Analysis of the Anxiety and Neurosis of the Character of “Épicène” in Nothomb’s Les Prénoms Épicènes in the Light of Karen Horney’s Theory

Document Type : Original Article

Authors

1 PhD in French Language and Literature, Department of French Language and Literature, Tehran Central Branch, Islamic Azad University, Tehran, Iran.

2 Master Student, Tarbiat Modares University, Tehran, Iran.

3 Master in International Law, Ghom Seminary, Ghom, Iran.

10.22034/lda.2026.143845.1120

Abstract

The relationship between psychology and literature is vast. Literature express feelings and emotions and psychology recognize the conflicts that exist at the heart of the fictional characters. Karen Horney believed that some parents aren’t able to care for their children. They aren’t sympathetic toward them. This parents usually control, overprotect, reject and neglect their children as a result of their own neurotic desires. When one’s parents fail to cater their children’s basic needs for survivorship and fulfillment, they create feelings of displeasure toward them. On the other hand, children seldom display their anger toward their parents; instead, they repress it while they aren’t aware of it. This article, through a descriptive, analytical method tries to analyze Épicène’s personality in Amélie Nothomb’s Les Prénoms Épicènes based on Karen Horney’s psychological theories. Épicène was deprived of genuine love, affection and safety. This desperate need for love provides a ground for the development of neurosis, and it intensifies anxiety and destructive hostility. Épicène decided to kill her father when she was eleven years old. This traumatic childhood decision shows that Épicène’s parents failed to provide her with a sense of sincere affection and safety. This underlying hostility eventually leads Épicène to isolation which pervades her social relationship. The results of this research indicate that Épicène’s family environment could not help her develop feelings of love and safety, and instead, she developed basic hostility; a feeling that lead her to moving away from people.

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