Doris Lessing, The Golden Notebook - an analysis

Another important characteristic feature which slips into Lessing’s novel repeatedly is the new way of treating psychological problems. Anna undergoes repeatedly psychotherapy and sees her psychotherapist nicknamed “Mother Sugar“. In the course of her treatment the interpretation of her dreams is very important which shows us the influence of Freud and especially of C.G. Jung with his theory of psychoanalysis. A central theme in The Golden Notebook are Anna’s doubts about the meaningfulness of literature.

Structure, time scheme and interpretation (chart of the action): Doris Lessing wanted to leave behind the form of the conventional realistic novel. Therefore she chose such an extraordinary construction. The skeleton is the short novel “Free Women” which could stand for itself and is some kind of frame story which is divided into five sections by four notebooks. The notebooks are told by Anna Wulf the main figure of Free Women (each notebook focusing on a different kind of experience). The Black Notebook is about Anna’s time in South Africa and about her best seller “Frontiers of War”.