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No Attic By Shaw 's Heartbreak House : An Analysis Of Women And Capitalism Essay

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No Attic in Shaw’s Heartbreak House: An Analysis of Women and Capitalism
Be it Pygmalion, Mrs Warren’s Profession, or Heartbreak House, Bernard Shaw’s plays often portray strong female characters that defy the prescribed role of women in society. Of course, being written in times of social upheaval, his plays tend to comment on the economy of politics as well as the effects of the war. the following paper will demonstrate that, because of England’s capitalist pursuit, the women of Heartbreak House develop neuroses that are acted out through wicked games and the destruction of relationships. Because they are not allowed the level of wealth, both emotional and monetary, that they long for, they resort to hurting others in order to prop themselves higher. Through a Freudian psychoanalysis, the following essay will study the characters of the Shotover sisters in order to show how repressions and neurotic behaviour can impact their relationships with others, as well as look at Ellie through a capitalist lens. To begin the analysis, we first need to go back to the most prominent source of knowledge on psychoanalysis and look at Sigmund Freud’s thoughts on repressions and neuroses. A working definition of neurosis might be given in order follow along Freud’s interpretation. The Merriam-Webster dictionary defines it as “a mental and emotional disorder that affects only part of the personality”. As such, neuroses do not stop people from acting seemingly normally in society, but they

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