Literary Exposé of First Corporate Raiders: Psychoanalytical Study of William Dalrymple’s The Anarchy
This research explores William Dalrymple’s The Anarchy that deals with the psychological tendencies and behaviors of people who wield power, as well as those who are subjected to subjugation, in historical milieus that are conditioned by the earliest forms of corporate and political endeavors. It is a research that tries to understand the roles of power, ambition, and societal factors on human psychology and behavioral transformations, especially among people who are viewed as ‘civilized.’ This research is conducted using Sigmund Freud’s psychoanalytic theory as the key framework for inquiry, in which the narrative of The Anarchy by Dalrymple is analyzed in order to investigate the psychological tendencies of important historical characters, their desire for power, their strategies for gaining material possessions or power, and their proclivity to regard themselves as almost demigods. The human behaviour is scrutinized in the context of socio-instinctive versus purely psychological tendencies of human actions. They are classified by their social conditionings or the human prolongations of purely ‘animalistic’ behaviours, besides other psychological facets of human happiness, human misery, or positive or negative human thinking. This research ends by summarizing its findings in order to clarify that the study of The Anarchy by Dalrymple evaluate complicated power-cultural- psychological complexities in their interactions. References Achebe, C. (1989). Hopes and impediments: Selected essays. Doubleday. Ahmed, N., Jawaid, A., Kaur, P., & Khalid, R. (2018). Dictionary using habits of electrical engineering students in Lahore, Pakistan. Language in India, 18(3). https://www.languageinindia.com Chandra, B. (2007). History of modern India. Orient BlackSwan. Crile, G. (2003). Charlie Wilson's war: The extraordinary story of the largest covert operation in history. Atlantic Inc. Dalrymple, W. (2019). The Anarchy: The relentless rise of the East India Company. Bloomsbury. Davis, M. (2001). Late Victorian Holocaufts: El Niño Famines and the Making of the Third World. Verso. De Groot, G. J. (2019, September 5). The Anarchy by William Dalrymple review — The East India Company and the rape of India. The Times. https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/the-anarchy-by-william-dalrymple-review-the-east-india-company-and-the-rape-of-india-5d8tnxkqh Forster, E. M. (1924). A passage to India. Harcourt. Freire, P., Ramos, M. B., & Macedo, D. (2018). Pedagogy of the Oppressed. Bloomsbury. Freud, S. (1960). The ego and the id. W. W. Norton & Company. Hickel, J. (2017). The divide: A brief guide to global inequality and its solutions. William Heinemann. James, L. (1997). The Making and Unmaking of British India. Abacus. Jawaid, A., Batool, M., Arshad, W., Ikram ul Haq, M., Kaur, P., & Sanaullah, S. (2025). AI-driven enhancement of English language learning for underperforming students through customized ESP and OBE-aligned strategies. Manuscript in preparation. Kassem, S. (2013). Rise and salute the sun: The writings of Suzy Kassem. Third Eye Publishing. Marshall, T. (2015). Prisoners of geography: Ten maps that tell you everything you need to know about global politics. Elliott & Thompson. Mishra, P. (2012). From the ruins of empire: The intellectuals who remade Asia. Allen Lane. Obama, B. (2020). A promised land. Crown Publishing Group. Orwell, G. (1949). 1984. Secker & Warburg. Rabahi, M., Yusof, H., Awang, M., & Jawaid, A. (2020). Strategic considerations for kindergartens in leading learning of Orang Asli students. International Journal of Academic Research in Business and Social Sciences, 10(7), 559–570. https://doi.org/10.6007/IJARBSS/v10-i7/7495 Rahman, A. (n.d.). The British art of colonialism in India: Subjugation and division. University of Manitoba. Raza, M., Jawaid, A., & Ikram ul Haq, M. (2018). The effect of interventions on quality-adjusted life years (QALY) of dialysis patients. Gomal University Journal of Research, 34(2), 73–79. http://www.gujr.com.pk/index.php/GUJR/article/view/233 Said, E. (1993). Culture and imperialism. Knopf. Sinclair, U. (1906). The jungle. Doubleday, Page & Company. Tharoor, S. (2016). An era of darkness: The British Empire in India. Aleph Book Company. Tharoor, S. (2017). Inglorious Empire: What the British did to India. Aleph Book Company. Wagner, K. A. (2017). The skull of Alum Bheg: The life and death of a rebel of 1857. Hurst & Company. Whitehead, C. (2019). The Nickel Boys. Doubleday.
Authors
- Zaheer u din Babar Iqbal
Institutions
- Lahore Garrison University (PK)
Publication Details
- Journal
- Journal of English Language Literature and Education
- Published
- 2025-09-28
- DOI
- https://doi.org/10.54692/jelle.2025.0703291
- Primary Topic
- Psychoanalysis, Philosophy, and Politics
- Type
- article
- Field-Weighted Citation Impact
- 0.00