A Psychoanalytical Study Of Anxiety In Summer And Smoke

Tennessee Williams is one of the three foremost dramatists of the 20th century in the United States.His first masterpiece The Glass Menagerie and his two Pulitzer prize-winning works A Streetcar Named Desire and Cat on a Hot Tin Roof enjoy high reputation both at home and abroad.Therefore,these three dramas have been the focus of critical attention,while his other outstanding works,such as Summer and Smoke,The Rose Tatoo and Suddenly Last Summer haven't received enough attention from critics.The research object of this thesis,Summer and Smoke,is a play about the conflicts between desire and reality,body and soul.Published in 1948,this play is overshadowed by A Streetcar Named Desire,which won the Pulitzer Prize in the same year,just getting few scholars'attention.Critics usually analyze this play by feminist approach,homosexuality study and the conflict between body and soul.As a southern writer after World War ?,Williams' characters are often caught in anxiety and conflict between inner desire and harsh reality.Nevertheless,up to now,critics seldom make a comprehensive research on this play through the perspective of psychoanalysis.Anxiety,as a common emotional state,was first studied by the psychoanalysis school whose founder Freud had a profound opinion on it.He believed that there are three types of anxiety,namely,reality anxiety,moral anxiety and neurotic anxiety.Although these three types of anxiety in nature are all unpleasant experience,they are different in symptoms and defense mechanisms because of all kinds of reasons,such as social atmosphere,upbringing environment and educational background.Therefore,according to the mode of symptoms—causes—mechanisms,this thesis explores the types of anxiety,the causes and the defense mechanisms of the three main characters in Summer and Smoke from Freud's anxiety theory.It is hoped that readers can learn something from these characters and better deal with their own pressures and anxieties in modern society.Firstly,this thesis analyzes different anxiety symptoms that John,Alma and Mrs.Winemiller manifest.John's castration anxiety and his fear of being a doctor indicate that he suffers from reality anxiety.Alma's sacrifice to the family and affected lady manners imply that she is tormented by moral anxiety.Mrs.Winemiller's childish behaviors and hysterical actions are the typical symptoms of neurotic anxiety.Combined with social environment and the cultural study,this thesis moves on to discuss the causes of anxiety that John,Alma and Mrs.Winemiller suffer from.John's reality anxiety originates from his fear towards the external punishment and dangers.His castration anxiety is caused by his Oedipus complex to Alma,while his fear of being a doctor is caused by the dangers of disease and death.Alma's moral anxiety results from the rigorous demands of Puritanism and the oppression of patriarchal system.When Alma's thought or action is against these demands,she would be punished by the super-ego with the feelings of guilt or shame.Mrs.Winemiller's neurotic anxiety is actually the result of her long-term sexual repression.As a priest's wife,her libido can't be satisfied or transferred to other things by sublimation,so she inevitably suffers from neurosis.Finally,the thesis discusses the defense mechanisms that John,Alma and Mrs.Winemiller take to alleviate their anxiety.Mechanism defense is the strategies that the ego takes when it feels anxiety.The mechanisms that John's ego takes are displacement and introjection.He redirects his emotions and impulse from Alma to Nellie,and successfully overcomes his castration anxiety.Owing to his guilt for his father's sudden death,John finally gets rid of his anxiety of being a doctor by following his father's career and incorporating his father's personality.Alma unconsciously applies the mechanism of repression to control her desire,but she fails to alleviate her anxiety.As a result,she finally appeals to provocation to eliminate her anxiety by challenging the authority of religion and patriarchy.Mrs.Winemiller's childishness and hysteria are actually the performances of the mechanism of regression.However,owing to her overuse,this mechanism doesn't help her alleviate anxiety.On the contrary,her regressive behaviors only become the symptoms of her neurosis.Owing to the special social background,cultural atmosphere and different living environment,it is inevitable for the characters to be trapped in anxiety.However,anxiety can be reduced or prevented as long as positive attitude and correct defense mechanisms are taken.If not,anxiety would be more and more serious or even become a mental disease.Through the study on the anxiety in Summer and Smoke,the thesis explores the anxiety and pains that American southerners face in the early twentieth century.The thesis aims to deepen the understanding of Summer and Smoke and Williams ' dramatic features for readers,enlarge the study scope of Williams' works and provide some insights for later researchers.