Fragmented Consciousness and the Unfinished Project of Modernity as Psychological Conflict Fields in A Delicate Balance

Abstract

This article examines the psychological dimensions of fragmented consciousness and the modern subject’s unresolved crisis through a close reading of Edward Albee’s A Delicate Balance. Drawing from recent theoretical research in modernity studies, cognitive fragmentation, and psychological conflict theory, the analysis situates the play within the broader intellectual framework of the unfinished project of modernity as conceptualised by contemporary scholarship. The study argues that Albee constructs a dramatic world where the characters’ fragile mental states mirror the fractured condition of late-modern identity, revealing how anxiety, cognitive disintegration, and the instability of interpersonal boundaries function as core fields of conflict. By integrating insights from new psychological models of narrative disruption and the socio-philosophical debates surrounding modernity’s internal tensions, the article identifies patterns of existential displacement and emotional defensiveness that shape the narrative architecture of the play. The research employs a qualitative textual methodology supported by analytical matrices built from valid psychological indicators. Through this structured approach, it becomes possible to map the relational dynamics among the central characters, demonstrating how their behavioural responses align with contemporary theories on anxiety structures, fragmented subjectivity, and defensive mechanisms. The findings highlight how the play’s domestic environment operates as a psychologically charged space where unresolved fears, crisis-driven interactions, and cognitive fragmentation reinforce the characters’ attempts to negotiate stability. Such patterns reflect not only individual psychological conflicts but also the broader cultural symptoms of an incomplete modernity. Ultimately, the study contributes to the evolving critical discourse by presenting a model through which the psychological consequences of modernity can be read within dramatic texts. It concludes that A Delicate Balance does not merely portray personal struggles but represents a symbolic enactment of the modern subject’s fractured consciousness, offering valuable insight into the emotional and intellectual tensions shaping contemporary human experience.