Sigmund Freud’s theory that adults yearn for what they lacked in childhood is evident in Stella Dallas and Citizen Kane. Both films’ protagonists crave love and affirmation and believe that will be accomplished by attaining greater wealth and a higher social class. However, as Freud stated, the desire to fill the voids of childhood are only a fantasy and never achievable.
Stella Dallas grew up in a lower class family where her brother and father were both factory workers. From a young age Stella was attracted to the existence she never had growing up, the wealthy lifestyle. She seeks to find a way to escape her social class and for a woman in the 30’s, that was achieved by marrying a wealthy man. Freudian theory applies to Stella Dallas for what she looks for in her adult life is what she lacked as a child: social status.
Freud believes the things we look for in life are what we did not have in our childhood. Humans crave what was lacking from their childhood but what we desire is only a fantasy and can’t be fulfilled. Nevertheless, the longings from childhood never disappear and we seek substitutes to fill those voids. For instance, Stella never had money or status so as an adult that’s all she craves. However, once she pursues Stephen Dallas, an executive at the factory, she continues to look for…show more content… “Kane only seems to love his “statues, who don’t talk back…and animals he can control” (Carroll 259). These statues seem to be almost a replacement for the people in his life. When Kane amasses a fortune he creates Xanadu, “a world of beings that he can control, a world of love on his (own) terms" (Carroll 260). Since Kane could not control the love he received as a child he seek to find love on his own terms. However, love on his own terms meant buying material goods and controlling the people around