Imagined Human Beings. Bernard Jay Paris

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      Imagined Human Beings

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      Imagined Human Beings A Psychological Approach to Character and Conflict in Literature BERNARD J. PARIS

      Imagined Human Beings

       A Psychological Approach to Character and Conflict in Literature

      Bernard J. Paris

      NEW YORK UNIVERSITY PRESS

      New York and London

      © 1997 by New York University

      All rights reserved

      Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

      Paris, Bernard J.

      Imagined human beings : a psychological approach to character and

      conflict in literature / Bernard J. Paris.

      p. cm.—(Literature and psychoanalysis ; 9)

      Includes bibliographical references and index.

      ISBN 0-8147-6655-2 (clothbound : alk. paper).—ISBN

      0-8147-6656-0 (paperbound : alk. paper)

      I. Literature—Psychological aspects. 2. Psychology in

      literature. 3. Psychoanalysis and literature. 4. Characters and

      characteristics in literature. 5. Motivation (Psychology) in

      literature. I. Title. II. Series.

      PN56.P93P38 1997

      809’.93353—dc21 97-4879

      CIP

      New York University Press books are printed on acid-free paper,

      and their binding materials are chosen for strength and durability.

      Manufactured in the United States of America

      10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1

       For Shirley still my inspiration

       Contents

       Preface

       I Introduction

       1 Applications of a Horneyan Approach

       2 Horney’s Mature Theory

       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

       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

       Preface

      What fascinates me most about literature is its portrayal of human beings and their relationships. For many years I have been developing a psychological approach in which I try to understand the behavior of realistically drawn characters in the same way that we understand the behavior of real people. These characters are not flesh and blood creatures, of course, but are imagined human beings who have many parallels with people like ourselves. Numerous critics have maintained that it is inappropriate or impossible to explain the behavior of fictional characters in motivational terms, but I argue in chapter 1 that the rejection of psychological analysis has been a major critical error.

      One reason why I find it possible