Quest for Plenitude in Taslima Nasrin’s French Lover

Abstract

This research studies the unconscious self of the protagonist character Nilanjana Mandal (Nila). She in search of true, independent and complete love, falls in the relationship with different people but her quest for plenitude in love is never realized in her life. The paper unfolds her contingent behavior pattern psychoanalytically and claims that this is an aftermath of her repressed desire for the love of her father. Her quest for her father gets displaced in the characters she falls in love with and they cannot substitute his place in her life as she unconsciously seeks for, she can not have a lasting relationship. This study claims that Nilanjana ’s quest for plenitude in love is not fulfilled because of her repressed desire for her father figure. Her quest for his love remained unfulfilled therefore she falls for different who are in one or other way have similar characteristical features as her father. Furthermore, it claims that the upbringing of a child shapes their future nature. If they are not given proper love, attention, and praise they end up being sad, meek, irresolute and dependent. The research is done on the theoretical ground of some of the psychoanalytical writers like Sigmund Freud, Jessica Benjamin, Nancy Chodrow, John JB Morgan, Maximo, and Carranza, etc.