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Plays and allied forms of entertainment not only may be significant as works of art, but also they may serve as personal wish-fulfillment fantasies of their authors. Ultimately, moreover, they may serve as reflections of the aspirations thinking, and feeling of the audiences they entertain. In respect to the latter, one may propose comparison of dramatic works with the Thematic Apperception Tests used by psychologists.
For example, the success of a play has always been dependent upon an identification of the members of the audience with the heroes and the heroines of the play. As with the Thematic Apperception Test, the interpretation, identification with, acceptance or rejection of the actions and the sentiments of the characters of a drama reveal vividly the orientation of the feelings and the thoughts of the audience.
As Freud very early pointed out, the myths, legends, and art products of a group or nation express unconscious wishes, fears, or defenses against these fears, common to its members. These expressions of the unconscious could not long survive if they did not reflect a general group tendency. As manifestations of unconscious thoughts they correspond to the personal fantasy, art or dream life of an individual. (1)
Starting with applied psychoanalysis in respect to the possible unconscious meaning of a dramatic art fantasy to its creator, a recent play by the playwright T. S. Eliot provides a striking example of the unconscious striving of an artist of the theatre to resolve repressed inner conflict. Upon examination in performance in the theatre, T. S. Eliot's The