A Psychoanalytical Approach of Miller’s “Death of a Salesman”, Mamet’s “Glengarry Glen Ross” and Shepard’s “True West” with Special Reference to Karen Horney

Abstract

The present thesis is a study of three anti-''American Dream'' tragedies from Horney's psychoanalytic perspective. These plays are Miller's Death of a Salesman, Mamet's Glengarry Glen Ross, and Shepard's True West. The researcher applies Karen Horney's theory in psychoanalysis as a frame of reference. In this theory, Horney classifies neurosis into the following five categories: self-effacement, arrogant- vindictiveness, narcissism, perfectionism, and detachment. The aim of this thesis is to elaborate how the excessive irrational adherence to the mere fallacy of the ''American Dream'' is a basic cause behind its followers' different categories of neurosis according to Horney's classification.