Imagined Human Beings : : A Psychological Approach to Character and Conflict in Literature / / Bernard Jay Paris.

• Superior document: Title is part of eBook package: De Gruyter New York University Press Archive eBook-Package Pre-2000
• VerfasserIn: Paris, Bernard Jay,
• Place / Publishing House: New York, NY : : New York University Press, , [1997]; ©1997
• Year of Publication: 1997
• Language: English
• Series: Literature and Psychoanalysis ; 2
• Physical Description: 1 online resource

One of literature's greatest gifts is its portrayal of realistically drawn characters--human beings in whom we can recognize motivations and emotions. In Imagined Human Beings, Bernard J. Paris explores the inner conflicts of some of literature's most famous characters, using Karen Horney's psychoanalytic theories to understand the behavior of these characters as we would the behavior of real people. When realistically drawn characters are understood in psychological terms, they tend to escape their roles in the plot and thus subvert the view of them advanced by the author. A Horneyan approach both alerts us to conflicts between plot and characterization, rhetoric and mimesis, and helps us understand the forces in the author's personalty that generate them. The Horneyan model can make sense of thematic inconsistencies by seeing them as the product of the author's inner divisions. Paris uses this approach to explore a wide range of texts, including Antigone, "The Clerk's Tale," The Merchant of Venice, A Doll's House, Hedda Gabler, Great Expectations, Jane Eyre, The Mayor of Casterbridge, Wuthering Heights, Madame Bovary, The Awakening, and The End of the Road.

Table of Contents

Frontmatter -- Contents -- Preface -- Part I. Introduction -- 1. Applications of a horneyan approach -- 2. Horney's mature theory -- Part II. Characters and relationships -- 3. A doll’s house and hedda gabler -- 4. The end of the road -- 5. "The clerk's tale" -- 6. The merchant of Venice -- 7. Antigone -- Part III. Character, plot, rhetoric, and narrative technique -- 8. Great expectations -- 9. Jane Eyre -- 10. The mayor of casterbridge -- 11. Madame Bovary -- 12. The awakening -- 13. Wuthering heights -- Conclusion -- Notes -- References -- Index -- About the author