Psychoanalytic Approach to Robert Frost’s Poem Mending Wall.docVIP

Psychoanalytic Approach to Robert Frost’s Poem Mending Wall 　　Abstract：The article mainly analyzes Frost’s poem Mending Wall from the perspective of Freud’s psychoanalysis and explores how the Id, the Ego,the Super-ego and their interactions are manifested in the poem. 　　Key words：Robert Frost；Mending Wall；Freud psychoanalysis 　　中图分类号：I106 文献标识码： A 文章编号：1672-1578（2013)09-0005-02 　　Psychoanalysis is a psychological theory founded in the late 19th century by Austrian neurologist Sigmund Freud. The core theory of psychoanalysis is the theory of personality structure. Structural theory divides the psyche into the id, the ego, and the super-ego. The id is present at birth as the repository of basic instincts. The ego develops slowly and gradually. It is concerned with mediating between the urgings of the id and the realities of external world. The super-ego is regarded as a part of the ego in which self-observation, self-criticism and other reflective and judgmental faculties develop. Then the interactions among the id, the ego and the super-ego result in the generation and resolution of inner conflicts. 　　Robert Frost (1874-1963) is one of the most eminent literary figures in the twentieth American history. His poems are simple in language，plain in form while profound in theme. For a long time, domestic and foreign scholars have analyzed Frost’s poem Mending Wall from the perspective of naturalism, ecological awareness, rhythm and so on. However, there are few scholars who study his poems from Freud’s psychological analysis..Mending Wall is a metaphorical poem published in 1914 and appears in Frost’s second collection of poetry, North of Boston. It describes one man questioning why he and his neighbor must rebuild the stone wall each spring which divides their farms. The “Wall” in the poem does not only refer to the actual stone wall, but also the barriers in people’s minds and in the society. Through the actions and chats between the author and neighbor, the poem