Caroline Cooper Cooper 1 ENGL 305 Professor Pennington October 10, 2014 Lacanian Analysis of Edgar Allan Poe s The Cask of Amontillado According to Jacques Lacan, psychoanalysis is seen through language. Language is inefficient so a person can never fully articulate his or her desires through words. However, the unconscious is structured like a language whereas Freud says the unconscious is associated with repression. Lacan believes that people strive for wholeness and completeness in the Real, or as Freud would define it, the superego. The idea of the unconscious being structured as a language through a confession, jouissance, and the objet petit a are all represented in Edgar Allan Poe s short story The Cask of Amontillado. These concepts connect with the way Montressor Commented [1]: Remember, he wants it: Your name Psychoanalytic Paper ENGL 305 Date Commented [2]: italics the title Commented [3]: No. It's a short story so it needs to be in quotes. Commented [4]: Of what? Commented [5]: I would add at least two more sentences in your introduction paragraph. It seems a little short. Commented [6]: If you're going to bring up Freud's beliefs, then maybe mention him earlier. "Unlike Freud who thinks...lacan believes psychoanalysis..." Commented [7]: What is the Real? Or the superego? Explain Commented [8]: italics title communicates with Fortunato throughout the entirety of the story, and the way he communicates through a confession. Greg W. Zacharias defines jouissance as, the combination of pleasure and ironic displeasure (324). It is finding pleasure in pain. Montresor finds pleasure in the torment he inflicts upon Fortunato. When Montresor first sees Fortunato he says, I was so pleased to see him, that I thought I should never have done wringing his hand (Poe 14). Clearly, he was not pleased to see him because he had an elaborate plan to kill him so this relates back to the pleasure he will get after inflicting pain upon Fortunato. Montresor also shows his jouissance Commented [9]: need author last name don't forget Commented [10]: She referenced him before Commented [11]: ackward sentence define it is. Too short of an sentence Commented [12]: I'm not following. Montresor says that he IS pleased to see him. Why wouldn't he be? If Fortunato hadn't shown up, he couldn't have gone through with his plan. Commented [13]: good supporting details to pain while Fortunato is moaning in his soon to be grave:, The noise lasted for several minutes, during which, that I might hearken to it with the more satisfaction, I ceased my labors and sat
Cooper 2 down upon the bones (Poe 18). Montresor was enjoying the agony of Fortunato so much that he actually had to take the time to stop and savor the moment. Fantasy should never be confused with reality. In Zacharias essay he discusses fantasy in Henry James The Turn Of the Screw. He says that, In Lacanian terms, fantasy defines a subject s impossible relation to the objet [petit] a (Zacharias 325). The concept of fantasy can also be related to The Cask of Amontillado.. The objet petit a is the eternally lacking object and is the cause of desire. In Montresor s case he may have constantly thought about how he was Commented [14]: I would add two more sentences after explaining what your quote meant before moving onto a new transition paragraph it is not good to just write one sentence after an quote then move on to a new paragraph Commented [15]: I feel like you are talking about a whole new subject in your new paragraph which you are so maybe along the lines say..on a new subject that Zacharias also talks about or distinguishes is that "fantasy should never be confused with reality" Commented [16]: italics Commented [17]: This is kind of a weak statement. wronged. Montresor says, The thousand injuries of Fortunato I had borne as I best could; but when he ventured upon insult, I vowed revenge. You, who so well know the nature of my soul, will not suppose, however, that I gave utterance to a threat. At length I would be avenged; this was a point definitely settled-but the very definitiveness with which it was resolved precluded the idea of risk (Poe 14). The fantasy creates a new state of mind. In the long run, he feels he is entitled, and that it is his Commented [18]: Unless Montresor actually says this, the quotation marks aren't necessary in a block quote. duty. Montresor also stresses that, I must not only punish, but punish with impunity (Poe 14). In his eyes, he is an avenger not a murderer. Montresor spent too much time brooding over how he was wronged by Fortunato and thus spent too much time fantasizing about how he would be avenged. What was so horrible that he needed to kill Fortunato? He killed him in such an inhumane and extremely premeditated way. He had everything planned out down to even the psychological aspect of the plan. Pinning Fortunato against Luchesi and constantly mentioning how worried he was for his health, etc. Unlike Freud, Lacan talks about privileged signifiers as a symbol for the phallus and that Commented [19]: What do you mean? What were these things meant to do? males are conditioned to find completeness through the search forof the phallus. Montresor finds
this privileged signifier in the special wine, Amontillado. The wine represents power and Cooper 3 Commented [20]: good supporting details and claim Montresor uses this symbol of power to lure Fortunato down to the catacombs. Montressor is working on the idea that Fortunato is in search of the phallus as well and makes it seem like he is giving him power. He constantly tells Fortunato that he values his opinion when it comes to the wine. Montresor validates him, thus placing that privileged signifier just within reach and then threatens to take that power, thethat wine, thethat privileged signifier, and phallic symbol away from him by mentioning Luchesi who is clearly someone Fortunato rivals with and feels he himself is superior. He is constantly mentioning Fortunato s enemy Luchesi to get him worked up. And as for Luchesi, he cannot distinguish Sherry from Amontillado (15). So he will notwon t back out, Montresor also keeps mentioning his health as a way to get him to keep going and to irritate him to keep going and as a way to not chicken out. His one last push to make sure he has Fortunato is when he says, Proceed, I said; herein is the Amontillado. As Commented [21]: Perhaps mention who says this. If Montresor is dissing Luchesi then why would Fortunato get upset? Commented [22]: Is there any way to say this more...eloquently? Less words? Less repetition? for Luchesi-- (18). After he chains him up he taunts him exposing his plan, Indeed it is very damp. Once more I implore you to return (18). A final concept of this short story is confession, The confessional mode of the narrative increases rather than releases anxiety because, as Zizek writes, the more we submit ourselves to the superego imperative, the greater its pressure, the more we feel guilty (Zacharias 326). Montresor is the narrator of this story so he is, in fac,t confessing to the murder of Fortunato. It must also be noted that the unconscious shapes the way the story is interpreted. Montresor Commented [23]: According to Lacan, if Fortunato had decided to return because it WAS too damp, would Montresor have let him? Or would he have forced him in order to fulfill his desires? Commented [24]: this is a great example of a transition sentence without feeling lost when reading your paper Commented [25]: only two " not three "" fix that? Commented [26]: Nope. She's quoting a quote Commented [27]: fact fix spelling no double spacing explicitly states his intentions of not only killing Fortunato, but also killing him in such a way that no one would ever find out., but Iif this is true there would be no need for a confession. It must be understood, that neither by word nor deed had I given Fortunato cause to doubt my good-will. I continued, as was my wont, to smile in his face, and he did not perceive that my
Cooper 4 smile now was at the thought of his immolation (Poe 14). The question is why Montresor feels the need to tell the reader all about his elaborate plan to kill Fortunato if he repeatedly mentions the importance of his impunity. While the wine is Fortunato s privileged signifier this story, this confession is Commented [28]: I'm not really sure what this has to do with feeling guilty. Montresor doesn't feel guilty. Montresor s symbol of power. The reader can do nothing to stop him, the event already happened, in the past and the confession itself deals with something he has already done. By revealing his crime against Fortunato, Montresor gains the power thus reaffirming his belief that Commented [29]: This seems redundant Commented [30]: of what? he is not a murderer, but an avenger. He takes pleasure in his triumph of sealing up Fortunato for centuries to come and pleasure in the fact that he has committed his crime with impunity. The fact that his family s motto is, Nemo me impune lacessit translated to no one wounds me with impunity (16) reinforces the phallus symbol. Montresor is living up to the expectations set up by his forefathers through this motto, thus making him a real man of the family. This is why he needs the confession. It is not because he feels guilty, it is because he is proud of living up to his Commented [31]: why mention guilt earlier then? family s motto, getting the privileged signifier, and obtaining completeness in a Lacanian sense. Clearly, Montresor felt the need to murder Fortunato in order to feel complete within himself. He needed to live up to his family s motto and avenge himself from the wrongs he inflicted from Fortunato. The confession only enhances the fact that he has insecurities with his masculinity because he needed to make sure others knew of his triumph over Fortunato. Montresor s main goal is to gain power and completeness through jouissance, the objet petit a, and the confession or privileged signifier. Zacharias Abstract Commented [32]: Hey Caroline. I think you have an interesting idea going here. However, I'm not exactly sure I understood what you were trying to say. Maybe it's because I don't really get Lacan's theories, but I was very confused. What I thin would help is if you more clearly defined your terms: Jouissance, ojet petit a, confession, privileged signifier, phallus symbol, etc. Commented [33]: This is your thesis. Clean it up a bit and condense it. This is what you were talking about through the essay, not what you have in your current thesis
Cooper 5 Zacharias, Greg W. The extraordinary flight of heroism the occasion demanded of me : Fantasy and Confession in The Turn of the Screw. The Turn of the Screw. By Henry James. 3 rd ed. Ed. Peter G. Beidler. Boston: Bedford/St. Martin s, 2010. Print. Zacharias addresses Lacanian theory through his analysis of the governess in Henry James The Turn of the Screw. He discusses ideas such as objet petit a, jouissance, and the big Other as they relate to the governess unconscious and her desire for the master. Zacharias explains how the governess uses her confession to try to relieve her anxiety. The governess wants attention from the master and to show him her heroism instead of her weakness which is why the children needed to be impacted in a negative way by the apparitions. Zacharias Keyword search Zacharias, Greg W. The extraordinary flight of heroism the occasion demanded of me : Fantasy and Confession in The Turn of the Screw. The Turn of the Screw. By Henry James. 3 rd ed. Commented [34]: Great Abstract. You summed it up very well in the best way using 2-3 sentences. Ed. Peter G. Beidler. Boston: Bedford/St. Martin s, 2010. Print. Subjects: Psychoanalytic criticism; Jacques Lacan; Henry James The Turn of the Screw; unconscious as language; objet petit a; big Other ; little Other ; fantasy; apparitions; confession; conformity; Commented [35]: Put space between your abstract and keyword search so I'm not confused and so Professor Pennington can see which section is your abstract and your keyword search anxiety; jouissance.