Fifty Shades Of Grey Character Analysis

Fifty Shades of Human Development

Monique Richardson

Georgia State University

Christian Grey is one of the main characters of the novel and trilogy “Fifty Shades of Grey” by E.L. James. Christian Grey is the owner and CEO of Grey Enterprises Holdings Inc. At the age of twenty-eight years old, Christian appears to be an altogether, young, successful, handsome business man but he has a dark side. Christian secretly practices BDSM with consenting women who agree to keep his secret by contract. BDSM stands for bondage, discipline, dominance, submission, sadism, and masochism. Christian was born in Detroit and adopted by the Grey family in Seattle, WA at four years old after his mother commits suicide; he was alone with her body for four days without food. Christian Grey has many stressful events throughout his life that caused him to lack from developmental stages from childhood to adulthood.

At four years old, Christian Grey is neglected by his birth mother who he refers to in adulthood as the “crack whore”. He was physically abused by her pimp who also made him to be a human ashtray. When his mother commits suicide, Christian remains in the same hotel room with her body for four days with nothing to eat except frozen peas. After Christian was adopted by the Grey family, he remained throughout early to middle adulthood vulnerable to his memories of the past by having recurrent nightmares. When Christian was fifteen years old, he began his first BDSM secret affair with Mrs. Robinson, an older married woman and friend of the Grey family who believed such a relationship would help his delinquent behavior.

Christian goes through child mistreatment and abuse throughout his life. He suffered from physical abuse, child neglect, ...

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...osite sex. In adulthood, Christian’s perspective of his birth mother as the “crack whore” continues because of his memories of her lack of nurturing and attention to his needs to find other ways to be self-sufficient at a young age. In connection to Freud’s theory, Christian remains in the phallic stage in adulthood because sex is his outlet for his deep, unresolved issues with his mother. E.L. James portrays Christian Grey’s character development with abuse, Freud’s theory, and Erikson’s theory throughout the novel, Fifty Shades of Grey.

Reference Page

James, E. L. (2012). Fifty shades of Grey. New York: Vintage Books.

Prior, Emily . "What is BDSM?." Examiner.com. N.p., 22 June 2009. Web. 14 Nov. 2013. .

Santrock, J. W. (2011). Life-span development (13th ed.). New York, NY: McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc.