Neurotics’ Sexual Complex in The Wayward Bus: With John Steinbeck’s Biographical Facts
0
조회
0
다운로드
3
인용
0
참고문헌
키워드
초록
John Steinbeck dedicated The Wayward Bus to his second wife Gwyndolin Conger considering their stormy marriage life. The novel enjoyed a tremendous readership called his most successful book, commercially, to date. Nevertheless, it has been neglected and misunderstood by scholars. The reason is that the allegory of The Wayward Bus is based on neurotic characters’ sexual complex—women as sex objects and an intercourse without spiritual love. It is not unrelated to the author’s uncomfortable relationship with his mother and two ex-wives. Additionally, the book shows neurotics’ activities are caused by the suppression of the civilization that covers their sexual reality with its artificiality or hypocrisy. To illuminate this, I introduce Steinbeck’s biographical facts, discussing Sigmund Freud’s theory of sexuality based on The Three Essays on the Theory of Sexuality, applying it to Carol Henning’s and Gwyn’s cases, and observing the texts of The Wayward Bus. It is concluded that the neurotic characters’ sexual complex is distinctive in that they are not honest about their sexuality and not active in the sexual activity, falling into a sort of fetishism as a negative aspect of sexual perversion. Lastly, The Wayward Bus is not for a cheap misogyny but for a sexual morality that human sexuality may not be necessarily good or evil and should not be fixed in a pattern forced by the external influences—materialism or commercialism.
Abstract
John Steinbeck dedicated The Wayward Bus to his second wife Gwyndolin Conger considering their stormy marriage life. The novel enjoyed a tremendous readership called his most successful book, commercially, to date. Nevertheless, it has been neglected and misunderstood by scholars. The reason is that the allegory of The Wayward Bus is based on neurotic characters’ sexual complex—women as sex objects and an intercourse without spiritual love. It is not unrelated to the author’s uncomfortable relationship with his mother and two ex-wives. Additionally, the book shows neurotics’ activities are caused by the suppression of the civilization that covers their sexual reality with its artificiality or hypocrisy. To illuminate this, I introduce Steinbeck’s biographical facts, discussing Sigmund Freud’s theory of sexuality based on The Three Essays on the Theory of Sexuality, applying it to Carol Henning’s and Gwyn’s cases, and observing the texts of The Wayward Bus. It is concluded that the neurotic characters’ sexual complex is distinctive in that they are not honest about their sexuality and not active in the sexual activity, falling into a sort of fetishism as a negative aspect of sexual perversion. Lastly, The Wayward Bus is not for a cheap misogyny but for a sexual morality that human sexuality may not be necessarily good or evil and should not be fixed in a pattern forced by the external influences—materialism or commercialism.
참고문헌 (28)
- Benson, Jackson J., "Looking for Steinbeck's Ghost" (2002), U of Nevada P
- Benson, Jackson J, "The True Adventures of John Steinbeck, Writer: A Biography" (1984), Viking Press
- Coers, Donald V., "After The Grapes of Wrath: Essays on John Steinbeck in Honor of Tetsumaro Hayashi" (1995), Ohio UP
- Davis, Robert Murray, "Steinbeck : A Collection of Critical Essays" (1972), Prentice-Hall
- De Voto, Bernard, "John Steinbeck’s Bus Ride into the Hills", New York Herald Tribune Weekly Book Review, pp.2~ (1947)
- Fontenrose, Joseph Eddy, "John Steinbeck : An Introduction and Interpretation" (1963), Holt, Rinehart and Winston
- French, Warren, "John Steinbeck" (1961), Twayne
- Freud, Sigmund, "Three Essays on the Theory of Sexuality" (2000), Basic
- Gonzales, Bobbi, "Rediscovering Steinbeck—Revisionist Views of His Art", pp.157~173 (1989), Politics and Intellect
- Jones, Lawrence William, "John Steinbeck as Fabulist, Steinbeck Monograph Series, 3" (1973), The John Steinbeck Society of America
- 이건근, "The Psychoanalytical Research on Steinbeck’s Tortilla Flat: Based on Civilization and Its Discontents by Freud", 현대영어영문학, 58(4), pp.385~405 (2014), 한국현대영어영문학회
- Levant, Howard, "The Novels of John Steinbeck : A Critical Study" (1974), U of Missouri P
- Lisca, Peter, "The Wide World of John Steinbeck" (1958), Rutgers UP
- Millichap, Joseph R, "Steinbeck and Film" (1983), Frederick Ungar
- O’Malley, Frank, "The Wayward Bus", Commonweal, 46, pp.43~44 (1947)
- Parini, Jay, "John Steinbeck : A Biography" (1994), Heinemann
- Prescott, Orville, "Books of the Times", New York Times, 17~ (1947)
- Railsback, Brian E, "After The Grapes of Wrath: Essays on John Steinbeck", pp.125~135 (1995)
- Railsback, Brian E., "A John Steinbeck Encyclopedia" (2006), Greenwood
- Schultz, Jeffrey D., "Critical Companion to John Steinbeck : A Literary Reference to His Life and Work" (2009), Infobase Publishing
- Shillinglaw, Susan, "Carol and John Steinbeck" (2013), U of Nevada P
- Simmonds, Roy, "The Composition, Publication, and Reception of John Steinbeck’s The Wayward Bus, with Biographical Background: Chapter One, The Wandering Years (1940-1945)", The Steinbeck Review, 7(2), pp.18~36 (2010)
- Steinbeck, John, "Cannery Row" (1994), Penguin
- Steinbeck, John, "Cup of Gold" (2008), Penguin
- Steinbeck, John, "The Pearl" (1994), Penguin
- Steinbeck, John, "Steinbeck : A Life in Letters" (1975), Penguin
- Steinbeck, John, "The Wayward Bus" (1994), Penguin
- Steinbeck, John, IV, "The Other Side of Eden : Life with John Steinbeck" (2001), Prometheus