Psychological Analysis Of Michael Henchard 's ' The Mayor Of Casterbridge '

Mental illness and madness is a theme often explored in literature and the range of texts exploring these is tremendously varied. Various factors can threaten a character's sanity, ranging from traumatic events which trigger a decline to pressure from more vast, impersonal sources. Generally speaking, writers have tried to show that most threats to sanity comprise a combination of long-term and short-term factors - the burning of the library in Mervyn Peake's novel 'Titus Groan' precipitated Lord Sepulchrave's descent into madness, but a longer term problem can be discerned in the weight of tradition which caused him to worry 'that with him the line of Groan should

Choose a play or novel in which such a character plays a significant role and show how that character's alienation reveals the surrounding society's assumptions and moral values.”

In contrast, by appearance of a horny sexual character, Joyce, viewers are positioned to see the danger of a woman as she rallies support which turns into a mob after she fails to proceed what she wants – sexual intercourse. However, the actions of main character, Edward, and the clothes worn him and more importantly, an awkward looks of him with scissors for hands positions the viewers to see him as a person who can't and never will fit in ordinary suburbia. Burton’s use of these characters is to convince viewer that whether conformity is good or bad, distinct individual is always to be left behind.

This personal confession shows that Mrs. Mallard, though she will mourn at first, now is free to “live for herself,” (228) not for her imposing husband. Before her husband’s death, Mrs. Mallard believed she was in a healthy, normal marriage. This death revealed to her how while she cared about her husband, she despised the lack of freedom her marriage had given her. All of the realizations that Mrs. Mallard reaches during her time of reflection shows the readers exactly why she will no longer mourn the death of her husband.

Many people try to prove themselves to other by acting one way in the presence of one group of friends and acting another way in the presence of another group of acquaintances. Such is the case for the “chameleon character” Clarence Hervey in Maria Edgeworth’s 1801 novel Belinda. Through Edgeworth’s use of third person point of view and a negative tone towards the character of Clarence, the reader is better able to get a sense of the arrogance and complexity of this man.

With this description, Hester’s humanity is maintained, even when the community, “all” of it, objectifies her as a teaching tool. The image of her heart “flung”, “spurn[ed] and trample[d] upon” demonstrates both the narrator’s sympathy toward Hester and animosity toward Puritan society, regardless of the age of the member. Shortly after his description of the schoolboy’s callous treatment of Hester, the narrator continues with a harsh account of the scaffold and pillory once employed upon it, “that instrument of discipline” that represented “the very ideal of ignominy” (52). The pillory reflects the nature of the community’s sense of justice, and the narrator finds it extremely harsh. The word “ideal,” often associated with perfection, suggests that the pillory signifies the ultimate desired effect of “ignominy:” public shame from which the sinner cannot turn away. Next, it would seem that Hawthorne speaks out directly and emotionally to the reader, declaring, “There can be no outrage, methinks, against our common nature, whatever be the delinquencies of the individual, - no outrage more flagrant than to forbid the culprit to hide his face for shame” (52). Hawthorn’s use of word “methinks” suggests his forceful personal address on this issue of cruelty; he weighs in powerfully against the malice of the Pilgrim community that punishes Hester, even if it has not subjected her to the pillory. The word “no” implies Hawthorne’s view that this punishment is

    "Like all true literary classics, Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen is still capable of engaging us, both emotionally and intellectually" (Twayne back flap) through its characters and themes. This essay illustrates how Jane Austen uses the characterization of the major characters and irony to portray the theme of societal frailties and vices because of a flawed humanity. Austen writes about the appearance vs. the reality of the characters, the disinclination to believe other characters, the desire to judge others, and the tendency to take people on first impressions.

First, both Tan and Crutcher utilize characteristics to convey the shared theme that a strong sense of self is necessary when under pressure from the expectations. Robert cleary judges Amy´s cultural traditions and family. For instance, the text states ¨Robert grimaced... ¨(2). Another part the text said, ¨Robert looked down at his plate with a reddened face.¨(2)

Mary Elizabeth Braddon's novel "Lady Audley's Secret" presents readers with a captivating account involving the central character, Robert Audley, and his attempt to reveal more information concerning a suspicious story that he has come across. The text is relatively similar to other modern detective stories, but one of its main characteristics is the fact that it is dominated by drama, with humor being generally absent from the novel. While this text is meant to provide readers with a clear message, it is difficult for most to simply accept Lady Audley's version of her condition and of the things that influenced her in taking on such an attitude. Thus, readers are left with the question: Was Lady Audley really suffering from a mental illness, or was she too proud to admit that she was motivated by material values.

Perhaps it is more difficult to withstand the doubt within oneself. Robert Drewe writes his memoir, linking the crimes of the serial killer Eric Cooke to his own story. The memories of his youth are infused with the guilt that he feels for having been instrumental in his mother’s death. Is he a murderer he asks himself, and the doctor who is far from reassuring. His failure to abide by the teachings of the Moral Agent lead to his girlfriend’s pregnancy. He describes his marriage as ‘a celebration of flagrant immorality’ from his parent’s point of view. His concept of himself having contributed to his mother’s death weighs heavily and provides him with insight into the mind of the killer Cooke. There is sympathy for a man who has lived his life as a social outcaste, who dies without his family even noting the time. It is Robert who is ‘watching the clock’. Robert prefaces the memoir with a quote from Ionesco, ‘You can only predict things after they have happened’. Looking back on his life, he now thinks he sees a boy who could have been more observant, the signs were all there. So keen was he to live his own life that he failed to really consider what the effects might be on those that he loved. Even though his mother seems to do little more than hover on the margins of the pages, we sense Drewe’s insistent remorse. As a young boy, he did not really know his parents. He is aware that his mother also had different personas, Dot and Dorothy and there is the growing realisation that Dorothy has suppressed Dot in order to be a wife and mother, according to the dictates of husband and society. His taking her so much for granted, his failure to be the son that he now feels he could have been, lead to the depiction of himself as in need of finding out who he really is. There is the feeling that he will be able to get back in touch with himself in the last line of the memoir as he sets out with the

For example in the prologue of the story, Douglas initially includes in his introduction of the governess the detail that she was the “youngest of several daughters of a poor country parson” (James 4). Douglas’ mention of this minor fact is crucial to understanding the fundamental psychology of the governess. By considering the fact that the governess was raised in an environment of an “English middle-class class-consciousness” it is shown that a result of this is the development of “her somber and guilty visions and the way she behaves about them.” Inevitably, her upbringing through the taboos of the Victorian-English time period has ultimately led to her “inability to admit to herself her natural sexual impulses and the relentless English ‘authority’ which enables her to put over on inferiors even purposes which are totally deluded and not at all in the other people’s best interests” (Gale 3).

Psychology is the study of the mind, thought, feeling, and behavior. To understand the psychological nature of an individual is to understand his future, present, and past actions. Psychology can be used to create an accurate analysis of a character in works of literature. The following will reveal psychology in Poe’s “The Black Cat”, Tim O’Brien’s “The Things They Carried”, and Oates’s “EDickensonRepliLuxe” and the ramifications of perverseness, responsibility, and sexuality.

In a work of literature the perception, or opinion on something, will vary from the reader to the narrator. The play “The Tell Tale Heart”, by Edgar Allen Poe, the narrator kills a man because of his vulture-like eye. The narrator views himself as a sane and smart individual because of his actions. The narrator’s perception of himself differs quite a lot from those of the reader as they interpret his actions differently, leading them to think he is mentally deranged. Poe’s writing style contributes to these perceptions of the narrator.

Poe artfully depicts a foreboding theme of unexplainable illness in his short stories. This theme is ever present in the House of Usher and Tell-Tale heart. As a reader watching the characters grapple with an incurable, undiagnosable illness is maddening, but captivating as well. This theme overlaps with another fictional character Norman Bates from the show “Bates Motel”, which was inspired by Robert Bloch’s novel “Psycho”. I intend to periodically relate Norman and his life to the narrators in The Fall of House of Usher to show how they personally deal with mental illness, how their familial relationships are affected, and how the inability to treat or cure this problem affects the psyche of these characters making for a phenomenal piece of gothic literature.

Many of the characters we studied in this summer had a very difficult situation caused by themselves. Undoubtedly, each person has their own defects, however this does not mean we have to be slaves of our weaknesses and fears. Pitifully, some fears can become so strong that they can turn a person's life miserable. In addition, people who are victims of their own fear and sins can commit insane things to the people who are around them. Some clear examples of this type of people are Mathilde Loisel, Mrs. Mallard and the Narrator of the Black Cat.