An Analysis of the Female Characters in the Moon and Sixpence from the Perspective of Freud's Theory of Personality Structure

Abstract

: Somerset Maugham is one of the most influential writers in the history of 20th-century English literature. His novel The Moon and Sixpence has attracted widespread attention and praise since its publication in 1919. This paper intends to analyze the two female characters Mrs. Strickland and Blanche Stroeve in the novel from the perspective of Freud’s theory of personality structure. Mrs. Strickland’s id is forced to be suppressed by her ego in the face of existential dilemmas and eventually completes a profound transformation from a marginalized housewife to a successful career woman guided by her ego and superego. In contrast, Blanche Stroeve’s id goes through the process from being repressed by her ego which is a virtuous wife under social norms to rebellion, culminating in self-destruction under the weight of unbearable guilt in her superego. Thus, it can be seen that their experiences vividly embody the constant conflict and interaction among the id, ego and superego and that the imbalance of the personality structure may lead to tragedy, revealing the inner trajectory of their personality development, which is conducive to deepening the readers’ understanding of the female figure.