Psychoanalysis and The Lord of the Rings

Psychoanalysis and The Lord of the Rings offers a psychoanalytical perspective on The Lord of the Rings, informed by the Kleinian school within psychoanalysis, especially the work of Donald Meltzer. Treating Tolkien’s work as a bildungsroman, a forming novel or come-of-age tale, this study tracks Frodo’s journey as the evolving ego of the tale whilst other characters, in the main, are his internal objects. The various domains he passes through in Middle-Earth strongly correlate with Meltzer’s descriptions of the compartments of the internal mother: an internal phantasy and retreat to a seemingly safe ‘enclosed space’, or ‘Claustrum’. The book presents a coherent psychoanalytical interpretation of Frodo’s journey and breaks down Meltzer’s challenging ideas to make them more accessible in the context of Frodo’s venture through Middle-Earth. This book is primarily for scholars of Tolkien Studies, as well as literary scholars interested in psychoanalysis and psychoanalytical approaches to twentieth-century literature.