Analysis of Patrick Shanley’s Play Prodigal Son Based on Jean-Paul Sartre’s Existential Psychoanalysis

Abstract

The present study aimed to conduct an existentialist analysis of Patrick Shanley’s play Prodigal Son based on Jean-Paul Sartre’s theory of existential psychoanalysis. Existentialism is a philosophical school that regards human existence as the center and ultimate concern of all issues; it maintains that, because every human being possesses a particular mode of existence, the human being cannot be interpreted and explained through philosophical and metaphysical concepts alone. The research method was qualitative, and the method of data analysis was descriptive-analytical, conducted through content analysis. The statistical population of the study consisted of Patrick Shanley’s plays; however, due to time constraints and the impossibility of examining all of these plays, only Prodigal Son was selected as the research sample and examined. The data were discussed and interpreted descriptively. The findings indicate that all existentialist components can be examined in Prodigal Son. These ten components include “existence,” “individualism,” “freedom and choice,” “commitment and responsibility,” “loneliness and alienation,” “anxiety and apprehension,” “loss of meaning and absurdity,” “self-alienation and identitylessness,” “death-consciousness and suicide,” and “nostalgia,” all of which were extracted from Prodigal Son. In response to the question of how the characters of Shanley’s selected play can be studied and analyzed based on “existential psychoanalysis,” it can be stated that, in Prodigal Son, Jim’s disbelief in the existence of God marks the beginning of his conflict with his surroundings.