https://doi.org/10.67147/literariness.v1i3.019
Between Desire and Guilt: A Psychoanalytical, Feminist and Existential Examination of Madhavi Kutty’s “December”
ANTO HEMANTH A
UGC Junior Research Fellow
Department of English (SF), PSG College of Arts & Science
Coimbatore, Tamil Nadu
https://orcid.org/0009-0002-5547-6367
hemanthfdo27@gmail.com
DR. SARANYA VM
Assistant Professor
Department of English (SF), PSG College of Arts & Science
Coimbatore, Tamil Nadu
https://orcid.org/0009-0008-8829-9532
Abstract: To love is often to lose not the other, but the self. To desire is to depend on the other; to depend is to lose the self for the other, becoming “the Other.” Often characterized by emotional and erotic dimensions, dependency within intimate romantic relationships can result in a conflicted psychological state and a diminished sense of self. Employing a multidimensional theoretical framework grounded in the critical concepts of Sigmund Freud, Simone de Beauvoir, and Jean-Paul Sartre, this research examines Madhavi Kutty’s modernist confessional short story, “December.” Through a psychoanalytical, feminist, and existential interpretation of the narrative, the study sheds light on how the interplay of desire and guilt within intimate relationships affects the female protagonist, leading to the formation of a relational identity that positions her in a precarious state of otherness characterized by fragile authority and compromised agency. It further examines the role of her partner, the male character, in contributing to the justification of the homme fatale archetype, discussed as a counterpart to the femme fatale.
Keywords: Intimacy, Dependency, Relational Identity, Desire, Guilt, Freudian, the Other, Bad Faith, Homme Fatale
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