The Cain Tradition And The Ego In Shakespeare's Works

Since the story of Cain appeared in The Bible,Cain has been employed as an image in plenty of literary works by writers in various historical stages.Among Shakespeare's plays,there are some significant plots concerning about the relationship between brothers,which take Cain as an archetype.According to the ego theory of Freud,the core is benefit,which is the balance between desire and temperance.Cain is no exception.Among Claudius in Hamlet,Edmund,Goneril and Regan in King Lear,Frederick and Oliver in As You Like It,each character has a particular quality of Cain.Based on humanism,Shakespeare depicts both devil and god in a man.Literature and life are closely bound up.This thesis tries to conduct a research on three aspects concerning Ego — components of power,the balance of benefit,destinations of emotion to interpret the image of Cain in the plays of Shakespeare.It intends to combine literature and psychology to explore the key point of profit,two extremes of benefit and attitudes of people around the symbols of Cain.It is helpful not only to better perceive literary works but also dig out the personality of human.This thesis aims to apply the ego of Freud's psychodynamic theory to analyze the Cain tradition hiding in Shakespeare's plays.And the purpose is to provide another perspective to appreciate literature and construct more awareness about the cognition of human.