Shame and suicide in Sophocles' Ajax

Journal/Book: Psychoanal Quart. 1996; 65: 175 Fifth Ave, Room 210, New York, NY 10010. Psychoanalytic Quarterly. 761-786.

Abstract: This paper explores the vicissitudes of shame and its relation to narcissistic rage and escalation of conflict in Sophocles' Ajar. The plot is set in motion by Ajar's shame over losing the competition with Odysseus for Achilles' armor. His shame leads to narcissistic rage and propels him to vengeance against the social order. Misidentification, an aspect of narcissistic rage, compounds his disgrace by escalating his shame to suicidal proportions when his madness leaves him. His defenses all fail, and his suicide becomes inevitable. Forces that bind him to the social order lose out to those that make of him a humiliated outcast and drive him to Kill himself.

Note: Article MR Lansky, 1100 Glendon Ave, Suite 1527, Los Angeles, CA 90024 USA

Zurück | Weiter