Triple Personality Theory from Freud：An Analysis of Jude Fawley in Jude the Obscure

王杨

ABSTRACT：As an expert devoted in psychoanalysis， Freud is well-known for his theories and principles concerning the analysis of human beings sub-consciousness and inner emotions.

One of his world-renowned theories is Triple Personality Theory， which is composed of three parts： Id， Ego and Superego. These three sections interact with each other and result in the complexity of humans behaviors. Provided that the three elements cannot be satisfied or cannot be dealt with in an appropriate way， peoples inner conflicts tend to take place， and even a tragedy can occur.

This thesis aims to make an analysis of Jude Fawley in Jude the Obscure through Freudian Triple Personality Theory made up of “Id， Ego and Superego”. To start with， this paper will briefly introduce Thomas Hardy and Jude the Obscure. Then， the author will elaborate on Jude Fawleys Id， Ego and Superego. Finally， the author concludes and proves the thesis that Id， Ego and Superego in Jude fight intensely all the way， which plunges him into a Sargasso sea of calamity.

Key Words： Freud， Id， Ego， Superego， Jude Fawley， Jude the Obscure， conflict， tragedy

I. Introduction

A. A brief introduction to Thomas Hardy and his works

Thomas Hardy （1840-1928） was born and brought up in Dorset， an agricultural district in the south of England. Hardy himself divided his novels into three series， one of which he entitled “Romance and Fantasies”. The second group is called “Novels of Ingenuity”. The third group of his fiction， “Novels of Character and Environment”， contains the most significant of Hardys works， including Jude the Obscure.

B.A brief introduction to Jude the Obscure

As the last Hardys longer novels， Jude the Obscure is the most pessimistic and of social significance. The story is one of the defeated hopes and unrealized aspirations of the hero who belongs to the laboring masses. Jude is a stonemason， yet his yearning for learning is great. However， he is weak in will power. He gets entangled in a love affair with Arabella and is deceived into marrying her. Soon she deserts him. Later， he falls in love with his cousin， Sue， a young school teacher. But she is already married to an elderly schoolmaster， Phillotson. Then Sue leaves Phillotson and lives together with Jude. They have deep affection for each other， but find it impossible to have real happiness， for the moralities of Victorian society do not allow them to do so. Then the children of the couple die tragically， and Sue， filled with sorrow， sees this as the punishment of God for their sin and returns to Phillotson. Jude sinks lower and lower， and ends up with miserable death.

C. THESIS

This thesis aims to make an analysis of Jude Fawley in Jude the Obscure through Freudian Triple Personality Theory made up of “Id， Ego and Superego”. To start with， this paper will interpret Jude Fawleys Id， Ego and Superego. Then， the author will elaborate on how these three parts of Jude collide with each other， thus leading to his inner conflicts and tragic life. The author concludes and proves the thesis that Id， Ego and Superego in Jude fight intensely all the way， which plunges him into a Sargasso sea of calamity.

II. Analysis of Jude Fawley in Jude the Obscure

A. Jude Fawleys Id

Id follows pleasure principle. The core of triple personality is sexual instinct or libido. With regard to sexual relationship， it is obviously noted that he displays indetermination. Facing women， he is easily tempted， which is a fatal defect in his character. In spite of his love for Sue， Judes relationship with Arabella is equally complicated. He still retains some tenderness for Arabella and once even spends the night with her rather than meeting Sue. He does not love her as much as he cares for Sue， but he sleeps with her when she returns from Australia. In the mean time， he is also paradoxical facing his cousin Sue Bridehead. Jude meets Sue and tries not to fall in love with her， but he cannot control himself and arranges Sue to work with Phillotson in order to keep her in Christminster. The distinction between Arabella and Sue reveals both Judes mental and physical parts， which lead him to disparate tracks. Jude is incorrigible since he is split between two rails which will never meet （Morgan 171）.

B. Jude Fawleys Ego

Ego is based on actuality. It reflects Jude in reality. He is only a stonemason in life. However， he doesnt take his class and financial affordability into consideration. Even though he is intelligent and well-read through independent study， Christminster will not accept him because he belongs to the working class. Jude is an innocent young man who aspires to things greater than his background allows. He disregards actuality and is immersed in his dream world while the reality will never ever allow him to realize his dream （Thurley 158）. He resists succumbing to the background he has no alternatives but to accept， and he does not fear the gap he is creating between himself and the other people of his village. He is eccentric and perhaps impertinent， and his “Superego” aspirations are dismissed as unrealistic. Jagdish Chandra Dave argues that Jude seeks a “limited， concrete embodiment of his ideals” and in so doing he “thinks he reconstitutes the world， while in fact he only creates substitutes， and reality remains intractable” （433）. While Jude lives quite close to Christminster， the city is always only a distant vision almost impossible to reach. It is nearly within his reach but at the same time unattainable， and this physical distance serves as an ongoing metaphor for the abstract distance between the impoverished Jude and the privileged Christminster students. In other words， his “Super Jude” dreams cannot be realized because of a myriad of objective factors which he fails to take into account. In the end， with his body beyond cure， he was deserted by most people and miserably died in Christminster.

C. Jude Fawleys Superego

Superego is guided by the principle of morality， and targeted at perfection. It assists people to be a rational individual and an ethical member in society. To begin with， he is a man bearing dreams and aspirations. The village of Marygreen is opposite to the university town of Christminster. The young Jude regards Christminster as an edifying place of learning， identifying it with his ideals of higher education and his blurred conceptions of academic achievement. Moreover， he is industrious and diligent. In the book， there is a vivid depiction of his study process on the horse which has prompted many readers to shed tears.

An aged horse with a hanging head had been purchased for eight pounds at a sale， and in this turn-out it became Judes business thrice a week to carry loaves of bread to the villagers and solitary cotters immediately round Marygreen. As soon as the horse had learnt the road and the houses at which he was to pause awhile， the boy， seated in front， would slip the reins over his arm， ingeniously fix open； yet somehow getting at the meaning of what he read， and divining rather than beholding the spirit of the original， which often to his mind was something else than that which he was taught to look for （Hardy 126）.

We tend to be moved by his thirst for knowledge and his conscientious attitude towards learning. In addition， as regards the way in which he is faced with sexual relationship， it can be said without exaggeration that Jude is a responsible man. For instance， Arabella reveals to Jude that they have a son in Australia， and then Jude asks to take him in. Also， Sue and Jude serve as parents to the little boy and have two children of their own. Jude falls ill， and when he recovers， he decides to return to Christminster with his family. They have trouble finding lodging because they are not married， and Jude stays in an inn separate from Sue and the children. In order to make Sue and the children live well， Jude works hard wherever they go. However， in general， what he has done runs counter to social ethics thus leading to his constant suffering and predestined tragedy. Jude is unconventional by nature and hasty for love. Firstly， he doesnt take family curse into account. Without considering his aunts warning that marriages in their family never end well， Jude hastes to fall in love with his cousin. Secondly， he does not place enough premium on bourgeois values associated with marriage and struggles to marry his cousin Sue. He attempts to defy social conventions for the sake of love.

III. Conclusion

Id， Ego and Superego fight intensely all the way， which plunges him into a Sargasso sea of calamity. It can be said without any fear of exaggeration that he is a loser as well as a victim. At the start， Jude chooses to marry Arabella since he is tempted and deceived. It can be noted that it is Id that does mischief. Under the control of Id， Jude leaves Superego aside. Later， he finds himself taken in by Arabella. Emotional resistance makes him repulsed by her. Then the temporary Superego gets the upper hand. All the foregoing facts reveal that not only do Judes Id and Superego always collide with each other， but his Ego and Superego cannot be balanced. After being spiritually hit by the failure of the first marriage， Jude finds it hard to express his feelings towards Sue. As a mason in reality， he does not dare to fall in love with Sue who he deems as the goddess. Superego， at this stage， is the leading power which manages to control him. However， it is merely a success for the time being. When Sue， with trauma， leaves Phillotson for Jude， the stimulus unifies them. They get together regardless of anything else， including social norms and ethics. Faced with interrogation from morality， they bear much pressure being with each other. This stimulus is subconscious. Or rather， it belongs to Id， the primary impulse of human beings.

It is a regular pattern that Ego originates from Id， and Superego arises from Ego （Zhang Chuankai 146）. In Jude the Obscure， the development of Judes personality is absent from Id. His Superego emerges in advance of Id and Ego， and then the malposition and dislocation of the three sections show up. As for Jude， his Ego does not well develop， and fails to satisfy the needs of Id. In addition， the fact that his ideal is frustrated time and again frees him from the regulation of the real world. He runs after Id and acts based on pleasure. “When one behaves in accordance with the principle of pleasure， he tends to be punished by the exteriors and surroundings. He cannot achieve his goals” （Zhang Ming 70）. This assertion foreshadows Judes final tragic life.

Works Cited

Dave， Jagdish Chandra. The Human Predicament in Hardys Novels. London and Basingstroke： The Macmillan Press， 1985.

Hardy， Thomas. Jude the Obscure. New York： Bantam Books， 1996.

Morgan， Rosemarie. Women and Sexuality in the Novels of Thomas Hardy. London and New York： Routledge， 1988.

Page， Norman. Thomas Hardy： The Writer and his background. New York： St. Martins Press， 1980.

Thurley， Geoffrey. The Psychology of Hardys Novels： The Nervous and the Statuesque. Queensland： University of Queensland Press， 1975.

张传开 （Zhang Chuankai），弗洛伊德精神分析学述评[M]. 南京： 南京大学出版社， 1987.

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