| Summary: | 碩士 === 國立政治大學 === 西洋語文研究所 === 78 === The nature of the psychic doubling is an intriguing psychological phenome-
non that has preoccupied man throughout human history. But what is the na-
ture of the double? Can the theme of the double be revealed by modern psy-
choanalytic theories? and How is the theme of the double presented in Sha-
ffer and Shepard's plays? These are the questions I attempt to answer in
this thesis.
Before all else, I will conduct a historical survey of the nature of the
doublue in the culture of many societies throughout human history. In the
mean time, I intend to trace the origin and historical transformation of
the theme of the double as a literary motif found in world literature. Th-
en I will integrate the former research results and attempt to broach a d-
efinition of the double . The portrayal of the double motifs in Shaffer a-
nd Shepard's plays will be examined in terms of psychoanalytic perspective
. As for the scope of my research, I will concentrate on investigating Sh-
affer's three plays: The Royal Hunt of the Sun (1964), Equus (1973), Amad-
eus (1979) and Shepard's two plays: Buried Child (1978), True West (1980).
The analytic study of the double aims to bring new psychoanalytic insight
to Shaffer and Shepard's plays. I believe that this research besign will
reveal puzzling contradictions, obscurely understood drives, identity cri-
sis, and psychopathological syndromes plaguing the characters' psyches. T-
he application of psychoanalytic theories is mainly based on the concept
of Freudian psychology. The Jungian archetypal criticism, Lacan's psychoa-
nalysis, and identity theory are my major frame of referance.
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