Portraying Sam Shepard’s The God of Hell Through a Freudian Psychoanalytic Lens

Abstract

Echoing the unheard screams of humanity, drama evolves as an outcry reverberating humanity’s anguish and concealed agony. Through its sensitive consideration of real-life issues, drama touches on diverse critical phenomena hindering humans’ well-being and continuity. In this regard, this study aims to explore the literary context of Sam Shepard’s contemporary dramatic play entitled The God of Hell. It mainly approaches the explored scope through the lens of the Freudian Psychoanalytic Theory highlighting the consequences of power abuse and misused political authority on humans’ social and psychological well-being. The researcher approached the stated problem through an analytical lens exploring the diverse themes and the symbolism of the characters in the studied play. The findings asserted the sensitivity of drama to human issues, mainly psychological ones, showing how the egoistic and inhuman use of power results in fostering inhuman traits such as betrayal and brutality. Through the Freudian lens, these align with the inhuman political practices of some governments that dehumanize innocent citizens driving them to stagnate at the id level instead of fostering their superego. Therefore, the findings revealed that power is a double-edged weapon that, once misused, has catastrophic consequences on the entire societal structure and humanity.