A Psychoanalytic Insight Into Blanche in A Streetcar Named Desire Psychic Strength From Defense Mechanism

This paper attempts to analyze Blanche＇s psyche in relation to her employing defense mechanism to restore her mental health and herself in A Streetcar Named Desire （1947） by the American playwright Tennessee Williams. It focuses on her replacing reality with fantastic embodiments or illusion. She has taken unacceptable impulses into acceptable forms by unconsciously blocking the impulses such as superego and thereby reducing agony for the earlier traumatic experiences left indelible marks on her mind, and anxiety for survival. Her anxiety becomes too overwhelming that her ego urgently employs defense mechanisms to protect her. With her new hopes and dreams she desires to replace the highly stressful loss. Under mental and social stress, her illusion and her falsification of reality nevertheless became unable to overcome recurring trauma-causing situation in reality and her healing process thereby leaving her on the verge of extinction.

At the Origin of the Art of Money-Making （Conversation With Aristotle About Wealth and the Good Life）

This paper aims, first of all, to examine the two fundamental treatments of the complex and very broad notion of chrematistikd （money-making） and its links with the notion of oikonomia （economics）, outlining a fundamental division between natural and unnatural art of money-making. The two different arts of money-making are based on two very different psychological attitudes： in the first case, desire is channeled, managed, and organized by practical wisdom with a view to a further end; in the second case, desire is an end unto itself, insatiable, boundless and contrary to the commands of practical wisdom. Only in the first case there is a ＂true wealth＂, that is a wealth oriented toward a good life that constitutes the end （telos） and the limit （peras） of the wealth itself. The conclusion is that, for the Stagirite, wealth is not an evil, nor, in itself, is the pursuit of wealth, that is, the art of money-making, because if it is rightly organized and oriented in function of the end, it constitutes the conditio sine qua non of a life that is good, ordered and happy for the individual and for the city

Mutable Desires： Girardian Two-Object Rivalries in Beowulf

This paper analyzes the violent relationships in Beowulf（2008） based on the application of Rene Girard＇s theories of acquisitive mimesis. However, normal applications of Girard＇s work can be problematic with this text, because reading mimetic conflict in Beowulf as focused on a single object of desire does not adequately explain the relationships between Grendel and his enemies. Normal applications of acquisitive mimesis are limited in this poem, because agent and model do not often have the same desires, and thus this paper proposes a corollary to Girard＇s theories： If we allow for two objects of desire in the rivalry--primary and secondary desires--we can account for the motivations of all mimetic rivals and acquisitive mimesis has a richer and more sustained application to this poem

Desire, Discipline, and Happiness

This paper develops an Augustinian response to political problems diagnosed by Michel Foucault＇s analysis of modem power. Foucault argues that power in the modem age is not repressive but creative. Instead of prohibiting acts, political power disciplines and normalizes subjects. Foucault＇s alternative consists in practices of aesthetic self-creation not linked to transcendent or natural order. Within Augustine＇s account of the purposive nature of love and desire, however, lies an implicit critique of Foucault＇s ethic of aesthetic self-creation. Augustine＇s eudaimonism allows him to resist the process of normalization. Augustine provides an alternative to both modem political practice and a Foucauldian practice of aesthetic self-creation.

The Empirical Guidance in The Vanity of Human Wishes

This paper looks into Samuel Johnson＇s famous poem The Vanity of Human Wishes： The Tenth Satire Imitated （1903）. For centuries, the poem is under hot discussion for its form, tone, theme, and even the imitated style and holds well its position as Johnson＇s greatest poem. Based on the former criticism but avoiding the detailed investigation into thematic concern and stylistic features, the paper pays more attention to Johnson＇s instructive purpose of literary creation and argues that as an observant poet of life, Johnson aims to provide empirical guidance to the reader and human beings and thereby distributes some instructions implicitly through the poetic depiction of human experiences.

On Eugene O＇Neill Inheritance to Greek Tragedy in Desire Under the Elms

In Desire Under the Elms, Eugene O＇Neill not only adopts some elements from Greek tragedies, but brings more different ideas for readers, such as supernaturalism, and the degeneration of the tragic heroes or the peasant like language and sets more comic elements. Under his powerful pen, a marvelous drama is displayed before the audience, which combines the traditional elements and modem creations perfectly. This paper aims to explore the important elements in the play and compare those with what are used in Desire Under the Elms so as to draw the conclusion that Eugene O＇Neill not only uses the traditional written skills but also improves the development and inheritance of Greek tragedies.

An Analysis of Power Desire of Iago in Shakespeare＇s Othello From Psychological Perspectives

This study aims to investigate how powerful desires controlling and influence the play＇s characters. In particularly Iago＇s Power is probably the most important motive. Iago employed to manipulate Othello. It is clearly seen that Iago thrived in power because he loves manipulating people so that they do what he says. Othello indicates the power of desires, love and jealousy. The purpose of this study is to obtain a deeper understanding and analyze the character＇s power and how Shakespeare used Iago＇s power desires？ To cause the tragic downfall Othello by using the psychological approaches. Shakespeare＇s tragedies＇ characters motivated by the power desires. Shakespeare shows that the human need, feelings, emotions and passions or desires may lead their owners to be mad if they surrender to them to go beyond the limits. This paper looks how Shakespeare shows the humanism by describing Iago＇s desires in his play, Othello the most notable tragedies.

The Villainous Moor： Eleazar in Dekker＇s Lust＇s Dominion （1600）

The article explores the disruptive social contexts and inter-racial rela- tionships in Thomas Dekker＇s Lust＇s Dominion （c.1599-1600） [Collier found out about its original performance date, which was in February 1600, and that it was first published in 1657 （Collier 1827, p. 264）] with focus on the Moorish Eleazar. The play is about race, lust, revenge and politics. The Elizabethan experienced a cultural blend and a fear of Africans and other foreigners. Like Dekker, Elizabethan dramatists imparted well-known contemporary prejudices and stereotypes on those of specific origin in Africa based solely on their dark skin. Elizabethan shows reinforced the image of the Moor as cruel, tyrannical and deceitful. The African Moors are portrayed to the Elizabethan expectations as being demi-devil, deceitful, lascivious, unpleasant, merciless egotist as soon as he appears. The depiction of the evil Moor contributes to Elizabethan superiority as an intrinsic right. Dekker illustrates the pervasive racism of Elizabethan Europe and the plain consequences of this institutionalized prejudice.