Mantissa Part 2

When I first started reading Mantissa I was confused as to what parts of theory was applied to this. Once I read Ms. Sheldon's blog post, I started to realize what exactly what was incorporated into the novel. Even though I understand what is going on in the book now, I can't help but think that what Lacan is saying about about sexuality and identity is being reflected in Fowles' novel. 

When considering the death drive and jouissance in the novel I feel that it is contradictory in the book.  Miles Green in the first section is searching for who he could be, trying to find his identity.  Through the first section, he racks his brain to think of possible ideas of who he possible could be, he then finally thinks that he is part of the government.  This continues through to the end of the first section which results in sexual interaction between Miles Green and the Doctor, resulting in both of them orgasming.  From my understanding of Lacan's theory between the relationship of sexuality and identity, all the work that Miles Green has been working for to find out who he is, had just been sidetracked by the sexual release. In that point he had no sense of identity and gave up the feeling of trying to fill a void.

All within the first section I believe that Fowles is refuting the Lacan theory between sexuality and identity because the nurse and the doctor are doing sexual things to Mr. Green throughout the section in order for him to remember more about himself. If it were to hold true with the Lacanian theory, identity is lost in sexual contact so in a way the medical professionals are reversing his attempts to find his own identity. In Fowles novel, my understanding is that he writes in a way that sexuality and identity are connected and one is needed to determine the other, not like in Lacan's theory where you can't have the two together. 

I may be completely off in left field with this blog post, but when reading it, these were the thoughts that I was thinking about, and once Ashley posted her blog, I started to think of these questions more, and this is finally what I came up with. Hope you enjoyed!