"Dreams Sleeping and Dreams Waking": A Psychoanalytic Study of Dreams and Phantasies in Richardson's Clarissa

Abstract

<p>It is the purpose of this thesis to analyze Samuel Richardson's treatment of dreams and phantasies in Clarissa in order to demonstrate the underlying motivations of Clarissa and Lovelace and the possible connection between unconscious material and conscious statements and reactions. The form this study will take is a psychoanalytic investigation of character motivation as it is revealed in the dreams and phantasies. Chapter One will elaborate on the scope and content of this thesis. Chapter Two will focus on Clarissa's dream prior to her flight in order to determine the extent to which she manipulates and perpetuates her role as 'Persecuted Maiden'. Chapter Three will analyze Lovelace's phantasies of potency in terms of their underlying implications. Chapter Four examines the psychological effects of the rape on Clarissa and Lovelace. In particular, Clarissa's delirium and death-scene and Lovelace's dreams and death-scene will be of central importance.</p>