in all entirety. This is why author refrained from using Freudian motives in his later works. Even in Tender is the Night it is impossible to explain why characters acted in one way or another, while suggesting that the latent sexuality is only motivation for their act. It is obvious that both Dick and Nicole are highly idealistic individuals; their care for each other appears as being purely platonic. However, the concept of idealism simply does not fit into Freud's theory.
Freud denied the fact that idealistic inspirations had any importance whatsoever, in pushing forward scientific and cultural progress. Therefore, there is no doubt that method of psychoanalysis is applicable, but only when we talk about people with mental deviations. This is why Nicole's behavior becomes understandable for the readers, after they familiarize themselves with works of Sigmund Freud. Still, it is not very clear why Dick had chosen in favor of anti-social behavior, at the end of novel, apart from the fact that he was driven by death instinct.
There are many other characters in Fitzgeralds book, which do not seem to be aware of the fact that their latent sexuality defines their act. We can say that Fitzgerald did a good job popularizing some of Freud's theories, but he did not integrate them into his book to the full extend. This is why, critics are able to find more Freudian motives in Tender is the Night than author could have found himself. To conclude this paper, let us summarize its main statements: 1) Fitzgeralds novel is nothing but a creative account of Freud's theory of psychoanalysis, written in the form of fiction. 2) Tender is the Night promotes the idea that latent sexuality defines peoples behavior, but at the same time it shows that this suggestion lacks full legitimacy, because it cannot be considered as being fully universal. 3) It appears that Fitzgeralds interest towards writings of Sigmund Freud had a temporary nature, because we cannot find obvious Freudian motives in his other works.
Bibliography: Broccoli, Matthew Fitzgeralds Era. 2003. University of South Carolina. 1 May. 2007. web Fitzgerald, Scott Tender is the Night. 1995. Adelaide Etext Library. 1 May. 2007.
web Mangum, Bryant Introduction to the Novels of F. Scott Fitzgerald. 2001. Virginia Commonwealth University. web Sigmund Freud. 2007. Wikipedia. 1 May. 2007. web Freud, Sigmund Lecture XXXV: A Philosophy of Life. 1932. 1999.
Philosophy Archive. Marxists. Org. web Freud, Sigmund The Interpretation of Dreams.
Trans. A. A. Brill. New York: Modern Library, 1938: 181 - 552. Outline: Introduction Main Part Conclusion
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Research essay sample on Tender Is The Night Sigmund Freud
