The Waste Land 에 대한 프로이드적 접근: 초-자아의 전복 = A Freudian Approach to The Waste Land: The Subversion of ‘Super-ego’

다국어 초록 (Multilingual Abstract)

The aim of this study is to interpret The Waste Land which is the representation of either Eliot’s dream or his unconsciousness in terms of some principal theories out of Freud's second subjects (‘Conscious’/ ’Preconscious’/ ‘Unconscious’) and third ones (‘Libido’/ ‘Id’/ ‘Ego’/ ‘Super-ego’), and then to understand the state of Eliot's mind. But with the framed interpretation moulded into Freudian paradigm, I also suggest my subjective responses to the poem.
Of the aspects of conflict between ‘Id’ and ‘Super-ego’ in the poem, in “The Burial of the Dead”, ”April” as “the crudest month” plays a role of 'libido' and “the dead land” means the realm of ‘Unconscious’ involving “mixing memory and desire” repressed by ‘Super-ego.’ This reflects the poet’s repressed ‘Ego’, which also communicates with "Tent" in "The river's tent is...", as a symbol of “tabernacle” functions as ‘Super-ego/ The function of Madame of Sosostris interfering with others’ affairs in life is equal to that of ‘projection’ accompanying ‘introjection’. This hints the absence of the Absolute being, so the perspectives of human affairs by Sosostris are merely self-contained. "A Game of Chess", having the hints of the poet' unhappy marriage, means the man's subverted status not good enough for the woman’s desire, which links to the subversion of ‘Super-ego.’ In “The Fire Sermon”, “my heart” as ‘Super-ego’ is under “My foot” as ‘Id’ means the aspect of the former not reigning over the latter, the subversion of ‘Super-ego’ “What the Thunder Said” shows us the various aspects of ‘Ego’, which means the poet’s diverse pursuits to overcome his contemporary situation.
In the whole, the poem shows us the poet’s individuation, even if complex or confusing, which inevitably invites the process of “repression”, the confrontation or conflict between “Id” and “Super-ego”. But Coming to the later parts, ”Death by Water” and “What the Thunder said”, the aspects are finally converged to the point, the compromise between the world and the poet’s desire. The poet dreams of the point of consciousness, the new desire, to overcome the limit of his consciousness within the real world.