What motivates authors? Do their inspirations stem from external factors, or do these masters of prose derive their storylines by projecting their innermost desires onto the pages? Sigmund Freud and Carl Gustav Jung present two theories that both explore these questions and relate to Charles Dickens’ Great Expectations. In Sigmund Freud’s psychoanalytic theory, he writes about the concept of the “pleasure principle,” which is “the unconscious wish for pleasure or power” (497). Freud would agree that individuals’ greatest desires for obtaining power or the ultimate happiness stems from this pleasure principle theory. When something is missing in individuals’ lives, the desire to compensate for these deficiencies manifests itself in the form …show more content…
In relation to Great Expectations, it is possible that Dickens saw his own unhappiness in both his marriage and in trying to lead a double life that he sought an outlet in writing Great Expectations. Think of it in terms of what we choose to do when we feel the need to escape from the cruelty of our own realities—we seek refuge in reading novels with happy endings and watching films that lift our spirits, and we wish for something that distracts us and gives us hope when things are amiss. Take, for example, the ending of Great Expectations. Even after Pip’s misfortunes and adventures, the novel lends itself to an ending that results with all being right in Pip’s world and all loose ends being tied up. Dickens writes, “I [Pip] lived happily with Herbert and his wife, and lived frugally, and paid my debts,” and he goes on to say, “We [Herbert and Pip] had a good name, and worked for our profits, and did very well” (436). Upon reading how cleanly the novel ends, one cannot help but compare the ending to that of a fairy tale, as if at any …show more content…
While Freud suggests that individuals have an innate desire to fulfill their wishes when their needs are not being adequately met, Jung argues that individuals often project their own flaws and shortcomings in others. In his essay, Jung relies on an illustration of a child and his father to demonstrate the idea of projecting these flaws on others. Jung writes, “so true is it that every time he [the son or daughter] criticizes or praises his father, he is unconsciously hitting back at himself” (562). In other words, Jung points out that when children find themselves annoyed by their parents’ actions, these children are actually seeing their own imperfections being manifested in their parents. For example, Jung’s theory would argue that a meddlesome child may become quickly annoyed by a parent who asks a multitude of questions (possibly accusing the parent of prying into his or her life), simply because the child sees his or her own fault in being intrusive. Jung further elaborates on this idea by introducing the theory of a “shadow,” or a character who embodies the darker traits within an otherwise moral character. Jung explains that the shadow is “a moral problem that challenges the whole-ego personality,” and that the shadow “often behaves more or less like a primitive” (556). Perhaps the most convincing example of a shadow in Great Expectations is Pip’s monstrous adversary, Orlick.
Freud’s two stages for the ego’s development are the internal and external ego. At first humans start off as the id. The id operates on what it wants and is not self-aware, so if it wants the breast, it will scream until it gets it. The first stage of the ego is self-awareness, but it only recognizes its own wants. The next stage of the ego is the separation between what is ours and what is not, and develops in the toddler years. At first the toddler operates on the pleasure principle, and the ego allows the child to obtain anything that gives him pleasure. The reality principle, however, interferes with the pleasure principle because it makes the ego realize that he cannot always get what pleasures him all the time.
...Jung, whose assertions not only help in the clinical aspect, but in the search for the common message in all of human literary (this includes oral) tradition. Hawthorne’s Gothic shows, whether conscious or not, the underlying conflict that lies within the people of his time as well as the time in which each of his stories take place. It is with this that the key to understanding the self lies within the commonly untapped recesses of the unconscious, an uncomfortable and unnerving concept for everyone, particularly those that have many things to hide.
Primarily, one of the dominant and fundamental theoretical variances concerning Freud and Jung’s personality theories was that relating to their opposing notions regarding the unconscious human mind. Firstly, Freud understood that the centre of ones inhibited beliefs and distressing recollections was found in the unconscious mind. Freud stated that the human mind focuses on three constructs: namely the id, the ego and the super ego. He claimed that the id shaped ones unconscious energy. Freud said that it is not limited by ethics and morals, but as an alternative simply aims to fulfil ones desires. The id strives to keep with the “pleasure principle, which can be understood as a demand to take care of needs immediately.” (Boere) The next unconscious
"The feebleness of our own bodies and the inadequacy of the regulations which adjust the mutual relationships of human beings in the family, the state and society" (Freud) Freud also thinks that there’s sense of frustration in finding happiness. To him, humans were more independent and had more freedom and liberty before the existence of civilization as it limits a lot of someone’s needs and desires.
The human psyche is formed by conflict. The mind is in a constant state of figurative war – subconscious antitheses and opposites vying for control of the conscious self. Psychic cohesion relies on the resolution and balance of these opposites. In his essay On the Nature of the Psyche, Carl Jung delves into the conflict within the psychic spectrum. The most base level of the unconscious (he uses the Gnostic term “hylic” to describe it) focuses on the instinctual and the immediate, temporal world. It exists in direct contrast to the highest level, the pneumatic (another Gnostic title), a “supraconcious” wherein spirituality and intellect reign. Robertson Davies’ novel Fifth Business symbolizes this antithesis in the characters of Boy Staunton and Dunstan Ramsay. Boy represents the materialistic, sex-obsessed lower psychic realm. His attitude towards woman, guilt, and mythology illustrate the manifestation of the hylic level of the psyche. Dunstan is the direct counterpoint to Boy. Where Boy demonstrates a fixation on physical sexuality, Dunstan distances himself from any material sensuality. Where Boy only worships a capitalist god created in his image, Dunstan pursues a world of saints and spirituality. Dunstan is evidently a representation of the pneumatic complex. As the characters personify this psychic contrast, their respective failings reveal another crucial concept of the mind. When consciousness primarily exists in one specific psychic dimension, the psyche is no longer complete. The opposite half goes unrecognized. At the end of the novel, Dunstan eventually has a revelation that continues to elude Boy: establishing equilibrium betw...
Freud’s theory, dubbed “the pleasure principal”, uses the free association technique where patients share their thoughts without hesitation. Freud’s theory revolves around why one did something and attempts to associates events to understand what happened. Based on the belief that the character of an individ...
There are certain feelings that persuade writers to do what they do best. Of course, that feeling could be something different for each author, such as love, loss, peace, hatred, etc. The examination of these feelings is what makes an author’s work a piece of art and at the same time something humanly conceivable (since a majority of the time art is neither humanly conceivable nor understandable to those who merely observe it). And so when a writer decides to let these emotions that they have once felt, that perhaps they have felt for others, be translated into something perfectly tangible and comprehensible, an understanding is born between them and those they preach to. In John Gardner’s Grendel, Charlotte Bronte’s Jane Eyre and Joseph
pleasure. “The Id is driven by the pleasure principle for immediate gratification of all desires,
The narrator, Madeline and Roderick all fit together and complete the human psyche. The narrator represents the superego, an unselfish, conscious filled perspective, while Madeline portrays the total opposite id of the story. As seen, Roderick symbolizes the ego of the story, since he has qualities of both the id and the superego. Even though “The Fall of the House of Usher” is a popular short story, it is not the only piece of literature that includes Freud’s concepts. Everyone human being, at one point or another, and characters from literature, contain the qualities of ego, superego and id. For example, as a baby, everyone illustrates the qualities of id because at that age, all one knows what to do is act based upon one’s emotions. Overall, Roderick, Madeline and the narrator, in “The Fall of the House of Usher” are just one example of how Sigmund Freud’s personality theory is portrayed in everyday
Sigmund Freud’s psychoanalytic theory was based on the belief that human personality is made up of three components: the id, ego and superego. These three components are arranged in a hierarchy order with the id at the basal end, the ego in the middle and the super ego at the pinnacle. The id at the base, seeks instantaneous pleasure and fulfillment, driven by the pleasure principle. The id wants what it wants, when it wants it regardless of whether or not it is possible to satisfy that particular want or need. The presence or logic of reality or societal behavior has no effect on the id. For example, if an infant is thirsty and sees a bottle of water, he will take the bottle and drink even if it belonged to someone else and he did not have permission to drink, all that matters is that the needs have been met.
In Sigmund Freud's observation, humans are mainly ambitious by sexual and aggressive instincts, and search for boundless enjoyment of all needs. However, the continuous pursuit of gratification driven by the identification, or unconscious, directly conflicts with our society as the uncontrolled happiness. Sigmund Freud believed that inherent sexual and aggressive power prevented from being expressed would cause our "society to be miserable and the forfeiture of contentment." Sigmund Freud's psychoanalytic view of personality theory is based on the perception that greatly of human behavior is determi...
The mind of the human being is a complex, unique, and unpredictable system. While unveiling the mysteries of the human mind is not an easy task, psychoanalysts attempt to peel back the layers of the human psyche to better understand the human race. Sigmund Freud and Carl Jung are two such psychoanalysts who analyzed human behavior in connection to the mind and also scrutinized the connection between the subconscious and conscious mind. The transformations and complications of the human mind are often displayed in literary characters such as Sydney Carton from Charles’ Dickens A Tale of Two Cities. Due to Sydney Carton’s love for Lucie Manette, Sydney Carton develops into an archetypal, Christ-like hero as he overcomes his id, superego, introverted nature, and low self-worth to unify his subconscious and conscious states.
Personality can be defined as the difference in patterns of thinking and feeling in an individual. In most cases, the study of personality focuses on understanding differences in certain peoples’ characteristics, such as how social or irritable an individual is. The father of psychoanalysis is deemed to be Sigmund Freud. With time, Freud theory has been modified so that it can meet the present needs. His theory mainly focuses on the aspect of unconsciousness in the human personality. According to Freud, people often repeat their bad behaviors even though they are not willing to do so, or have a desire to stop those bad behaviors (Esterson 42). Freud believed that this was because
c. Freud establishes a common element: the human desire to alter their existing and often unsatisfactory or unpleasant reality. All individuals are frustrated within their lives, whether they are non-writers who cannot reclaim their childhood stimulant or as individuals unhappy in their marriages, etc.. Freud contests that desires, repressed to an unconscious state, will emerge in disguised forms: in dreams, in language, in creativity, and in neurotic behavior.. We can look for these occurrences in the future to conduct an analysis of the author’s own repressed desires or fictional characters.
In conclusion, Dickens portrays the novels title, Great Expectations, through Pip’s desires and dreams and luck. Once he finds out his secret benefactor was Magwitch, he is surprised. Pip has had many great expectations which he was able to fulfill through the aid of Magwitch. Apart from Pip’s expectations of riches and importance of being a gentleman, the readers have expectations of the novel having many turning points due to Dickens ability to craft a consistent plot in which there is a fluency in all angles. Pip had high hopes, or Great Expectations, for everything which blindly seems right to him were not carried out.