The unconscious defense in Osborne's look back in anger: A freudian study of Jimmy Porter

Abstract

The thesis examines the behavior of Jimmy Porter, the protagonist of the play Look Back in Anger, written in 1956 by John Osborne. Throughout the play, Jimmy’s personality carries an immense psychological complexity and convolution. The analysis of the character from the perspective of the psychoanalytical approach suggests that Jimmy was a frustrated, disillusioned, hopeless angry young man. The primary theory adopted in the study is psychoanalysis, specifically unconscious defense mechanisms by Sigmund Freud and his daughter Anna Freud. Defense mechanisms are unconscious mechanisms to deal with stress and anxiety. It mainly focuses on exploring psychological behavior of Jimmy. Incorporating evidences from various sources, the study heavily relies on the secondary data. The study demonstrates Jimmy's unsuccessful struggle to find a peaceful life that makes him angry and disappointed. However, Jimmy is intelligent and educated and he finds that society is stagnant and class-dominated. The political factors such as social issues and the situation of the working class make him a pessimist. His ego works as a mediator to balance the internal reality like the Id, ego and superego.