Defense Mechanism: A Psychoanalytic Perspective on The Awakening

Abstract

The Awakening is one of the representatives of Kate Chopin in nineteenth century. After its publication, it was controversial because of its open discussion on the emotional and sexual needs of women. With the development of feminist movement, The Awakening is seen as a remarkable work of early feminism. Apart from its achievement on feminism, Chopin illustrates the unconscious mind and the work of human psyche. Through analyzing two types of defense mechanism— repression and regression—this essay tries to examine that because of the trauma of losing her mother, Edna’s psyche is repressed since childhood and regresses to the oral stage.