An Orchestration of Narcissistic Expressions in John Osborne’s The Picture of Dorian Gray -A Moral Entertainment: A Reflection on Kohutian Self Psychology Psychoanalysis

Abstract

This paper aims to provide an interdisciplinary space for fruitful debate concerning psychoanalytical representations of narcissism, narcissistic personality disorder, and its implications in artistic, literary, and health discourses. A close textual reading of John Osborne's most impressive play, The Picture of Dorian Gray: A Moral Entertainment, reveals narcissistic traits or abnormal behavior patterns in the protagonist, Dorian Gray, who, like the mythological narcissus, orchestrates a flurry of interpersonal abuse and antagonism. As such, the critical analysis and interpretation of the main character, Dorian, provides new therapeutic understanding to clinicians, academicians, parents, and mental health enthusiasts around the world and thereby helps recognize individuals with symptoms of NPD and efficiently deal with them on the grounds of empathy and wisdom as encapsulated in self-psychology psychoanalysis.

Exploring the Patriarchal Oppression and Predicament of Women: A Radical Feministic Analysis of Mitra Phukan's The Collector's Wife and Arupa Patangia Kalita's Felanee

“…to her wound of conjugal bliss, her husband"s premature death comes as an excruciating blow to Rukmini which only aggravates the burden of oppression under her yoke. The perpetrator of such domestic violence and gender discrimination brings about a sense of narcissistic arrogance (Kumar & Christopher, 2022). As such, the Rukmani"s in-laws and family members encroachment on her personal life is very evident throughout the novel.…”

Attachment Anxiety and Covert Narcissistic Pangs as Reflected in Tennessee William’s The Glass Menagerie

“…On this stance, Kohut (1971) posits that a deficiency of parental empathy and validation causes children to become narcissistic as adults. Kohut also opines that when the maternal or paternal caregivers fail to provide their children with the necessary mirroring and idealizing experiences, (appropriate empathetic attunement and attachments), the transmuting internalization process is disturbed, resulting in a narcissistic personality disorder (Kumar & Christopher, 2022). It is to be noted that Heinz Kohut, through his Self-Psychology paradigm, introduced the term "narcissistic personality disorder" in literature in 1968 and popularized the "deficit model.…”

Rampage of Institutional Racism in Zadie Smith’s On Beauty

“…The article titled "Mentoring minority graduate students: Issues and Strategies for Institutions, Faculty, and Students" provides recommendations for graduate students from ethnic minority groups, their faculty, and their institutions regarding how to effectively mentor and support these students' professional and career development. Additionally this article discuss about the social pressures and negative preconceptions, minority graduate students frequently encounter obstacles connected to their racial identity in their departments and programs.The perpetrator of such an inhuman inhuman act of racial discrimination induces a sense of narcissistic pride (Kumar & Christopher, 2022). Among these difficulties may be the inability to get knowledge and the informal networks necessary for success in settings where they are underrepresented, such as academic and professional ones.…”