Research Article

A Psychoanalytic Comparative Study on Lawrence’s “Snake” and Bishop’s “The Fish”

Volume: 19 Number: 1 June 30, 2025
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A Psychoanalytic Comparative Study on Lawrence’s “Snake” and Bishop’s “The Fish”

Abstract

D. H. Lawrence’s “Snake” and Elizabeth Bishop’s “The Fish” are two important poems which reflect the poet’s connection with nature by employing psychoanalytical theory. These poems are studied to discover basic psychological problems in the poets’ subconscious minds. Lawrence’s meeting with the snake symbolizes challenges against his excessive desires and constantly changing mind. He can obtain the real essence of life only through his deep journey into his inner self. Similarly, Bishop’s initial encounter with the fish foreshadows her adventure towards self-realisation. She can travel in her subconscious world to discover the disordered parts of her life that lead her to mental trauma. The present study searches for the themes of suppression, desire and transformation of both poets by using Freudian understanding of psychoanalytic theory. In other words, the paper highlights the poets’ distinct endeavours to meet the unconscious and how their changeable psychology affects the mood of their selected poems. Both poems touch upon similar themes, and their divergent ways of approaching the unconscious mind reveal a distinctive understanding of human psychology. In this respect, the article seeks to uncover the symbolic implications of the animals and search how the poets’ inner conflicts are demonstrated through their encounters with them.

Keywords

Project Number

No.

References

  1. Ağır, B. (2022). “Animal Subjectivity and Ethics of Care: Human-Nonhuman Relations in Doris Lessing’s On Cats.” Ideas: Journal of English Literary Studies, 2.1: 29-44.
  2. Becket, F. (2002). The Complete Critical Guide to D. H. Lawrence. Routledge.
  3. Bishop, E. (2011). “The Fish.” Poems. Farrar, Straus and Giroux, pp. 43-44.
  4. Brenner, C. (1974). An Elementary Textbook of Psychoanalysis. Doubleday.
  5. Costello, B. (1991). Elizabeth Bishop: Questions of Mastery. Harvard U. P.
  6. Freud, S. (1935). A General Introduction to Psychoanalysis. Trans. Joan Riviere. Liveright
  7. Freud, S. (1955). “Beyond the Pleasure Principle.” Beyond the Pleasure Principle, Group Psychology, and Other Works. The Hogarth Press, pp. 7-58.
  8. Freud, S. (1963). Character and Culture (Philip Rieff, Ed.). “Psychoanalysis”. Collier.

Details

Primary Language

English

Subjects

Comparative and Transnational Literature

Journal Section

Research Article

Early Pub Date

July 1, 2025

Publication Date

June 30, 2025

Submission Date

October 27, 2024

Acceptance Date

May 10, 2025

Published in Issue

Year 2025 Volume: 19 Number: 1

APA
Guven, S. (2025). A Psychoanalytic Comparative Study on Lawrence’s “Snake” and Bishop’s “The Fish”. Cankaya University Journal of Humanities and Social Sciences, 19(1), 224-234. https://doi.org/10.47777/cankujhss.1574517
AMA
1.Guven S. A Psychoanalytic Comparative Study on Lawrence’s “Snake” and Bishop’s “The Fish.” CUJHSS. 2025;19(1):224-234. doi:10.47777/cankujhss.1574517
Chicago
Guven, Samet. 2025. “A Psychoanalytic Comparative Study on Lawrence’s “Snake” and Bishop’s ‘The Fish’”. Cankaya University Journal of Humanities and Social Sciences 19 (1): 224-34. https://doi.org/10.47777/cankujhss.1574517.
EndNote
Guven S (June 1, 2025) A Psychoanalytic Comparative Study on Lawrence’s “Snake” and Bishop’s “The Fish”. Cankaya University Journal of Humanities and Social Sciences 19 1 224–234.
IEEE
[1]S. Guven, “A Psychoanalytic Comparative Study on Lawrence’s “Snake” and Bishop’s ‘The Fish’”, CUJHSS, vol. 19, no. 1, pp. 224–234, June 2025, doi: 10.47777/cankujhss.1574517.
ISNAD
Guven, Samet. “A Psychoanalytic Comparative Study on Lawrence’s “Snake” and Bishop’s ‘The Fish’”. Cankaya University Journal of Humanities and Social Sciences 19/1 (June 1, 2025): 224-234. https://doi.org/10.47777/cankujhss.1574517.
JAMA
1.Guven S. A Psychoanalytic Comparative Study on Lawrence’s “Snake” and Bishop’s “The Fish”. CUJHSS. 2025;19:224–234.
MLA
Guven, Samet. “A Psychoanalytic Comparative Study on Lawrence’s “Snake” and Bishop’s ‘The Fish’”. Cankaya University Journal of Humanities and Social Sciences, vol. 19, no. 1, June 2025, pp. 224-3, doi:10.47777/cankujhss.1574517.
Vancouver
1.Samet Guven. A Psychoanalytic Comparative Study on Lawrence’s “Snake” and Bishop’s “The Fish”. CUJHSS. 2025 Jun. 1;19(1):224-3. doi:10.47777/cankujhss.1574517

Çankaya University Journal of Humanities and Social Sciences
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