Freud's Theories Applied to Sabina's Mind
Donald, an effeminate young man in the novel tells Sabina "Acting in you is revelation...[which is] what the soul so often cannot say through the body because the body is not subtle enough..." (Nin 103). Here, Donald equates Sabina's acting to dreaming which reveals her true identity. As an actress, Sabina has had quite a few lovers. Each time she is with these men, she becomes as "free" as a man. Since Donald suggests that acting in Sabina is "revelation", he implies that when she is with her husband, she is not her true self. Rather, she is herself in her unconscious state, where her repressed wishes are revealed.
As we can see, through the medium of acting, Sabina's unconscious wishes are fulfilled. This correlates to Freudian thoughts on repression since repression involves hiding certain feelings. As mentioned before, it is as if in Sabina's conscious state with her husband, she is trying to hide how she really feels, but when she is with her lovers, she is free to be her true self; that is autonomous. In Sabina's dream world, her repressed desires from the conscious world with her husband are evident.
Further, in Freud's The Interpretation of Dreams, he analyzes the dreams of this patients. He discusses the term "wish-fulfillment", which is a way for the unconscious mind to fulfill in a dream or an unconscious state what the conscious waking life has not been able to do. This connects to both repression and sexual repression. Here, Freud suggests that repression is the unconscious' way of hiding impulses, feelings, memories, and thoughts which are disagreeable to society's standards. It is evident that Sabina's unconscious state is most likely controlled by her "Id" sinces she tries to repress this part of her in her conscious state and also because this is thee part of her that wants sexual gratification, and uses little to no morality or rational for the basis of her actions. Her conscious state is definitely ruled by her "Ego", since as mentioned before, she represses her free and sexual self, becoming wholly submissive to society, when she is with her husband.
Read more:
Introduction
Conscious vs. Unconscious Realms
Freud's Theories Applied to Sabina's Mind
Conclusion
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