Home> Archive> 2024> Volume 14, Number 4, 2024
IJSSH 2024 Vol.14(4): 167-181
doi: 10.18178/ijssh.2024.14.4.1211

On the Awakening of Maggie’s Self-Consciousness from the Perspective of Psychoanalytic Feminism

Yuqiao Liu 1,* and Yushuo Bao 2
1. Northwestern University, Doha, Qatar
2. Transformation Academy, Shanghai, China
Email: yuqiaoliu2027@u.northwestern.edu (Y.L.)
*Corresponding author
Manuscript received June 14, 2023; revised July 7, 2023; accepted February 8, 2024; published July 31, 2024.

Manuscript received June 14, 2023; revised July 7, 2023; accepted February 8, 2024; published July 31, 2024.

Abstract—This thesis delves into George Eliot’s “The Mill on the Floss”, focusing on Maggie Tulliver’s journey towards self-consciousness against the backdrop of Victorian gender norms. It leverages Psychoanalytic Feminism and Freud’s theories to argue that the novel’s ending, particularly Maggie’s death, aligns with Eliot’s intentions and reflects deeper meanings. Divided into four main parts, the thesis first examines Maggie’s personal development and internal influences shaping her self-awareness. The second part discusses the emergence of Maggie’s self-consciousness, highlighting her conflicting personality traits within a patriarchal society and her mixed feelings towards male dominance. The third part focuses on Maggie’s awakening, manifested in her rebellious actions, thirst for knowledge, and conflict with her brother, Tom. The fourth part explores the culmination of Maggie’s journey, where emotional suppression leads her to mature insights into her desires and moral choices, culminating in her reconciliation with Tom and ultimate self-sacrifice. The thesis argues that Eliot portrays human beings as inherently driven to pursue self-consciousness. Maggie’s life-long struggle for self-awareness and her final decision to sacrifice herself underscore a pursuit of harmony with the external world, suggesting that such self-realization and ascension might only be achievable through sacrifice. This exploration sheds light on Eliot’s views on the complex interplay between individual aspirations and societal constraints.

Keywords—George Eliot, literature, literature interpretation theory, psychoanalytic feminism patriarchy self-consciousness, The Mill on the Floss, women studies

Cite: Yuqiao Liu and Yushuo Bao, "On the Awakening of Maggie’s Self-Consciousness from the Perspective of Psychoanalytic Feminism," International Journal of Social Science and Humanity, vol. 14, no. 4, pp. 167-181, 2024.

Copyright © 2024 by the authors. This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution License which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited (CC BY 4.0).

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