A psychological study of Helena De Narbon’s motives in her pursuit of bertram in William Shakespear’s all's well that ends well

ABSTRACT

It is commonly believed that literature, as one of cultural products, contains the record of the people’s values, their thoughts, their problems, and their whole way of life. A literary work, therefore, might reveal the existing phenomena of the society in which it is produced or even truly reflects the circumstances of its members. At this point, literature can also be an effective means of portraying the psychological condition of its own society.

This study is aimed at analyzing the psychological aspects which motivate Helena de Narbon’s pursuit of Bertram as reflected in William Shakespeare’s All's Well that Ends Well. The results of this study is expected to give the readers knowledge about the basic drive in human being’s emotions based on psychological point of view and give understanding on how motives can control one person’s behavior in process of achieving his/her purpose.

To achieve the above objectives, the researcher applies Gestalt theory of psychology related to human beings’ motives in forming their behavior. Since this study is emphasized on the analysis of a literary work, it is, then, classified as literary criticism. The primary data of this study are collected from William Shakespeare’s All’s Well that Ends Well, a 76-page drama text that was written in 1604 but has just published originally in 1990 by World Library Inc, USA. The data are taken based on those indicating Helena de Narbon’s motives in her pursuit of Bertram. For the secondary data, the researcher uses some supporting textbooks, journals, encyclopedias, and other written materials related to Gestalt theory of motives and behaviors. The researcher himself becomes the research instrument in the process of the data collection and data analysis.

The results of the analysis indicates that there are some unique, odd, but generous incidents which contradict the ،،commonly-perceived” character of woman as represented by Helena de Narbon. Helena has shown the readers that physical appearance does not speak much in determining someone’s values. Psychologically, there are some extended factors that underlined Helena’s behavior. First, she is the product of her learning development. She learns how to possess something or somebody because she puts a feedback of others’ response Second, she has a motive that influences the stimulus of her external and internal environment. Her motive, then, directs her to behave properly in gaining the goal. Finally, the thesis writer would like to say that it’s better to have the strong will and good motive in someone’s life rather than the strength in physical power to embody the dreams into reality.