A Freudian Approach to the Spatial Alienation in Doris Lessing's "To Room Nineteen"

Doris Lessing’s short story “To Room Nineteen” (1963) owes its popularity to its depiction of search for female self-assertion, relevant to contemporary world. Occupying a central place in the story, the theme of female suffering and alienation is associated with the space used in the flow of narration. Taking its cue from Sigmund Freud’s theory of topography, the present article aims to offer an alternative reading to the notion of spatial alienation of the protagonist Susan Rawlings in Lessing’s “To Room Nineteen”. The exemplification of “ego”, “id” and “superego” of the human psyche, decoded by Freud, will be presented to understand the spatial shifts of the protagonist Susan, in search of self-assertion in a patriarchal society. Focusing on the psychological upheavals of a woman via spatial analyses, therefore, this article aims to present a dynamic interpretation of the spatial alienation in Lessing’s “To Room Nineteen” with regards to Freud’s theory of topography for Susan’s depression, madness and suicide.