A psychoanalytic reading of brokenness and loss in Willa Cather’s a lost lady

Psychoanalysis and literature share an intertwined approach in their exploration of the human mind, emotions and behavior. Some literary works cannot be fully analyzed without deciphering the psychological codes present in them. This paper analyses the four main characters of Willa Cather’ A Lost Lady (1923) from a psychoanalytic perspective. They represent the three psychic types, the id, the ego and the superego proposed by Sigmund Freud. The Freudian psychology is applied and references will be made to Freud’s critics and supporters within the framework of psychoanalytic literary criticism. Through the lens of this critical theory, the analysis uncovers the hidden desires, fears and conflicts within characters and reveals the repressed or suppressed traumas or any psychological complexes that lead to their miserable conditions or incomprehensible behavior. The personal psychological struggles endured by the characters illustrates how individual inner turmoil is profoundly intensified by the erosion of moral values and the concomitant rise of ethical disintegration.