Setting real self as the theoretical starting point previously,Horney accomplished the reasoning about the reality of real self by elaborating the model of self-actualization.

Horney s neurosis theory is about the unhealthy development of becoming alienated from real self which is the foundation of her neurosis theory.

From the angle of Lacan s psychoanalytic theory,this paper analyses the tragic lot of Willy Loman,the hero of Arthur Miller s drama Death of a Salesman and holds that the root of Willy s tragedy lies in the special ideal ego he formed during his mirage stage,which leads to his mental alienation and split and his hesitation between the imaginary order and the symbolic order.

On the other hand, the ideal ego is always lack, so Becky Sharp constantly seeks for wealth and fame.

Based on Lacanian psychoanalysis of Eustacia ,the heroine in Thomas Hardy s wellknown novel The Return of the Native, this paper holds that Eustacia s ideal ego, her Narcissistic complex, and her dangling between the imaginary order and the symbolic order, are the underlying determinants of her tragedy.

The self-discrepancy theory put forward the concepts of actual-ideal self-discrepancy,actual-obligatory self-discrepancy,etc.

By adopting self-developed University Student s Discrepancy Between Ideal Self and Actual Self Questionnaire and CES-D,the study investigated university student s discrepancy between ideal self concept and actual self concept and the relationship between self-concept discrepancy and depression.

English Learning motivation has a great influence on students final English achievements, which arouses Chinese university students and their teachers desire to understand English learning motivation fully as a precondition of stimulating and keeping motivation, ideal self and motivated learning behavior.