Analysis and Comparison of an Idealized Self-image in Female Characters from Selected Novels based on the Views of Karen Hornay Pruning Haras, She Learned from the devil and burned, Heart of Steel.

Karen Hornay believed that basic conflict can disrupt an individual's existence and hinder the psychological unity of the self. Therefore, a neurotic person develops methods to defend against internal contradictions. The "idealized self-image" is one such method. In this research, we aim to provide an analytical and descriptive analysis of the subject based on Horney's views and address the fundamental question: Do all selected female characters from chosen novels use the idealized self-image mechanism to resist basic conflict? The research found that all selected female characters employ an idealized self-image as a mechanism to confront fundamental conflicts. Nawal uses this mechanism to identify herself as the mother of all the deceased, Volga portrays a generous character, and Afsaneh presents herself as a renowned author. However, this mechanism ultimately worsens their psychological condition and distances them further from their true selves.
Introduction:
Eagleton divides psychoanalytic literary criticism into four types: criticism directed at the author, the content, the formal structure, or the reader (Eagleton, 2020, p. 246). This essay focuses specifically on content criticism. In this type of criticism, attention is given to “the unconscious motivations of characters or the psychoanalytic significance of objects or events in the text” (ibid., p. 246). Although personality theorists do not agree on a single definition of personality, it can nevertheless be said that “personality is a pattern of relatively permanent traits and unique characteristics that give stability and individuality to a person’s behavior” (Feist & Feist, 2000, p. 5). Among the psychoanalysts who held differing views on the nature of personality and founded new schools of thought was Karen Horney. Unlike Freud, who attributed neurosis primarily to biological and anatomical factors, Horney argued that the root causes of neurotic problems are educational, cultural, and social influences (Horney, 2019, p. 11). Contemporary women writers such as Moniro Ravanipour, Farkhonde Aghaei, and Nasim Marashi have also focused on cultural and social issues. With their unique precision and subtlety, they have explored and documented the psychological experiences of modern women. Freud himself remarked on writers and their work: “The description of human mental life is certainly most suited to the field of work of fiction writers.” From ancient times to the present, have been heralds of knowledge and, above all, heralds of scientific psychology. (Freud, 2020, pp. 77-78) To date, no article has compared the main characters of the selected novels or examined the different ways these women employ neurotic tendencies and the mechanism of ideal self-image. All three novels depict the psychological state of women in the post-revolutionary era, at the heart of the social unrest of that time.
Research conducted on these three novels has analyzed them from different perspectives, such as identity, sociological criticism, and the theory of women's differentiation, which will be mentioned here
- Azimi and Sadeghi (1400): “A study of the main common components drawn from the characters of traditional and modern women in the works of Zoya Pirzad and Farkhonde Aghaei”
- Oskoui (2010): Analysis of the perspective of saving the earth by women in the novel Haras with an ecofeminist approach
- Shojatzadeh, Oskouei, and Moshfeghi (2010): “The Theory of Women’s Difference and Its Analysis in the Novel Hate by Nasim Marashi”
- Naseri, Fereshteh (2019). “Feminist Analysis of the Novel “Heart of Steel” by Moniro Ravanipour Based on Jung’s Psychoanalytic Critique of Individuality”
- Heydari, Parsaei, and Ziaei (2019): A Study of the Characterization of Women in the Novel Haras
- Bani Tarfi and Hatampour (2019). “Representation of Feminine Manifestations in Three Novels by Iranian Female Writers”
- Hayati, Zahra. Ameli Rezaei, Maryam and Masoudi, Mojgan (2018). “Analysis and Comparison of Gender Contrasts in Novels of the Sixties and Eighties: Novels Del-e Foolad, Bagh-e Bolour, Negeran Nabash, Café Piano.”
- Javar and Alizadeh (2017). “Identity in the Novel She Learned from Satan and Burned by Farkhondeh Aghaei (Based on Norman Fairclough’s Critical Discourse Analysis)”
- Golmorady, Sadaf (2014). "Sociological Critique of Women's Social and Cultural Capital in the Novel Del Folad by Moniro Ravanipour Based on Pierre Bourdieu's Theory of Types of Capital" - Fazeli and Taghinejad (2010): "The Narrative of Time in the Novel Learned from Satan and Burned"
Therefore, analyzing and examining the female character in these novels with a psychoanalytic approach and based on Karen Horney's views is a new step in advancing interdisciplinary research.
Methodology:
In this study, we analyze the mechanism of the ideal self-image in the characters of selected women from three novels—Haras, She Learned from the Devil and Burned, and Heart of Steel, based on the works of contemporary female writers and draws upon the theories of Karen Horney. The research design in this article is both descriptive and analytical. In this descriptive study, information is gathered through documentation (descriptive recording) and surveys based on Karen Horney's theory. To achieve the research objectives, selected works are analyzed, and the mechanism of the ideal self-concept is derived from Karen Horney's perspective. Subsequently, the materials are examined using the content analysis method. This research also attempts to answer the following questions based on Karen Horney's views:
1- What factors (biology or cultural and educational factors) have caused the neurosis of the chosen women?
2- What measures do the chosen women take to protect themselves from fundamental anxiety?
3- What effect has the mechanism of ideal self-image had on the self-confidence of the chosen characters?
Conclusion:
The results of this study indicate that fundamental hostility and anxiety in the personalities of Naval, Volga, and Afsaneh arise from the absence of one parent or the neurosis of a parent, which impairs her ability to express genuine affection and fulfill her supportive role. Therefore, each of these characters, in an effort to escape their fundamental anxiety, adopts different neurotic tendencies such as isolationism, love-seeking, and superiority-seeking. Nawal, who had a somewhat isolationist personality before marriage, becomes even more isolated after marriage, the onset of the war, and the death of her son Sharhan. Volga exhibits the neurotic tendency to seek favoritism as a way to minimize harm to others.
Even after being abused and violated by trusted individuals and friends, she does not take any practical action to express her dissatisfaction and anger, which indicates a tendency toward favoritism in her personality. Afsaneh, who was previously love-seeking before her husband began gambling, becomes more superiority-seeking after this incident. Therefore, all three personalities employ different mechanisms to protect themselves from fundamental anxiety, depending on social conditions and educational environments. However, due to the compulsion these individuals feel to rely on these tendencies and the contradictions inherent in using them, all three experience fundamental conflict.
The fundamental conflict has significant effects and complications. Fear is the most prominent complication faced by all three characters—the fear that others will uncover the instability of their personalities and reveal their inner secrets. To avoid this fundamental conflict, all three characters employ the defense mechanism of an idealized self-image. Using this method, Naval introduces herself as the mother of all the dead; Volga attempts to present herself as a generous person despite her limitations, and Afsaneh, although her book has been reprinted only once, positions herself as a prominent and important writer. Therefore, this idealized self-image further distances these characters from their true selves and hinders the development of genuine self-confidence.