THE CIVIL MASK CRACKS: FREUDIAN ECHOES IN THE DIARY OF A MADMAN
Keywords:
Ego, Freud, ID, Literary Psychology, Madness, Maupassant, Morality, Psychoanalysis, Psychopathology, Repression, SuperegoAbstract
This paper examines Guy de Maupassant's The Diary of a Madman through the lens of Freudian psychoanalysis, with particular emphasis on the dynamic interaction between the id, ego, and superego. The analysis demonstrates how unconscious forces systematically overwhelm rational control within the protagonist, revealing the profound vulnerabilities inherent in the human psyche. By applying Freud's tripartite model of personality to the narrative, this study illuminates the psychological mechanisms underlying the judge's descent from respected authority figure to criminally insane individual. The research situates Maupassant's depiction of concealed madness within the broader cultural and philosophical context of fin-de-siècle France, arguing that his literary portrayal prefigures modern understandings of psychopathology and criminal deviance. This examination employs qualitative textual analysis to establish meaningful connections between psychological theory and narrative expression, thereby advancing interdisciplinary scholarship at the intersection of literature, psychoanalysis, and moral philosophy.
Downloads
References
Abbas, A., & Anwar, M. N. (2020). Psychoanalytic reading of Maupassant's The Confession: A study of repression and hidden desires. International Journal of Literature and Arts, 8(4), 127–132.
Artinian, R. (1969). Maupassant criticism in English: A bibliography. University of Kansas Press.
Ayling, R. (2007). Madness and authority in nineteenth-century French literature. Peter Lang Publishing.
Barry, P. (2009). Beginning theory: An introduction to literary and cultural theory (3rd ed.). Manchester University Press.
Barry, P. (2017). Beginning theory: An introduction to literary and cultural theory (4th ed.). Manchester University Press.
Bourget, P. (1982). Guy de Maupassant. Librairie Larousse.
Denzin, N. K., & Lincoln, Y. S. (Eds.). (2018). The SAGE handbook of qualitative research (5th ed.). SAGE Publications.
Fong, G. (1970). The short stories of Guy de Maupassant: A study in literary realism. University of California Press.
Freud, S. (1961). The standard edition of the complete psychological works of Sigmund Freud (J. Strachey, Trans. & Ed.). Hogarth Press. (Original works published 1895–1939)
Freud, S. (2005). Civilization and its discontents (D. McLintock, Trans.). Penguin Books. (Original work published 1930)
Kristeva, J. (1982). Powers of horror: An essay on abjection (L. S. Roudiez, Trans.). Columbia University Press.
Mambrol, N. (2019). Guy de Maupassant and naturalism. In Literary theory and criticism. Retrieved from https://literariness.org
McLeod, S. (2023). Id, ego and superego. Simply Psychology. Retrieved from https://www.simplypsychology.org/psyche.html
Poe, E. A. (1843). The tell-tale heart. The Pioneer.
Poliquin, D. (2010). Maupassant: Le plaisir de la peur. Éditions du Boréal.
Showalter, E. (1997). Hystories: Hysterical epidemics and modern media. Columbia University Press.
Sobandi, A., Elfiondri, E., & Dahlan, M. (2020). A psychoanalytic study of Guy de Maupassant's The Diary of a Madman. Journal of Language and Literature Studies, 5(2), 45–55.
Stevenson, R. L. (1886). The strange case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde. Longmans, Green & Co.
Stolle, E. (2022). Textual analysis as a research method. Journal of Qualitative Methods, 6(1), 102–115.
Trilling, L. (1940). The liberal imagination. Viking Press.
Downloads
Published
Issue
Section
License
Copyright (c) 2026 Almas Kurd (Author)
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
