The wrath of ajax: A psychoanalytic study of elizabethan discourse-the case of Harrington's metamorphosis

Samuel Juni

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

Abstract

Sir John Harington's irreverent and iconoclastic Metamorphosis is subjected to the psychobiographic method of inquiry. The author is first analyzed in the context of his environment and his personality structure. The volume is shown to yield several distinct thematic foci: waste as a product, with its attributions of prurience, omnipotence, divinity, and evil; the eliminatory process and its prominence in life; and the Jakes as a locale which is intrinsically related to power, vulnerability, and thanatos. Each of these themes is pursued in a synthesis of psychoanalysis, text analysis, and historical context. The study yields a poignant profile of a valiant challenge to taboo, while revealing the basic dynamics of a rigid and rule-moribund culture.

Original languageEnglish (US)
Pages (from-to)99-114
Number of pages16
JournalCurrent Psychology
Volume16
Issue number2
StatePublished - 1997

ASJC Scopus subject areas

  • General Psychology

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