Examination of Yusuf and Züleyha Mesnevi in object relations theory

Since the dawn of the world, human beings have always been in search with their curiosity about themselves. The most important pillar of this quest is the individual's journey to find himself. In the last century, the individual, on this journey to find himself, has advanced this search fort he first time through studies called "psychoanalysis". These studies, which started with Freud, brought many psychoanalysts to the field over time. The object relations theory, which sees the breast as the first reliable object between the baby and it is mother, is one of them. If the bond between the baby and it is mother is good, a good object relationship will be established; if the bond between the baby and it is mother is bad, a bad object relationship will be established and this will be recorced as the basic stage that forms the individual's personality. In this study, the character of Yûsuf and Züleyhâ in Hamdullah Hamdî's Yûsuf u Züleyhâ, one of the important masnavi writers of the 15th century, will be analyzed in terms of the Object Relations Theory pioneered by Melanie Klein. Considering the problems faced by the individual in his development and in the process of falling in love, the object relationship process of the protagonists will be discussed. The integration of the individual's relationship with the "other" in the "self" and the transformation process, in which the individual is not the same person at the end of the struggle, will be discussed. As a result of the sense of trust that the self establishes with the "other" in the pursuit of happiness, the loved one becomes the ultimate object. In the thesis study titled "Analyzıng the Masnavi of Yusuf and Züleyha in Object Relations Theory"; the struggles of the characters of "Yûsuf and Züleyhâ" for their purpose of living and their "state of self" in the last stage will be shown with couplets and evaluated in terms of object relations. Keywords: Yûsuf, Züleyhâ, Hamdullah Hamdî, Object Relations, Melanie Klein