SILENCE, SUFFERING, SAVAGERY: PSYCHOANALYSIS ON THE SERIAL KILLERS OF HANNIBAL LECTER SELECTED MOVIES
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.29121/granthaalayah.v13.i13(4ISMER).2025.6078Keywords:
Psychoanalysis, Red Dragon, The Silence Of The Lambs, Hannibal Rising, Sigmund Freud, Freudian Psycho Analysis, Eric Fromme, Personality TheoryAbstract [English]
Serial killers pose a mystery about their observable motive for the murder. This study aims at the psychoanalysis of three serial killers of the psychological horror thriller movies Red Dragon (2002) directed by Brett Ratner, The Silence of the Lambs (1991) directed by Jonathan Demme, and Hannibal Rising (2007) directed by Peter Webber. These movies are adaptations of Thomas Harris’s psychological horror thriller novels Red Dragon (1981), The Silence of the Lambs (1988), and Hannibal Rising (2006). The character Hannibal Lecter—performed by Anthony Hopkins, the protagonist of the movie series, is a cannibalistic serial killer and famous former forensic psychiatrist, Francis DolarHyde or the ‘Tooth Fairy’ from the movie Red Dragon and Jame Gumb or ‘Buffalo Bill’ from the movie The Silence of the Lambs are analyzed through the lens of the Psychological theories of Sigmund Freud’s Freudian psychoanalysis and Eric Fromme’s personality theory to explain their monstrosity exhibited and trailing down to its initial cause. This research explores the psychological aspects behind the evolution of these characters from having challenging childhoods to becoming monstrous serial killers.
Downloads
References
Auden, W. H. (1939). In Memory of Sigmund Freud.
Barry, P. (2017). Beginning theory: An Introduction to Literary and Cultural Theory (4th ed.). Manchester University Press.
Bernard, R. (2014). Lady falls (Black Rose Trilogy, #1).
Demme, J. (Director), Foster, J., & Hopkins, A. (Performers). (2010). Inside Story: The Silence of the Lambs.
Demme, J. (Director). (1991). The Silence of the Lambs*. Performances by J. Foster & A. Hopkins.
Freud, S. (1917). Mourning and melancholia (J. Riviere, Trans.). London Hogarth Press.
Freud, S. (1961). Beyond the pleasure principle (J. Strachey, Trans.). W. W. Norton & Company.
Harris, T. (1993). Red dragon. Arrow.
Harris, T. (1999). The silence of the lambs. Arrow.
Harris, T. (2007). Hannibal rising. Arrow.
Laplanche, J., & Pontalis, J.-B. (1988). The language of psycho-analysis.
Lapsley, K. D., & Stey, C. P. (2011). Id, ego, and superego. In V. S. Ramachandran (Ed.), Encyclopedia of human behavior (2nd ed.). Elsevier. https://doi.org/10.1016/B978-0-12-375000-6.00199-3 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/B978-0-12-375000-6.00199-3
Magistrale, T. (2008). Transmogrified Gothic: The novels of Thomas Harris. In B. Szumskyj (Ed.), Dissecting Hannibal Lecter: Essays on the novels of Thomas Harris (pp. 133-146). McFarland & Company, Inc.
Ratner, B. (Director). (2002). Red Dragon. Performances by A. Hopkins & E. Norton.
Schultz, D. (1976). Theories of personality. Brooks/Cole Publishing Company
Webber, P. (Director). (2007). Hannibal Rising. Performances by G. Ulliel, R. Ifans, & L. Gong.
Published
How to Cite
Issue
Section
License
Copyright (c) 2025 Afshan S., Geeta R. Pai
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
With the licence CC-BY, authors retain the copyright, allowing anyone to download, reuse, re-print, modify, distribute, and/or copy their contribution. The work must be properly attributed to its author.
It is not necessary to ask for further permission from the author or journal board.
This journal provides immediate open access to its content on the principle that making research freely available to the public supports a greater global exchange of knowledge.
