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Sigmund Freud on the Unconscious & the Structure of Psyche
the Unconscious:
- "any mental process the existence of which we are obligated to assume--because, for instance, we infer it in some way from its effects--but of which we are not directly aware..."
- two kinds:
- the "preconscious"--the unconscious which is only latent, and so can easily become conscious
- the unconscious --one that only come come about with considerable expenditure of energy, or never occur
"The Unconscious"
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The three psychic zones: id, ego and superego
- id--reservoir of libido--passion and instinct--governed by pleasure principle
--a tremendous and amorphous vitality.
--the source of all our aggressions and desires. It is lawless,
asocial, and amoral.
--its concern is purely for instinctual gratification, heedless
of consequences.
- ego--the rational governing agency of the psyche. It regulates the instinctual drives of the id so that they may be released in nondestructive behavioral patterns.--reason and circumspection --governed by reality principle --protects the individual
- superego--protects the society
--the moral censoring agency
--largely unconscious
--repository of conscience and pride
--dominated by morality principle
| Id |
Ego |
Superego |
- pleasure p.
- repository of libido
- instinct and passionself-satisfaction
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- reality p.
- intermediary
- protect individual
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- morality p.
- repository of conscience and pride
- reason and morality circumspection
- protect society
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Terry Eagleton on pleasure principle vs. reality principle: What has dominated human history to date is the need to labour; and for Freud that harsh necessity means that we must repress some of our tendencies to pleasure and gratification. ...Every human being has to undergo this repression of what Freud named the 'pleasure principle' by the 'reality principle.' ...If too much is demanded of us, we are likely to fall sick. This form of sickness is known as neurosis. Elizabeth Wright on repression:
- Primal repression: initiates the formation of the unconscious and is ineradicable and permanent. Primal repression consists of denying a 'psychical representative' (that is an idea attached to an instinct) entry to the conscious: a fixation is thereby established, splitting conscious from unconscious.
- repression proper or 'after-pressure': it serves to keep guilt-laden wishes out of conscious experience.
"the return of the repressed" --thru' the symptoms, dreams and parapraxes ('Freudian slips')
Primary (psychic) Process: allows the psychical energy to flow freely,
the Secondary Process: transforms it into 'bound energy,' in that its movement is checked and controlled by the rational operations of the ego.
Example:
"Young Goodman Brown"
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| Faith& the village |
Brown |
the Devil with a snake-like staff & the forest |
| superego |
ego |
id |
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References:
- Raman Seldon. Reader's Guide to Contemporary Theory Harvester. 1993: pp. 118-26.
- Terry Eagleton. Literary Theory: An Introduction. Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press, 1983
- Wright, Elizabeth. Psychoanalytic Criticism: A Reappraisal. September, 1998.
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