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All Journal RETORIKA: Jurnal Bahasa, Sastra, dan Pengajarannya
Ulfah, Dewi
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Languange, Linguistic, Communication & Media

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The Personality Dynamics of Rara Mendut in Y.B. Mangunwijaya’s Novel: A Freudian Psychoanalytic Study Ulfah, Dewi; Efendi, Anwar
RETORIKA: Jurnal Bahasa, Sastra, dan Pengajarannya Vol 19, No 1 (2026)
Publisher : Universitas Negeri Makassar

Show Abstract | Download Original | Original Source | Check in Google Scholar | DOI: 10.26858/retorika.v19i1.81861

Abstract

This study aims to analyze the personality dynamics of Rara Mendut, the main character in Y.B. Mangunwijaya’s novel Rara Mendut, through Sigmund Freud’s psychoanalytic perspective. It focuses on three interrelated aspects: life and death instincts, forms of anxiety, and ego defense mechanisms. This research uses a descriptive qualitative method with psychoanalytic literary criticism as the analytical approach. The primary data source is the novel Rara Mendut, while secondary data are obtained from relevant psychoanalytic and literary studies. Data were collected through close reading and note-taking techniques, then classified according to Freudian categories of instincts, realistic anxiety, neurotic anxiety, moral anxiety, and defense mechanisms. The findings show that Rara Mendut’s personality is shaped by the tension between Eros and Thanatos. Eros appears in her desire for love, freedom, dignity, and self-preservation, whereas Thanatos emerges in moments of despair, anger, and self-endangering resistance. Her anxiety arises from external domination, inner conflict, and moral pressure produced by feudal-patriarchal power. To manage these pressures, Rara Mendut employs several defense mechanisms, including rationalization, denial, regression, and sublimation. The study concludes that Rara Mendut is represented not merely as a rebellious woman, but as a psychologically complex subject negotiating desire, fear, honor, and power. The implication of this study is that Freudian psychoanalysis can enrich the interpretation of Indonesian literary characters by revealing the inner psychological consequences of social domination and by strengthening psychologically oriented approaches to gendered literary resistance studies.
Co-Authors Anwar Efendi