A Freudian Reading Of Lovesong

Alex Miller (1936-) is a distinguished novelist and literary critic in the late20th century and early21st century. He gets a high prestige in Australian literature and is regarded as one of the greatest writers. He is good at creating images of immigrants living overseas and has proved to be a success by obtaining so many awards. His book The Ancestor Game paved a way to the hearts of Chinese readers through his profound depiction of the life of Chinese immigrants. Miller is especially prestigious for his careful thought and vivid description. He is definitely a great writer in the world of literature.The medium-length novel, Lovesong, published in2008, is Alex Miller’s latest work. This thesis studies the novel from Freudian theory, and mainly analyzes the presentation of id, ego and superego in the main characters. This thesis is divided into three parts, the introduction, the main body and the conclusion. The main part is made up of three chapters.At first, the introduction part gives a brief introduction to the writer Alex Miller, the novel Lovesong, the literature review of the work and relevant Freudian theory.The first chapter analyzes the presentation of the three aspects in the heroine Sabiha. She had very strong power of id and was dominated by it. This was the root cause of her tragic life. Then chapter two mainly studies the embodiment of id, ego and superego in the hero John. He was a careful, considerate gentleman and always thought for others. Superego was fully explained in him. So it was doomed that he had to hide his misery deep in his heart. The third chapter mainly discusses the presentation of the three aspects in other main characters. They had close relationship with the protagonists. So the study of them will help us understand the protagonists" characters better.Finally, the conclusion gives a summary of the above contents. This thesis points out that the novel displays to us a tragic love story. The different capabilities of commanding id, ego and superego are the primary reasons that lead to the tragedy.