AN UNDERGRADUATE THESIS
Presented as Partial Fulfilment of the RequirementsFor the Degree of Sarjana Sastra In English Letters
By
LAMBERTUS LAGADONI LEDJAB
Student Number: 994214099ENGLISH LETTERS STUDY PROGRAMME
DEPARTMENT OF ENGLISH LETTERS
FACULTY OF LETTERS
SANATA DHARMA UNIVERSITY
TITLE PAGE ………. i
APPROVAL PAGE ……….. ii
ACCEPTANCE PAGE ………. iii
MOTTO PAGE ………. iv
DEDICATIONAL PAGE ………. v
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ……….. vi
TABLE OF CONTENTS ………. vii
ABSTRACT ………. ix
ABSTRAK ……… x
CHAPTER I INTRODUCTION ……… 1
A. Background of the Study ……… 2
B. Problem Formulation ……….. 4
C. Objective of the Study ……… 5
D. Definition of Terms ……… 5
CHAPTER II THEORETICAL REVIEW ……….. 8
A. Review on Related Studies ………. 8
B. Review on Related Theories ………..12
C. Method of the Study ………... 26
CHAPTER IV ANALYSIS ……… 28
A. The Description of the Character of Norbert Hanold ………… 29
1. The Character of Norbert Hanold ………. 29
2. Norbert Hanold Relationship with His Parent ……….. 36
3. Norbert Hanold Relationship with Gradiva ……….. 37
4. Norbert Hanold Relationship with Zoë Bertgang …………. 44
B. The Description of Norbert Hanold’s Mental Problem ………. 46
1. Norbert Hanold’s Unconscious Mental Activity ………47
a. Norbert Hanold’s Id and Superego ………47
b. Norbert Hanold’s Ego and Neurosis ………. 49
c. Norbert Hanold’s Denial ………... 49
2. Norbert Hanold’s Repression and Neurosis ………. .51
3. Norbert Hanold’s Delusion ………52
CHAPTER V CONCLUSION ……… 57
BIBLIOGRAPHY ……… 59
APPENDICES ……….. 61
Norbert Hanold’s Mental Problem in Wilhelm Jensen’s Gradiva: A Pompeiian Fancy. Yogyakarta: Jurusan Sastra Inggris, Fakultas Sastra, Universitas Sanata Dharma.
Tesis ini sebagai sebuah telaah psikologi, membahas novel Wilhelm Jensen yang berjudul Gradiva: A Pompeiian Fancy melalui sudut pandang psikologi. Telaah ini merefleksikan efek psikologi modern terhadap karya sastra dan kritik sastra. Freud, sebagai tokoh fundamental, selain ahli-ahli psikologi lainnya, telah memberikan konsep-konsep baru tentang alam pikir manusia dengan menjelajahi area-area baru dan berbeda seperti ketidaksadaran, represi, neurosis, hasrat-hasrat dan pemenuhan keinginan dan menggunakannya dalam kritik sastra. Berdasarkan pengaruh konsep-konsep baru ini, tesis ini mencoba mengungkap permasalahan mental tokoh utama, Norbert Hanold seperti yang digambarkan dalam novel Wilhelm Jensen Gradiva: A Pompeiian Fancy.
Untuk mengungkap permasalahan mental tokoh utama, Norbert Hanold, ada dua formulasi pertanyaan yang telah dibuat. Pertanyaan-pertanyan itu adalah: 1). Bagaimana tokoh utama, Norbert Hanold dikarakterisasikan dalam novel Wilhelm Jensen Gradiva: A Pompeiian Fancy; dan 2). Apakah permasalahan mental Norbert Hanold. Jawaban-jawaban dari pertanyaan-pertanyaan ini akan menjadi intisari dan tujuan dari tesis ini.
Metode yang diaplikasikan dalam penulisan tesis ini adalah yang terutama metode riset pustaka, yang menyediakan banyak sumber-sumber pustaka dan informasi-informasi tentang Freud dan beberapa ahli psikologi lainnya dan juga teori-teori mereka tentang permasalahan mental. Walaupun ada banyak sumber-sumber pustaka, sebagian besarnya berhubungan dengan psikoanalisis Freud dan hanya sebagian kecilnya tentang ahli-ahli psikologi lain dan teori-teori mereka tentang permasalahan mental. Karena tesis ini adalah sebuah telaah psikologi, pendekatan yang digunakan di sini adalah pendekatan psikologi sebagai kritik berbasis teori yang menyediakan teori-teori, prinsip-prinsip dan kebenaran-kebenaran dasar serta nilai dari seni.
Norbert Hanold’s Mental Problem in Wilhelm Jensen’s Gradiva: A Pompeiian Fancy. Yogyakarta: Department of English Letters, Faculty of Letters, Sanata Dharma University.
This thesis as a psychological study discusses Wilhelm Jensen’s novel entitled Gradiva: A Pompeiian Fancy through the lens of psychology. This study reflects the effect of modern psychology upon both literature and literary criticism. Freud, as the fundamental figure, has given new notions of human mind by exploring contemporary and unusual areas like the unconscious, repression, neurosis, desires and wish fulfilment and using them in literary criticism. In the light of those new notions, this thesis tries to find the mental problem of the main character, Norbert Hanold as it is described in Wilhelm Jensen’s Gradiva: A Pompeiian Fancy.
In order to find the mental problem of the main character, Norbert Hanold, there are two problem formulations that have been set up. They are: 1). How the main character, Norbert Hanold, is characterized in Wilhelm Jensen’s Gradiva: A Pompeiian Fancy; and 2). What Norbert Hanold’s mental problem is. The answers of these two problems will be the essence and the goal of this thesis.
The method applied in making this thesis is mainly library research method, which provides well-supplied resources and informations on Freud and some other psychologists, and also their psychological theories on mental problem. Despite the great numbers of resources, most of them are dealing with Freud’s psychoanalysis and only a small numbers of them concern with other psychologists‘theories on mental problem. Since this thesis is a psychological study, the approach that is used here is psychological approach, which as the theoretical criticism; it provides the theories, principles and tenets of the nature and value of art.
A. Background of the Study
The foundation for all forms of psychological criticism irrefutably belongs
to Freud and his theories and techniques developed during his psychiatric practice.
Whether any practicing psychological critic uses the ideas of Jung, Frye, Lacan, or
any other psychologist, all must acknowledge Freud as the intellectual founding
father of this form of criticism (Bressler, 1998: 159).
As it is stated in Guerin’s A Handbook of Critical Approaches to
Literature, during the twentieth century, psychological criticism has come to be
associated with a particular school of thought: the psychoanalytic theories of
Sigmund Freud and his followers. The foundation of Freud’s contribution to
modern psychology is his emphasis on the unconscious aspect of the human
psyche. A brilliant creative genius, Freud provided convincing evidence, through
his many carefully recorded case studies, that most of our actions are motivated
by psychological forces over which we have very limited control (Guerin, 1998:
126-127).
There are Freud’s three major premises, which has become the centrality
of psychological criticism. That most of the individual’s mental processes are
unconscious is thus Freud’s first major premise. The second is that the prime
psychic force motivates all human behaviour ultimately: libido or sexual energy.
certain sexual impulses, many of our desires and memories are repressed (Guerin,
1998: 128).
For several decades after its introduction to literary studies, Freud’s
psychological criticism focused mainly on the author. Known as
psychobiography, this method of analysis begins by amassing biographical data of
an author through biographies, personal letters, lectures, and any other documents
deemed related in some way to the author. Using these documents and author’s
canon, Freud’s psychological critics believed they could theoretically construct
the author‘s personality with all its idiosyncrasies, internal and external conflicts
and most importantly, neuroses. In 1950s, Freud’s psychological critics turned
their attention away from psychobiography to character analysis, studying the
various aspects of characters’ minds found in an author’s canon. Such a view gave
rise to a more complex understanding of a literary work. Individual characters
within a text now became the focus (Bressler, 1998: 161).
This thesis will focus on seeing Norbert Hanold, especially on his mental
problem in Wilhelm Jensen’s novel entitled Gradiva: A Pompeiian Fancy. It is
told that Norbert Hanold, one of the main characters in the novel, gets his own
delusion as his symptom of his mental problem after he was entranced with the
image of a young girl on a Roman sculptural relief. The beauty of the figure
fascinates him and he names her Gradiva (Latin for "she who advances"). Haunted
by her image, he dreams that he sees Gradiva walking in Pompeii on the day
Mount Vesuvius erupted in 79 AD. As he rushes to approach Gradiva, he
Gradiva disappeared and he searched for her. She appeared to come to life in
someone else's body. Hanold met her as Zoë Bertgang, who was actually his
childhood close friend and this becomes the main idea of his mental problem.
In the analysis, Freud’s idea about mental processes was mostly used.
According to Freud, a child has stored many painful memories of repressed sexual
desires, anger, rage, and guilt in his or her consciousness. Because the conscious
and unconscious are part of the same psyche, the unconscious with its hidden
desires and repressed wishes continues to affect the conscious in the form of
inferiority feelings, guilt, irrational thoughts and feelings, and dream and
nightmares. Freud asserts the unconscious expresses its suppressed wishes and
desires. Even though the conscious mind has repressed these desires and has
forced them into the unconscious, such wishes may be too hard for the conscious
psyche to handle without producing feeling of self-hatred or rage. The
unconscious then redirects and reshapes these concealed wishes into acceptable
social activities, presenting them in the form of images or symbols in our dream
or writings (Bressler, 1998: 152-153). These ideas will be used to analyse how
Norbert Hanold in relation with his mental problem is characterized.
There are some views that have been elaborated in Jensen’s work. Most of
those views, including Freud himself, concern on how to see the writer’s
relationship to his writing, whether the character’s dream and delusion were
fictitious or whether they represent repressed knowledge on the part of the writer
himself. Besides they also concerning on seeing how the relation of delusion to
In the conclusion next, it will be found out how Norbert Hanold is
described relating with its personality, internal and external conflicts and his
neurosis. Then it will be found also, what Norbert Hanold’s mental problem is
relating with Freud’s idea about child-repressed memory and Strange as Kartono’s
idea about mental disorders.
B. Problem Formulation
Based on the explanation affirmed earlier, these are some questions I
would like to discuss as the main railway for the next analysis on this thesis. The
questions to gain a comprehensive understanding on the title of the thesis can be
formulated as follows:
1. How is the main character, Norbert Hanold, characterized in Wilhelm
Jensen’s novel Gradiva: A Pompeiian Fancy?
2. What is Norbert Hanold’s mental problem?
C. Objectives of the Study
The objective here is the aims that want to be found out by this study. The
first one is to identify how Norbert Hanold, the main character is characterized
and to identify Norbert Hanold’s mental problem in Wilhelm Jensen’s novel
Gradiva: A Pompeiian Fancy. There will be seen also how the contribution of the
other characters through Norbert Hanold’s mental problem based on his
understand what Norbert Hanold’s mental problem is by analysing its description
and combining with the theory that used in the analysis.
D. Definition of Terms
Psychological Study: This study reflects the effect that modern
psychology has had upon both literature and literary criticism. Fundamental
figures in psychological criticism, including Freud, changed our notions of human
behaviour by exploring new or controversial areas like wish-fulfilment, sexuality,
the unconscious, and repression" as well as expanding our understanding of how
"language and symbols operate by demonstrating their ability to reflect
unconscious fears or desires". Psychological criticism has a number of
approaches, but in general, it usually employs one (or more) of three approaches:
1. an investigation of "the creative process of the artist: what is the nature of
literary genius and how does it relate to normal mental functions?" 2. The
psychological study of a particular artist, usually noting how an author's
biographical circumstances affect or influence their motivations and/or behaviour.
3. The analysis of fictional characters using the language and methods of
psychology (www. home.olemiss.edu/-egjbp/200/litcrit.html).
Mental Problem: Jack Roy Strange in his book Abnormal psychology:
Understanding Behaviour Disorders stated that even the very general
classifications of “mental illness” and “mental disease” are often misleading to a
layman. In fact, psychologists continue to debate the efficacy of this term. If
abnormal behaviour is a matter of not conforming to group and personal norms,
The individual has learned to behave in a way that is maladaptive. In such a case
mental “illness” and mental “health” are no more than medical euphemisms to
label behaviour that is abnormal or normal according to cultural and personal
criteria. Mental health and mental illness are not something that a person has or
does not have. They are simply terms used to describe his adjustive or
maladjustive behaviour.
In his book, it is also, described several categories of behaviour disorders
covered in abnormal psychology. They are: 1. Psychosis: loss of touch with some
important aspects of reality as shown in such symptoms as delusions,
hallucinations, and confusions. It may result from brain disturbance or from poor
social learning. 2. Psychoneurosis or neurosis: social and personal
maladjustment accompanied by feelings of dissatisfaction, unhappiness, and
inferiority; characterized by symptoms such as phobias, compulsions, obsessions,
and conversion reactions. 3. Psychosomatic disorders: bodily conditions
(asthma, ulcers, and hives may be examples) that result from prolonged emotional
conflict and upheaval involving the autonomic nervous system. 4. Psychopathic
personality: antisocial behaviour that disturbs and disrupts society, shown by
individuals who are incapable or any ordered, persistent social living. These
individuals cannot even participate successfully in a criminal gang. 5. Mental
deficiency: insufficient intelligence and judgement for ordinary, normal social
living. Mentally deficient individuals may or may not suffer any of the foregoing
A. Review of Related Studies
There are some views that have been elaborated in Jensen’s Gradiva: A
Pompeiian Fancy. Most of them concern more on how to see the writer’s
relationship to his writing. They are curious on seeing whether the character
dream and delusion were fictitious or whether they represent the writer’s
repressed knowledge. Besides they also concern on comparing Jensen’s work with
some other German’s works which presents the same theme.
Nenad Dakovic, in his writing entitled the Post-modern Mephisto,
Fragments on War, was interested in Mars Gradivus (the god of war entering into
battle) and the insane, evidently homosexual projection, which that character links
to him. This "bewitching image" is at the bottom of his madness. He needs only
look at the models of war on his streets and at his hysterical worship of clothing
"objects" which, directly or indirectly, point to death itself. As well as individuals,
some social groups, too, sometimes prefer to live in dreams, homogenized around
one insane idea, rather than in reality. "We love death", say the insane models of
war; it is a matter of lethal simulation by the impotent. The cogito has suspended
this madness; it is excluded as the "other" of the philosophical language (fashion),
so that it has escaped from the cogito into language, which does not know of the
post-modern Gradivus. This is no longer a case of (instinctual) repetition
(sublimation of instincts), which requires the discourse of classical
psychoanalysis. I think of a being, which does not have a realistic attitude towards
death or the "I", because it is always "somebody else" who is dying, and the "I" is
infinitely replaceable. Instead of repetition, this is a case of semantic iterability,
"which precludes the possibility of existence of pure and great founders, initiators,
of great poets, great philosophers"
(www.press.jhu.edu/books/hopkins_guide_to_literary_theory/german_theory_and
_criticism-_3.html).
Peter Graves, in his article entitled Göran Printz-Påhlson (2001) was
interested to see deeper Göran’s latest collected poems entitled Säg minns du
skeppet Refanut?, which appeared in 1984, in its relationship with Jensen’s novel
Gradiva: A Pompeiian Fancy. According to him Göran’s Säg minns du skeppet
Refanut? was a poetry that seemed to revel in its own exclusiveness, full of
classical and renaissance allusions, self-consciously literary, playing with
complex and obscure verse forms, labelled with Latin mottoes, supplied with its
own footnotes, dragging in Virgil and Wittgenstein and just about everyone in
between. It was all a long way from "the new simplicity" called for by Lars
Bäckström and Göran Palm, with its demands that poetry should move out of
what Palm satirized as the "poetry park", should cease to disappear up its own
metaphor and should instead dedicate itself to radical political engagement and
In its relationship with Jensen’s novel, he stated that Printz-Påhlson says
that he intended it to be a sort of opera-bouffe, harking back to "the parody
romantic tone of the world of Mozartian opera". It occurs to me, however, that
"Gradiva" is much more Printz-Påhlson’s Faust, with its changing scenes, its
hotch-potch of ideas, characters, and themes, its tender lyricism and its cynicism,
its baroque burlesque and its grotesqueness, its flight from the sublime to the
earthy and then aloft again. The central figure, Norbert Hanold, a dry as dust
academic archaeologist, has to venture Faust-like into a world of myth in order to
get a life. The scene opens, in a reminiscence of Faust, in the study and should
perhaps be a warning to many of the reader since it starts in academia and ends in
a bathetic limbo. "Gradiva" is a rich work, stimulating sometimes in a
thought-provoking way, sometimes in a crossword-puzzle sense, but glowing from
beginning to end with the humour of humanity. It allows itself to be expansive
and makes one feel that perhaps too many of Printz-Påhlson’s poems have –
unlike, his essays, for instance – been too tightly controlled, insufficiently
discursive. The big, untidy format suits him. In the opening essay of När jag var
prins utav Arkadien he writes with some admiration of Dennis Potter’s
"mimo-melodramatic" television trilogy "Pennies from Heaven" and one can see why:
Potter, without going outside the bounds of twentieth century popular culture was
aiming at a similar kind of discursive cultural referentiality. (This article appeared
in the 2001:1 issue:
Philip Rieff in “The Introduction” of Delusion and Dream wrote that the
study of Jensen’s Gradiva reflects Freud’s ambition to read the truth back into
every fiction. Nothing falls outside the range of the “meaningful and
interpretable.” Whether the dreams of Norbert Hanold’s related in Gradiva were
fictitious or represent repressed knowledge on the part of the novelist, Jensen
himself, in no way affects Freud’s analysis. “Those dreams which have never
been dreamed,” Freud wrote, “those created by the authors and attributed to
fictitious characters in the context of their stories,” reveal as much, to the
psychoanalytic view, as the dreams of real patients. Of course, Freud did try to
examine the novelist, Jensen, as well as the novel, Gradiva. He sent a number of
polite psychoanalytical inquiries, and Jensen replied somewhat testily. Freud did
say that no dream could be interpreted without possessing the associations of the
patient. He said as well that associations are necessary when one can interpret the
dream symbolically; the dream reveals the patient, whatever he may choose to tell
about it (1956: 2).
From all of those views, this undergraduate thesis, however, is an attempt
to capture how the main character, Norbert Hanold, is characterized in the story. It
also wants to see his mental problem from the perspective of Freud’s theory of
child’s repressed memory. This analysis uses Freud’s theory on the repression and
the unconscious mental activity as the main theory. Nevertheless, some aspects
can make this thesis different from other views. First, the other views put its
influences the story making. In addition, the second one is the other views more
interests on dream analyzing as the focus of their study.
B. Review of Related Theories
This study will apply two main theories. They are theories on character
and theories on mental problem. Theories on character will be used in order to
analyze the characterization of Norbert Hanold. In addition, theories on mental
problem consist of two parts: they are theories on unconscious mental activity
and theories on neurosis and delusion. Theories on unconscious mental activity
will be used to analyse Norbert Hanold’s unconscious mental activity and mental
problem and theories on neurosis and delusion will be used to find out what kind
of mental problem that Norbert Hanold has as it is described in the story.
1. Theories on Character
Roger B. Henkle in his book entitled Reading the novel (1977) divides
characters into major and minor characters. The characters that are observed most
often in the novel and whose appearances are frequent can be considered as major
characters. These characters are given a good deal attention as well as their
characters in a novel continually talk about it (1977: 90). The readers will give
their fullest attention to these major characters because if they understand them,
they presumably understand the experience of the novel. A part from this, the
major characters perform as essential structural function in the story. Besides
major, Henkle explains also about the minor characters. Secondary characters in
the secondary character, an identification of some of these function are necessary.
First function is to populate the world if the novel. Since fiction presents human
context, the minor characters establish that context. The minor characters are
actually representative figures that play larger roles in a novel without reaching
the importance of the major characters. It is often encountered in the characters
that seem to embody the attitudes and way of life that is assumed average or
normal fir a person in this society (1977: 55).
Characterization may also be easily identified in accordance with the
functions of the characters. The characters can be the main or the chief characters
and the supporting characters. They are the protagonist and the antagonist of the
story. Chris Baldick in the Concise Oxford Dictionary of Literary Terms defines
protagonist as the chief character in a play or story, who may also be opposed by
an antagonist. He also added that in ancient Greek theatre, the word referred to the
principal actor in a drama. The antagonist, according to him, is the opponent of
the protagonist. Usually, antagonist is a villain seeking to frustrate the protagonist,
but in the works in which the protagonist is represented as evil, the antagonist will
be virtuous or a sympathetic one (1991: 35).
William Hudson in his book An Introduction to the Study of Literature
wrote an author’s success in characterization depends on his method in giving
detailed description toward his characters. In a play performance, characterization
can be shown from gesture, make-up, customs, and the look of the characters. In
only. Thus, it is very important for author to give vivid descriptions about his
characters.
There are two methods of characterizing characters in a story: direct or
analytical and indirect or dramatic methods. In the latter method, a novelist leaves
the characters to reveal themselves through their dialogues and action, and portrait
of a character through comment or judgment from other characters. The former
method, a novelist pictures his characters from outside, gives the reader detailed
information. The novelist informs their passion, motives, thought, and feeling;
explains and comments. The author also gives judgment upon his characters
(1958: 147).
2. Literature and Psychology
Bressler in his book entitled Literary Criticism an introduction to theory
and practice describes a clear explanation about the relation between literature,
literary theory and literary criticism. He said that literary theory assumes that there
is no such a thing as an innocent reading of a text. Whether our responses are
emotional and spontaneous or well reasoned and highly structured all such
interactions with and to a text are based on some underlying factors that cause us
to respond to the text in a particular fashion. Then he continues that because our
reactions to any text have theoretical bases, all readers must have a literary theory.
The methods we use to frame out our personal interpretation of any text directly
involve us in the process of literary criticism and theory, automatically making us
When analyzing a text, literary critics ask basic questions concerning the
philosophical, psychological, functional, and descriptive nature of the text itself.
Traditionally, literary critics involve themselves in either theoretical and or
practical criticism. Theoretical criticism formulates the theories, principles, and
tenets of the nature and value of art. By citing general aesthetic and moral
principles of art, theoretical criticism provides the necessary framework for
practical criticism. Practical criticism (also known as applied criticism) applies the
theories and tenets of theoretical criticism to a particular work. Using the theories
and principles of theoretical criticism, the practical critic defines the standards of
taste and explains, evaluates, or justifies a particular piece of literature. The basis
for either kind of critic, or any form of criticism, is literary theory. Without
theory, practical criticism could not exist (Bressler, 1998: 5).
Moreover, psychology as one of studies can become a theoretical
criticism, which provides theories, principles, and tenets of the nature and value of
art. This kind of critic is known also as psychological critics. As Guerin stated in
his book A Handbook of Critical Approaches to Literature, Aristotle has used this
kind of critic as early as fourth century in setting forth his classic definition of
tragedy as combining the emotion of pity and terror to produce catharsis. Besides,
Sir Philip Sidney, with his statements about the moral effects of poetry, was
psychologizing literature, as were such romantic poets as Coleridge, Wordsworth,
and Shelley with their theories of the imagination. In this sense, then, virtually
early literary critic has been concerned at some time with the psychology of
However, during the twentieth century, psychological criticism has come
to be associated with a particular school of thought: the psychoanalytic theory of
Sigmund Freud and his followers. The foundation of Freud’s contribution to
modern psychology is his emphasis on the unconscious aspects of the human
psyche. He demonstrated that, like the iceberg, the human mind is structured so
that its great weight and density lie beneath the surface (below the level of
consciousness). Principal among these is his assignment of the mental processes
to three psychic zones: the id, the ego and the superego (Guerin, 1998: 127-128).
Although Freud himself made some applications of his theories to art and
literature, it remained for the psychologist Ernest Jones, to provide the first
full-scale psychoanalytic treatment of a major literary work. Jones’ Hamlet and
Oedipus, originally published as an essay in the American Journal of psychology
in 1910, was later revised and enlarged. Jones points out that no satisfying
argument has ever been substantiated for the idea that hamlet avenges his father
murder as quickly as practicable. Shakespeare makes Claudius’ guilt as well as
Hamlet’s duty perfectly clear from the outset—if we are to trust the words the
ghost and the gloomy insights of the hero himself. The fact is, however, that
Hamlet does not fulfil this duty until absolutely forced to do so by physical
circumstances—and even then, only after Gertrude, his mother, is dead. Jones also
elucidates the strong misogyny that Hamlet displays throughout the play,
especially as it is directed against Ophelia, and his almost physical revulsion to
sex. All of this adds up to a classic example of the neurotically repressed Oedipus
In http://www.literatureclassics.com/ancientpaths/litcrit.html#Psych, it is
also clear explained that psychological critic views works through the lens of
psychology. They look either at the psychological motivations of the characters or
of the authors themselves, although the former is generally considered a more
respectable approach. Most frequently, psychological critics apply Freudian
psychology to works, but other approaches (such as a Jungian or Lacanian
approach) also exist. The example which is given there is a psychological
approach to John Milton's Samson Agonisties. It might suggest that the shorning
of Samson's locks is symbolic of his castration at the hands of Dalila and that the
fighting words he exchanges with Harapha constitute a reassertion of his
manhood. Psychological critics might see Samson's bondage as a symbol of his
sexual impotency, and his destruction of the Philistine temple and the killing of
himself and many others as a final orgasmic event (since death and sex are often
closely associated in Freudian psychology). The total absence of Samson's mother
in Samson Agonisties would make it difficult to argue anything regarding the
Oedipus complex, but Samson refusal to be cared for by his father and his remorse
over failing to rule Dalila may be seen as indicative of his own fears regarding his
sexuality (www.literatureclassics.com/ancientpaths/litcrit.html#Psych).
3. Theories on Mental Problem
In the analysis next, Freud’s theory on mental problem will be used
because its explanation on repressed motives as the main cause of mental problem
Freud sees repressed motive as the unconscious which is produced as the result of
the struggle between ‘Id’ as the power of love desire and ‘Superego’ as the forces,
which repressed it. This main idea will be used as the main point on the analysis
of Norbert Hanold’s mental problem next.
a. Freud’s Theory on Unconscious Mental Activity
a. 1. Id and the Superego
In Freud's theory, the unconscious mind was the domain of a thing he
called the "id'. Freud thought of the id sort of like a creature with a mind of its
own. It is completely devoted to satisfying the needs and wants of the person of
which it is a part. It is completely selfish. It is not bound by any social, moral,
or intellectual judgments or constraints. The id might find pleasure in acts of
cruelty. It has no sense of embarrassment, shame, guilt or remorse. For Freud,
the id is a part of every individual, like a physical organ such as the stomach,
and not a social construct.
The id's behaviour, as manifested in the behaviour of the organism, is
limited by another part of the mind, partly conscious and unconscious, that
Freud called the "superego". The superego is essentially the same as the
conscience. It is an internalisation of socially constituted morals, so it is a social
construct. Through the action of the superego, some of a person's primitive, id
-based desires are "sublimated" or "repressed." By "sublimated" Freud meant
that that they are modified into socially acceptable forms. By "repressed" he
not even allowed knowing that they exist
(www.psikoloji.fisek.com.tr/freud/genel.com).
a. 2. The Ego and Neurosis
The id and the superego are locked in a constant battle to control a third
thing called the ego. The ego, essentially, is the conscious mind. It is what
thinks, feels, and acts. As the prize in the id-superego struggle, the ego is the
slave of the winner. Neurosis, leading to psychological and social dysfunction,
comes from the excessive domination of the ego by either the id or superego.
Notice that the meaning of the term ego here is different from the one that is
used most commonly. We tend to say that somebody has a "big ego" when we
mean that they have too much self-esteem. Freud used the term very differently.
(www.psikoloji.fisek.com.tr/freud/genel.com).
a. 3. Denial
Denial is a process by which a conscious mind insists on believing
something that cannot be so, or refuses to believe something that must be so.
By "can't be so" and "must be so”, we mean that there's an obvious case for
consensus about something that, for some obviously unconscious reason, a
person can't participate in. Think of someone who is so emotionally attached to
someone else who has just died that they cannot allow themselves to believe
that the person is actually dead. Psychologists might have separate technical
definitions, but we are including the ideas of "delusion" and "self-deception" in
with denial. For the most part, denial is a social concept, since its definition
it up here because it seems like a process that could occur meaningfully even in
desert island situations. The idea is that a person is in denial if other people, if
they were present, would have a consensus different from the belief of the
person who's "in" denial (www.psikoloji.fisek.com.tr/freud/genel.com).
b. Freud’s Theories on Neurosis and Delusion
b. 1. Theory on Neurosis
Neurosis, according to Freud, comes about from the frustration of basic
instincts, either because of external obstacles or because of internal mental
imbalance. In a situation of extreme mental conflict, where a person
experiences an instinctual impulse which is sharply incompatible with the
standards he feels he must adhere to, it is possible for him to put it out of
consciousness, to flee from it, to pretend that it does not exist. So repression is
one of the so-called "defence mechanisms," by that a person attempts to avoid
inner conflicts. However, it is essentially an escape, pretence, a withdrawal
from reality, and as such is doomed to failure. For what is repressed, does not
really disappear, but continues to exist in the unconscious portion of the mind.
It retains all its instinctual energy, and exerts its influence by sending into
consciousness a disguised substitute for itself - a neurotic symptom. Thus, the
person can find himself behaving in ways which he will admit are irrational, yet
which he feels compelled to continue without knowing why. For by repressing
something out of his consciousness he has given up effective control over it; he
repression and recall it to consciousness
(www.blupete.com/Literature/Biographies/Philosophy/Freud.htm).
b. 2. Theory on Delusion
In his book Delusion and Dream (1956: 74, 86, and 94), Freud explains
about how a delusion can be formed in mind. The most important of all
explanatory and exonerating consideration remains the facility with which our
intellect decides to accept an absurd content if impulses with a strong emotional
stress find their satisfaction thereby (and this generally meets with too little
acceptance). How easily and frequently intelligent people give reactions of
partial feeble-mindedness under such psychological constellations; anyone who
is not too conceited may observe this in himself as often as he wishes, and
especially when some of the thought processes concerned are connected with
unconscious or repressed motives (1956: 74).
It has already heard that in actual illness the formation of a delusion very
often attaches to a dream. Dreams and delusions spring from the same source,
the repressed; the dream is, so to speak, the psychological delusion of normal
human being. Before the repressed become strong enough to push it up into
waking life as a delusion, it may easily have won its first success under the
more favourable conditions of sleep, in the form of a dream whose effect
lingers on (1956: 86).
The symptoms of the delusion--fantasies as well as actions--are result of a
compromise between the two psychic streams, and in a compromise the
to forgo some part of what he wanted to carry out. Where a compromise has
been established, there has been a struggle—here, the conflict assumed between
the suppressed eroticism and the forces, which keep it alive in the repression. In
the formation of delusion this struggle is never ended (1956: 94).
Jack Roy Strange in his book Abnormal psychology: Understanding
Behaviour Disorders states that delusion is just one of several symptoms that
shown that someone has loss of touch with some important aspects of reality or
it is called psychosis (1965: 9-11).
Furthermore, Kartini Kartono, in her book Psikologi abnormal &
Abnormalitas Seksual (1984: 67-68), states that the systematized delusions and
fixed ideas which filled someone’s mind actually is the symptom which shown
that he has gotten a serious mental disorder that known as paranoia psychosis.
The characteristic of this paranoia psychotic person is he has systematized
delusions, especially delusion of grandeur and persecution, and he also has a
jealousy feeling. He still has a logical mind, but his ideas will always be wrong
especially his fixed ideas which are influenced directly by his delusions (My
translation).
C. Theoretical Framework
Two elements are discussed in this thesis. They are character and the
character’s mental problem. The writer presents some theories of character and
Freud’s theory on unconscious mental activity and neurosis and some ideas about
to analyze the description of Norbert Hanold as the hero of the story. In this
analysis, the writer also sees how the main character Norbert Hanold’s
relationship with other characters especially with Gradiva, Zoë Bertgang and his
parent in order to see their contribution in causing his mental problem.
The writer uses Freud theories on unconscious mental activity and theories
on neurosis to analyze Norbert Hanold’s mental problem in the story. By using
Freud’s theory on unconscious mental activity and neurosis, it can be understood
what his mental problem is, which is created in him. Moreover, the theory on
delusion is used to find out what kind of mental problem that is created in Norbert
A. Object of the Study
The object of this study is a novel of Wilhelm Jensen, a German-Danish
writer, entitled Gradiva: A Pompeiian Fancy. The novel is taken from Freud’s
essays collection entitled Delusion and Dream that is published by the Beacon
Press Boston in 1956. Beside the novel, this collection consists of four essays of
Freud. They are Delusion and Dream, the Relation of the Poet to daydreaming,
The Occurrence in Dreams of material from Fairy tales and a connection
Between a Symbol and a Symptom. The novel is Helen M. Downey’s translation,
which contained 100 pages (135-235) and published by Dodd, Mead & Company
in 1945. Jensen’s novel Gradiva: A Pompeiian Fancy actually is written in
German and firstly published in 1903.
B. Approach of the Study
In Guerin’s Book entitled a Handbook of Critical Approaches to
Literature, he mentions some approaches to analyse literary works and one of
them is psychological approach. Moreover, this approach is chosen by the writer
to use in doing this study.
Psychology as one of studies can become a theoretical criticism, which
critic is known also as psychological critics. As Guerin stated in his book A
Handbook of Critical Approaches to Literature, Aristotle has used this kind of
critic as early as fourth century in setting forth his classic definition of tragedy as
combining the emotion of pity and terror to produce catharsis. Besides, Sir Philip
Sidney, with his statements about the moral effects of poetry, was psychologizing
literature, as were such romantic poets as Coleridge, Wordsworth, and Shelley
with their theories of the imagination. In this sense, then, virtually early literary
critic has been concerned at some time with the psychology of writing or
responding to literature (1998: 126).
However, during the twentieth century, psychological criticism has come
to be associated with a particular school of thought: the psychoanalytic theory of
Sigmund Freud and his followers. The foundation of Freud’s contribution to
modern psychology is his emphasis on the unconscious aspects of the human
psyche. He demonstrated that, like the iceberg, the human mind is structured so
that its great weight and density lie beneath the surface (below the level of
consciousness). Principal among these is his assignment of the mental processes
to three psychic zones: the id, the ego and the superego. (1998: 127-128).
Although Freud himself made some applications of his theories to art and
literature, it remained for the psychologist Ernest Jones, to provide the first
full-scale psychoanalytic treatment of a major literary work. Jones’ Hamlet and
Oedipus, originally published as an essay in the American Journal of psychology
in 1910, was later revised and enlarged. Jones points out that no satisfying
murder as quickly as practicable. Shakespeare makes Claudius’ guilt as well as
Hamlet’s duty perfectly clear from the outset—if we are to trust the words the
ghost and the gloomy insights of the hero himself. The fact is, however, that
Hamlet does not fulfil this duty until absolutely forced to do so by physical
circumstances—and even then, only after Gertrude, his mother, is dead. Jones also
elucidates the strong misogyny that Hamlet displays throughout the play,
especially as it is directed against Ophelia, and his almost physical revulsion to
sex. All of this adds up to a classic example of the neurotically repressed Oedipus
complex (1998: 135).
These critics hold the belief that great literature truthfully reflects life and
is a realistic representation of human motivation and behaviour. Psychological
critics may choose to focus on the creative process of the artist, the artist's
motivation or behaviour, or analyze fictional characters' motivations and
behaviours (www.saddleback.cc.ca.us/div/la/neh/scott.htm).
C. Method of the Study
This study is a library research study because all the data that are collected
to support this study was collected from library research activity. This study used
some sources which are divided into primary and secondary sources. The primary
sources include the novel itself, some Freud’s writings in his book Delusion and
Dream (1956). Another sources includes some books of theory characterization as
Reading the novel (1977) by Roger B. Henkle, An Introduction to the Study of
Abnormal psychology: Understanding Behaviour Disorders (1965) by Jack Roy
Strange, Psikologi abnormal & Abnormalitas Seksual (1984) by Kartini Kartono
and some websites, which supplied some supporting data.
There are some steps that are taken in doing this study. They are arranged
as follows: the first step was reading and trying to understand what the novel talk
about while trying to collect some data that supported the thesis. The second step
was trying to find some theories, which supported the thesis. Then it was
continued with the third step, which was doing the analysis based on the data and
the theories that had been collected. In addition, the last step was making a
Norbert Hanold is described using 3rd person as a direct or an analytical
method. He is one of the main characters in this story beside Zoë Bertgang and
Gradiva. There can be seen clearly how the description of his motivation, history,
thought and feeling and his character’s changing as the story progresses. This way
of characterizing makes the analysis on his mental problem easier to conduct
because his personality is fully described in the story. Therefore, it is easier to see
the character’s internal and external conflicts and his neurosis as the first step for
analyzing what his mental problem is in the next step.
The analysis is arranged based on the problem formulation, which consist
of two main parts. The first part is arranged to answer the first question about how
Norbert Hanold is characterized. It consists of the general description of Norbert
Hanold and the description of his relationship with other characters including his
parents, Gradiva and Zoë Bertgang. Then the second part continues with the
answer of the second question about what Norbert Hanold’s mental problem is.
This part consists of the description of Norbert Hanold’s unconscious mental
A. The Description of Norbert Hanold
1. Norbert Hanold
Based on Baldick’s explanation about characterization based on its
function in the story (1991: 35), In the story, Norbert Hanold functions as the
protagonist because he is the chief character in the story. His character functions
as the main part of the story and the story will be different if this character was
eliminated from the story. The story actually tells about Norbert Hanold and his
mental problem where he has a long madness on a piece of bass-relief. In another
side, Zoë Bertgang functions as the antagonist in the story because this character
plays its position as the opponent of Norbert Hanold. Zoë Bertgang plays its main
role in supporting the protagonist’s mental problem indirectly. From the story, it is
seen clearly that the reawakening of his unconscious repressed memory on his
childhood time with Zoë Bertgang actually causes the protagonist’s long madness.
In order to understand briefly about what the protagonist of the story,
Norbert Hanold, it is suitable for arranging the analysis step by step and starting
from the description of his character in the story.
From the beginning of the story, Norbert Hanold has been described as an
archaeologist. He is a doctor of Archaeology in one of the universities in
Germany. In addition, because of this role, Norbert Hanold has found the ancient
sculpture, which represents a young girl in her act of walking in a form of
bass-relief, on his visit to one of the great antique collection of Rome. This bass-relief
exceptionally is attractive to him. In one side, his knowledge of Archaeology
products of civilization, but in other side, he knows that there is something
unclear arise his attention more on it. This description can be seen on page 148:
Dr. Norbert Hanold, docent of Archaeology, really found in the relief nothing unworthy for his science. It was not a plastic production of great art of ancient times, but essentially a Roman genre production; and he could not explain what quality in it had been aroused his attention (p. 148).
After his return to Germany, he is excited getting a plaster cast of the
bass-relief and it has been hanging for some years on his workroom. The figure of
young girl is fascinating to Norbert Hanold, not at all because of plastic beauty of
form but because she possesses something rare in antique bass-relief—a realistic,
simple, maidenly grace, which gave the impression of imparting life to the relief.
Moreover, Norbert Hanold gives a name upon the bass-relief as Gradiva. That is
an epithet that applied by the ancient poets only for Mars Gradivus, the war God
going out to battle. Its description is clearly seen on pp. 148-149:
In order to bestow a name upon the piece of bass-relief, he had called it for himself Gradiva, “the girl splendid in walking.” That was an epithet applied by the ancient poets solely to Mars Gradivus, the war-god going out to battle (pp. 148-149).
As the archaeologist, Norbert Hanold is described as the real
archaeological person. Most of his lifetime is fully dedicated just for doing his
archaeological project. Archaeology for him is his real world. It is as his cage
which separated him from outside. As the consequence, he has never had a friend
beside his childhood friend: Zoë Bertgang. He has an alienation of love, which
means that he has never had any kind of relationship with others, especially
women. Moreover, there in his thought, women are just like a concept of marble
to observe whether the nowadays women’s gaits have a same characteristic with
Gradiva’s. It can be found on page 152:
That forced him, to be sure, to a mode of action utterly foreign to him; women had formerly been for him only a conception of marble or bronze and he had never given his female contemporaries the least consideration. But his desire for knowledge transported him into a scientific passion in which he surrendered himself to the peculiar investigation, which he recognized as necessary (p. 152).
Another description can be seen also on page 159, where he had never cared about
any other thing beside his archaeology. However, whenever he avoids it, there
should be a time where he should oppress himself to care it. One of the examples,
he should oppressed himself to join a party of his parent’s connections. He joins
the party indeed but without enjoying it.
… for his feelings marble and bronze were not dead, but rather the only really vital thing which expressed the purpose and value of human life; and so he sat in the midst of his walls, books, and pictures, with no need of any other intercourse, but whenever possible avoiding the latter as an empty squandering of time and only very reluctantly submitting occasionally to an inevitably party, attendance at which was required by the connections handed down from his parents. Yet it was known that at such gathering he was present without eyes or ears for his surroundings (p. 159).
As the archaeologist, Norbert Hanold is described also as a contemplative
person with his creative imagination. This characteristic later generates some
imaginative suppositions about Gradiva in his mind. In addition, most of those
suppositions are influenced by his archaeological world of thought.
Norbert Hanold’s first supposition about Gradiva is influenced by his
journey experience to Pompey for studying the ruins there. It is clearly described
idea that Gradiva’s relief was depicted when she was walking somewhere on the
peculiar steppingstones which have been excavated.
On his Italian journey, he had spent several weeks in Pompey studying the ruins. And in Germany the idea had suddenly come to him one day that the girl depicted by the relief was walking there somewhere on the peculiar steppingstones which have been excavated; these had made a dry crossing possible in rainy weather, but had afforded passage for chariot-wheels (p. 149).
Moreover, Norbert Hanold’s another imagination is also clearly described on page
150; when in his contemplation, he creates such environment of the ancient city of
Pompeii where Gradiva with her fascinating way of walk is walking there in the
noonday.
It created for him, with the aid of his knowledge of antiquity, the vista of a long street, among the houses of which were many temples and porticoes. Different kinds of business and trades, stalls, workshops, taverns came into view; bakers had their breads on display; earthenware jugs, set into marble counters… Farther off on high base rose gleaming white statue above which, in the distance, half veiled by tremulous vibrations of the hot air, loomed Mount Vesuvius… There Gradiva walked over the steppingstones (p. 150).
Another description also can be found in the next page, 150-151; when he creates
Gradiva’s Hellenic features just based on the cut of her head features.
From daily contemplation of her head, another new conjecture had gradually arisen. The cut of her features seemed to him, more and more, not Roman or Latin, but Greek, so that her Hellenic ancestry gradually became for him a certainty (pp. 150-151).
As the story progress, Norbert Hanold is described also as the empirical
person especially when his attention is more attracted to Gradiva’s way of
walking. Her vertical position of the right foot seems exaggerated for him.
Moreover, for this reason he observes to investigate whether Gradiva’s manner of
satisfaction that he had not been mistaken in his archaeological judgment of the
relief since he did not find a same manner of walking of Gradiva in the present
woman. This description can be seen on pp. 151 and 152:
The nearly vertical position of the right foot seemed exaggerated; in all experiments which he himself made, the movement left his rising foot always in a much less upright position; mathematically formulated, his stood, during the brief movement lingering, at an angle of only forty-five degrees from the ground (p. 151).
Nevertheless, his desire for knowledge transported him into a scientific passion in which he surrendered himself to the peculiar investigation, which he recognized as necessary. (p. 152).
Soon after his investigation and his deeply thought on Gradiva’s way of
walking, Norbert Hanold has a dream, which caused him a great anguish. It is told
that he saw Gradiva in his dream as definitely the same as what his imagination
has created her features in his mind. He was presented in the time of Mount
Vesuvius eruption and he saw Gradiva lying died there slowly stifled by the
sulphur fumes. This dream affects him much in thinking more on Gradiva’s life.
There is another new supposition created in his mind. It is that Gradiva had lived
in Pompeii and had buried there in 79 A.D. This description can be seen on page
155:
Yet the dream picture still stood most distinctly in every detail before his opened eyes, and some time was necessary before he could get rid of a feeling that he had really been present at the destruction on the Bay of Naples, that night nearly two thousand years ago. While he was dressing, he first became gradually free from it; yet he did not succeed, even by the use of critical thought, in breaking away from the idea that Gradiva had lived in Pompeii and had been buried there in 79 A. D. (p. 155).
No longer after that, Norbert Hanold finds his satisfaction on observing
Pompeii. In Pompeii, he has his sight of the real creature of Gradiva’s appearances
three times in the same place, Casa di Meleager. There, once again his creative
imagination plays its main role in creating some suppositions, which
unconsciously formed such fantasy in his mind about the returned ghost of
Gradiva. This is clearly described on pp. 188-189 when after her leaving on his
first sight of her; Norbert Hanold supposes that Gradiva is just a Ghost that
returned only in a noonday hour of spirit. The form of butterfly, which is come
and flutters around after her leaving, supports this new supposition because he
knows that a butterfly is a winged messenger of Hades to admonish the departed
ghost to return.
He stood up, breathless, as if stunned; yet with heavy understanding, he had grasped what had occurred before his eyes. The noonday ghost hour of spirit was over, in the form of a butterfly, a winged messenger had come up from asphodel meadows of Hades to admonish the departed one to return (pp. 188-189).
Another description can be found on page 190 where after his first sight of
her, he makes an observation whether there was anyone else who knew about the
returned ghost of Gradiva or not. He concludes that no one beside him know
about it.
From the faces of all, as well as from their talk, it appeared to him absolutely certain that in the noon hour none of them had either met or spoken to a dead Pompeiian woman who had returned again briefly to life… (p. 190).
After Norbert Hanold has his three times sight of the real creature of
Gradiva, finally he realizes that he has had a strong and long contemplative
madness on Gradiva, who actually is his forgotten childhood close friend Zoë
actually was Zoë Bertgang. So, he should ask her to make it sure. Nevertheless,
her later explanation is more clearly brought him to remember all of his childhood
memories with her. This description can be found on page 226:
Norbert Hanold eyes opened to a width never before attained by them, and then said, “Bertgang—then are you—are you Miss Zoë Bertgang? But she looked quite different—“.
“I don’t know whether I looked different once, when we used to run about together as friends every day and occasionally beat and cuffed each other for a change; but if, in recent years, you had favoured me with even one glance, you might perhaps have noticed that I have looked like this for along time” (p. 226).
By Zoë Bertgang’s special retelling about what her mind thought of him in
her childhood time, Norbert Hanold begins to realize all of his forgotten memories
about her. It is described how Zoë has acquired him as a more than congenial
friend in her life since she has had no mother and her father concerned more on
his zoological world. However, she found everything different when archaeology
came to Norbert Hanold’s life. This description is clearly described on pp.
227-228:
“I had really acquired a strange attachment for you and thought that I could never find a more congenial friend in the world. I had no mother, sister or brother, you know; to my father a slowworm in alcohol was far more interesting than I…you were that something in those days. But when Archaeology had come over you, I made the discovery that you—had become an unbearable person who no longer had, at least for me, an eye in his head, a tongue in his mouth, nor a memory in his head, which is the place where I retained my memories of our childhood friendship” (pp. 227-228).
From all of the previous explanation, it will be incomplete if the
description of Norbert Hanold character were just based on the description of his
character only. However, it is important also to see how Norbert Hanold’s
Hanold’s relationship with other characters in the story can also explain how his
character is, especially by seeing how he thought about them, talking with them
and also how they influence his character.
The description of Norbert Hanold relationship with other characters will
be divided into three parts. They are Norbert Hanold’s relationship with his
parents, with Gradiva and also with Zoë Bertgang.
2. Norbert Hanold Relationship with His Parents
The description about how Norbert Hanold’s relationship with his parents
is not clearly described in the story because his parents have already passed away
since the story began. Nevertheless, its description can be seen from the
description of Norbert Hanold’s contemplation on his parents and his family.
On page 158, it is clearly described how Norbert Hanold in his
contemplation on the singing warbled canary on the outside his crossed
neighbour’s window, compares himself with the caged bird. He realizes that he
has never been different with the bird, since his family has a tradition of being
antiquarian. He knows that he had never grown up in the real freedom. His family
tradition directs him to be an antiquarian just like his grandfather and his father.
He has his family tradition as his cage in his life.
Moreover, Norbert Hanold is a loyal son. After his parents’ death, he has
not tried to run away from his parents’ direction, which destined him to become
an antiquarian. He passes his examination in philology and becomes a real
antiquarian. He lives in his own archaeological world without caring other things
outside it. This description can bee seen on page 159:
He had clung loyally to it even after his parents had left him absolutely alone; in connection with his brilliantly passed examination in philology, he had taken the prescribed student trip to Italy…and he had returned home fully satisfied to devote himself with the new acquisitions to his science (p.159).
In another description, on page 160, it is more clearly described that
although Norbert Hanold’s life has been adhered to archaeology and this has made
him become a very loyal son for his parents but he still feels something lacking
there in the deep side of his heart. It seems for him as a desire that comes from
inside to something unknown.
Although perhaps archaeology, in itself, might be a rather curious science and although its alloy had effected a remarkable amalgamation with Norbert Hanold’s nature, it could not exercise much attraction for others and afforded even him little enjoyment in life according to the usual views of youth. But he had an inner feeling that something was lacking to him and sounded from hid throat his desire for the unknown (p.160).
3. Norbert Hanold Relationship with Gradiva
In the beginning of the story, it is described clearly Norbert Hanold has
been attracted to the ancient bass-relief which he found on his visit to one of the
great antique collection of Rome. The bass-relief represents a young girl in her act
of walking. He gives her a name as Gradiva.
Since Gradiva is just a piece of bass-relief Norbert Hanold’s relationship
contemplation, such environment of ancient city of Pompeii where Gradiva with
her fascinating way of walk is walking there in the noonday (p. 150). Besides, he
creates also Gradiva’s Hellenic features just based on the cut of her head features
(pp. 150-151). In addition, his contemplation on her also leads him to investigate
whether Gradiva’s manner of walking is different from that of present woman or
not (pp. 151 and 152). However, his contemplation finally brings him to get a
dream where there he sees her alive for the first time. It is described how sees her
lying died in the eruption time of Vesuvius at 79 A.D. (p. 155).
After awaking from his dream, Norbert Hanold’s attention is attracted by a
canary warbling its song in a cage at an open window of the opposite house. At
the same time, he sees a female figure like Gradiva down in the street. He
recognizes her from her gait, which has the same characteristic with Gradiva’s
gait. Nevertheless, it is still uncertain for him because of the distance and the fact
that he sees. This description can be found on pp. 156-157:
Then suddenly something like a thrill passed through him; in the first moment, he could not say whence. But then his sense of reality returned. Down in the street, with her back toward him, a female, from figure and dress undoubtedly a young lady, was walking along with easy, elastic step. Her dress, which reached only to her ankles, she held, lifted a little in her left hand, and he saw that in walking the sole of her slender foot, as it followed, rose for a moment vertically on the tips of toes. It appeared so, but the distance and the fact that he was looking down did not admit of certainty (pp.156-157).
His curiosity for knowing the truth hastens him to the street but he could
not find her. Unless, then he puts his attention on the project of a spring journey to
Pompey. It is described that Norbert Hanold has a regretful feeling to leave
scientific motive besides what his spring journey project has. He creates another
motive in his mind that is to find any traces of Gradiva with her unusual gait in
Pompey. This description is clearly seen on page 161:
Yet it was not long before the project of a spring journey assumed definite shape. This he carried out that very day; he packed a light valise, and, he went south by the night express, cast at nightfall another regretful departing glance on Gradiva, who, steeped in the last rays of the sun, seemed to step out with more buoyancy than ever over the invisible steppingstones beneath her feet. Even if the impulse for the travel had originated in a nameless feeling, further reflection had, however, granted, as a matter of course, that it must serve for the scientific purpose (p. 161).
In Pompey, Norbert Hanold has another relationship with Gradiva.
Gradiva is not just a piece of bass-relief or the creation of his imagination, but she
is a real creature now. It is described how Norbert Hanold sees with his doubtful
eyes, Gradiva walking buoyantly from the Casa di Castore e Polluce across the
lava steppingstones to the other side of the Strada di Mercurio as its description on
page 180:
Then suddenly—
With open eyes, he gazed along the street, yet it seemed to him as if he were doing it in a dream. A little to the right something suddenly stepped forth from the Casa di Castore e Polluce, and across to the lava steppingstones, which led from the house to the other side of the Strada di Mercurio, Gradiva stepped buoyantly (p. 180).
Moreover, in the Casa di Meleager, it is for the first time; Norbert Hanold
has some conversations with Gradiva. His suppositions about her influence
directly these conversations. There is a new fact that he can change his
supposition into another new supposition based on the new fact, which he found
in their conversation. For example his supposition about her ancestry makes him
