An Analysis of the Boy in “Araby” and J. Alfred Prufrock in The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock from the Perspective of Inferiority Complex

Abstract

James Joyce and T. S. Eliot are representative of the modern literature. Through “Araby” and The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock, they all showed the characters who lived in the modern environment and they shared some similarities in personality. Characters are the core in the work. So, the thesis will focus on the analysis of the deep sense of the change of protagonists. The boy in “Araby” and Prufrock are both influenced by the Inferiority Complex. Their tragedies are caused by the feeling of inferior. The Inferiority Complex, which plays a key role in the personality development, is put forward by Alfred Adler, an Austrian medical doctor. And the thesis will explore the characters from the perspective of the Inferiority Complex mainly through three parts, symptoms, caustic factors and the results of the protagonists. Their love tragedies were actually caused by the Inferiority Complex.