Masochist and Sadist Individuals at the Socio-Cultural Crisis in The Banshees of Inisherin

Abstract

This study aims to analyze the death drive in McDonagh’s The Banshees of Inisherin while investigating the functions of self-defense, self-destruction, and self-abasement in the film. The proposed questions include: What is the function of death drive in the subjectivity of an individual destructing himself? What are the possible socio-cultural implications of death drive as suggested in the movie? To answer these questions, the study makes frequent use of key terms associated with self-defense mechanism, death drive in particular, as well as masochistic and sadistic elements to prove different features of self-destruction in various forms. The present research shows that death drive projects itself as masochistic self-defense reaction, which is more often than not characterized with resentment and antagonism.

Keywords

• death drive
• masochism
• sadism
• self-defense
• self-destruction