Anxieties Of The Middle Class In The Fifth Child

Doris Lessing is one of the most significant female writers in postwar Britain.Her legendary and colorful experiences have empowered her with sophisticated and acute insights.During her nearly sixty years’ writing career,Lessing has been quite prolific.The profound themes,varied writing styles and unique techniques of her works have won her recognition from both scholars and general readers.Her novel The Fifth Child,published in 1988,provides a new perspective to the lives of the British middle class after the Second World War,demonstrating their anxieties in the special historical period of social transformation,and reflecting the economic,social and cultural problems in the British society of that time.This thesis takes The Fifth Child as its subject of study.It will apply Freud’s theory about anxiety and defense mechanism to the analysis of the anxieties of the major characters of the novel,who are representatives of the British middle class.It will also explore the factors contributing to their anxieties in light of the economic,social and cultural situations of the British society in the time of social transformation.The thesis consists of five chapters.Chapter One is Introduction,which briefly introduces Doris Lessing and The Fifth Child,gives a survey of existing studies on The Fifth Child,and explains some key terms to be applied in this study and the major contents of the thesis.Chapters Two to Four are the body of the thesis.The second chapter analyzes the Lovatts’ anxieties at three levels,namely,reality anxiety,neurotic anxiety and moral anxiety.The third chapter explains their different defense mechanisms to combat their anxieties.The fourth chapter probes into the causes of their anxieties by examining the changes in the economics,society and culture of postwar Britain.Chapter Five is Conclusion,which summarizes the previous discussions and restates the major argument of the thesis.Lessing’s late works have received a mixed reaction,and their value is yet to be dug out.This thesis takes one of her late works,The Fifth Child,as its subject of study and focuses on the issue of the British middle class’ anxiety,not only to affirm the writer’s lasting creativity and constant concern about human beings,but also,as is wished,to provide a new perspective to the novel,and,if possible,other works in Lessing’s late period.