Sigmund Freud’s "Repression" in John Lanchester’s Mr Phillips
Sigmund Freud’s "Repression" in John Lanchester’s Mr Phillips
According to Ross C. Murfin in his article “Psychoanalytic criticism” the Freudian theory states that much of what motivates us as humans is connected to the unconscious part of the mind (the id). The system functions on the bases of the ‘superego’ which is formed by moral judgment learnt from society, and is the projection of the ‘ego’, which is described as the conscious and logical part of the mind. The superego tells us to make sacrifices of fundamentally offensive ideas, that when they exceed a certain degree of strength, are repressed (Freud, p424). This means that much of what is in the unconscious mind has been put there consciously, and the desires that arise from this only show in disguised forms (Murfin, p503-4).
One of these disguised forms can be seen in John Lanchester’s novel Mr Phillips, manifesting in the form of dreams. Freud states in his 1915 article “Repression” that “repression finds expression [in] the condition of sleep” (p424). This is an interesting concept as the novel begins with the line “at night, Mr Phillips lies beside his wife and dreams about other women” (p3). If the use of the Freudian approach is applied, it would be possible to identify the main theme of the novel from this very moment. The overall sexual need of the protagonist is strong throughout the story and he and his wife appear not to have been intimate for some time. This type of stimulant is what provokes the two stages of repression: stage one called primal repression “which consists in a denial of entry into consciousness to the mental (ideational) presentation of the instinct”, and stage two, repression proper which is essentially “the after-expulsion” (p423). This explains why upon the lack of sexual activity between Mr and Mrs Phillips, he takes the idea, closes it away and at least does not talk about it aloud, in the attempt to repress his urges, following society’s guidelines of the faithful husband which his superego has instilled in him.
Freud goes on to mention that “the motive and purpose of repression is simply the avoidance of pain” (p425). This would explain why Mr Phillips “never told his wife about [the dreams]. What good would come of it?” (p4) as he was extremely conscious of the pain he would cause, not only to himself but also to his wife, so he continued trying to repress his thoughts into his unconscious in order to maintain his ‘happy’ marriage. This also exemplifies the truth in the theory that “avoiding “pain” shall have acquired more strength than the pleasure of gratification” (p422), remembering that repression relies on the need to follow society’s rules which dictate that certain gratifications are not accepted. In this case, ‘sexual desires’ are the instinctual impulse in need of repression, however, the bigger picture shows that it is not the impulse that holds importance, but is actually the fate of the charge (Mr Phillips) that matters. Freud talks of these “instinctual impulses” as varying in degrees of required mental energy, where “the fate of a particular idea is often decided by the degree of its activity” (p424). So where there is a highly repetitive impulse, there will be a higher degree of mental strain involved to suppress it, and if it is too frequent, will usually result in failure. In this story, it is evident that the protagonist’s sexual desires appear on a regular basis most likely due to being such a primal urge, and require what is at least for him, a high degree of mental energy.
Seeing that “if a repression does not succeed in preventing feeling of “pain” or anxiety from arising, we may say that it has failed, even though it may have achieved its aim as far as the ideational element is concerned” (p425), it is fair to conclude Mr Phillips’ failure on the subject, given his continuance to dream of other women. Moreover, his conscious evaluation of each dream “that he grades from one to ten” (p4) completely confirm his pain as failure, as the obsession connected to supposedly unconscious urges shows how they are achieving their aim ideationally but not unconsciously.
Overall, the life of Mr Phillips demonstrates wonderfully the Freudian theory of repression who explains how “repression does not hinder the instinct from continuing to exist in the unconscious […] but interferes only with the relation of the instinct to the consciousness” (p423). This means that urges and ideas do not disappear from the mind but are simply repressed with the hope of them being forgotten, showing why the process so often fails. It is also worth noting that “unsuccessful repressions will have more claim on our interest than that of a repression which is eventually successful” (p425), which would explain why the first three chapters are dedicated to Mr Phillips’ obsession of women and sex represented in his dreams.
Freud, Sigmund. “Repression.” The Major Works of Sigmund Freud. Translated by Cecil M. Baines, Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc., 1990.
Lanchester, John. Mr Phillips. Faber and Faber Limited, 2000.
Murfin, Ross C. “Psychoanalytic Criticism”. Web. 24 February 2017.