摘 要

《榆树下的欲望》以欧里庇得斯的古希腊悲剧《希波吕托斯》为雏形。在《榆树下的欲望》中，奥尼尔将这个题材移植到新英格兰凯勃特农庄。剧中，老地主卡伯特的妻子爱碧和他儿子在爱情、性欲、占有欲之间苦苦挣扎浮沉；最终，一同走向毁灭。爱碧杀死自己的孩子脱胎于古希腊神话“美狄亚杀子”的题材。

小说的心理研究主要体现在对于爱碧内心现实的揭示上，从心理现实主义研究母性杀婴题材。在潜意识里存在的某个行为倾向，往往同时伴随着这个行为的对立面。性活动在浅抑期中时隐时现，最终在性成熟后爆发出来。压抑的第一阶段，拒绝代表本能的心理概念进入意识，体现在对物质的迷恋上。压制的第二阶段是“压制正当”或“后压力”，这是一个双重的过程，加入到原始被压抑的的吸引力来自意识，并作用于被压抑的物质。第三个阶段是“压抑的回归”，症状以梦魇，口误或动作倒错的形式表达。

在弗洛伊德的作品中，升华概念是从幻想的幻化或点缀到真正的本能内部过程的观念演变而来的，即在物象性欲转化为自我性欲之前，它可以设定新的目标。升华能力的发展与弗洛伊德关系到个人的性本能的最初力量和童年事件例如：创伤与婴儿好奇心的强度之间的联系。

本文运用弗洛伊德心理分析“抑制”与“升华”术语来解读小说女主人公爱碧杀婴行为的心理原因，解读母性阴暗却真实的一面。唯有努力去澄清人们都恐惧的事情，才能从中找到性活动的真相。

关键词：尤金•奥尼尔；《榆树下的欲望》；西格蒙德•弗洛伊德；悲剧；压抑升华

Abstract

O'Neill created more than 20 plays throughout his life. It is the traces of ancient Greek tragedy that could be found in many of his works. Desire under the Elms originated in Euripides' tragedies- Hippolytus. O'Neill in Desire under the Elms transplanted the theme to the New England Cabot farm.

In the play, the old landlord's wife and his son struggling ups and downs within love, sex and possession. Finally, they all turn to destruction. It is love that causing Abbie killed his own child which drawn from the ancient Greek mythology- Medea killed her sons. A behavioral tendency that exists in the subconscious is often accompanied by the opposite of such behavior. Sexual activity occurs in and off during shallow periods and eventually erupts after maturity. Psychological realism in the novel is embodied in the revelation of the inner reality of Abbie. This article uses the Freudian psychoanalytic term “repression” and “sublimation” to interpret the psychology of Abbie's infanticide in order to discuss the dark but true side of motherhood. This is the significance of research written from the view of psychological realism to study the theme of motherhood infanticide.

Only by working hard to clarify what people are afraid of can we find the truth of sexual activity.

Key words: Eugene O'Neill, Desire Under the Elms, Sigmund Freud, Tragedy, Repression and sublimation

Contents

1. Introduction………………………………………………………...12. Demonstration……………………………………………………...3

2.1 Repressed to have a baby…………………………………..3

2.1.1 The first stage of repression-unconscious desire for material security ………………………………….4

2.1.2 The second stage of repression-repressed proper for baby………………………………………………..5

2.1.3 The third stage of repression-the return of repressed desire for spiritual security…………………………..6

2.2 Sublimated to kill the baby ………………………………...7

2.2.1 Sublimated towards material security………………9

2.2.2 Sublimated towards spiritual security ……………...9 3.Conclusion………………………………………………………….11

Lack of Sense of Security: an Analysis of Abbie’s Tragedy in Desire Under the Elms from Repression and Sublimation View on Freud’s Analysis.

1. Introduction

Eugene O'Neill was born in an actor family in New York in the late 19th century. During teenage years, he accompanied his father performing all over the country. At middle-age times, he went to South America and Africa to earn his life. He once worked as a clerk, sailor, and gold digger etc. Rich life experience provides a lot of resources for his later creation. 

Researchers home and abroad have paid great attention to O'Neill research of drama which has become a specialized knowledge in the West. Foreign scholars have conducted multidimensional researches from feminist criticism, studies of drama performance and research comparison. As for Desire Under the Elms, in the play, the old landlord's wife - Abbie and his son - Eben struggle ups and downs within love, sex and possession. Finally, they all turn to destruction. The foreign researchers have acquired great insights in analysis. Gale Austin has conducted several researches upon female psycho-analysis which applies to Abbie. In the articles Feminist Theory for Dramatic Criticism, she points out that this play has shown us a world dominated by men which has great influence in the shape of woman’s inner mind. Lesley Broder in the reviews Eugene O'Neill's Abortion and Standard Family Roles compares “abortion” with “infanticide” in order to explain that “the subject of infanticide began to appear as a recurring theme as modernist writers interpret and represent a rapidly evolving world”(52). Christina Hauck in the articles Abortion and the Individual Talent discusses that “for the culture at large, maternity constitutes the epitome of femininity, the physiological, psychic, and social fulfillment of every woman ” (223-66). Suzanne Bur in the articles O'Neill's Ghostly Women have analyzed the psychological level of women and the personal and social factors that caused the tragedies of women.

The domestic researchers, merely focus upon the female individuality. Liu Yongjie, Tang Renfang and Shi Changzhou stands on the perspective of gender criticism, interpreting both the true and dark side of motherhood. In O'Neal's mid-term works, many women are aware of their "second nature" status. They no longer remain silent about their oppressed circumstances and dare to actively fight for their happiness. Liu Guiping also mentions the mothers' infanticide in Desire Under the Elms is the choice of Abbie which subverts the role of women defined by the patriarchal society for thousands of years and reveals the dark but true side of motherhood” (Liu, Guiping 219-220). The experience of sex first appears in family. During the development, sex can only be alienated in the end and be shown in a morbid status if the repressed effect profoundly constrains this congenital tendency. Although repression cannot completely abolish the role of congenital factors, it has far from deviated the normal sexual railroad. As a crucial concept, the sense of security has been seen in the psychological study of Freudian psychoanalysis. It turns out that none of these researchers have ever tried to explore the story through Freud’s repression and sublimation view. Alain De Mijolla mentions the repressed is constituted by the operation of repression, which rejects and maintains in the unconscious representations deemed incompatible with the ego (1479). The repressed is not directly knowable, since it pertains wholly to the unconscious. It can be known only by its effects and by what it produces through deferred action, in particular “derivatives” of the unconscious. Sigmund Freud had long noted that the individual’s weakness and internal complex have a significant impact on one’s growth. Clifford K.Dorne in the thesis Psychodynamics versus endocrinology in postpartum psychosis: A critique of the diminished capacity test in infanticide cases use the term “Oedipus complex” and “Phaedra complex” to interpret the causes and thoughts of the tragedies (225). Sublimation no longer occurs at the expense of the object-libido but offers the narcissistic libido a needed extension. Amy Buzby in the article “Wrong Life Lived Rightly: Sublimation, Identification, and the Restoration of Subjectivity” identifies that “sublimations and identifications are necessary aspects of radical praxis that would marshal constructively against the outraging and dominating tendencies of modernity” (154). A behavioral tendency that exists in the subconscious is often accompanied by the opposite of such behavior. Sexual activity occurs in and off during shallow periods and eventually erupts after maturity. Only by working hard to clarify what people are afraid of can we find the truth of sexual activity.

2. Demonstration

2.1 Repressed to have a baby