Psychoanalysis Of King Lear

The psychoanalytic theory was created by Sigmund Freud. According to the theory, there are three parts to the subconscious mind which is considered to be the largest part of the human personality. These different levels show in the two characters of the play King Lear by Shakespeare. The two characters that I chose are King Lear himself and Edmund son of Earl of Gloucester.

The first part is called the Id. This to Sigmund Freud was whenever the mind has one basic desire. This causes a person to want something so badly they tend to act selfish about it and brings out the inner child in that person. In the play written by Shakespeare called King Lear there are a lot of characters that had huge desires. For example King Lear wanted his daughters Cordelia, Goneril, and Regan to tell him how much they loved him with some exaggeration. In return he would reward them by giving each one third of his kingdom. Goneril and Regan of course wanted his land, so they gave him their love with too much exaggeration. When it came to Cordelia she refused to make her love for her father seem more than what it should’ve been. When she refused, King Lear began to throw a tantrum and banned Cordelia from his kingdom and her title as his daughter. In the play Act 1 Scene 1 whenever Lear is giving Cordelia away to Burgundy he says “Lear- ‘Right noble Burgundy, when she was dear to us, we did hold her so, but now her price is fallen. Sir, there she stands. If aught within that little seeming substance, or all of it, with our displeasure pieced and nothing more, may fitly like your Grace, She’s there, and she is yours.’” So right there he is already hurting and saying hurtful things about her.

Another character that portrays to the Id is Edmund son of Earl ...

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... paper shall I {stopple} it.-Hold sir. - Thou are worse than any name, read thine own evil. No tearing, lady. I perceive you know it.’ Goneril- ‘Say if I do; the laws are mine, not thine. Who can arraign me for ‘t?’ Albany- ‘Most monstrous! O! Know’st thou this paper?’{Goneril} ‘Ask me not what I know.’ [She exits] Albany- ‘Go after her, she’s desperate. Govern her.’” So then in the end they both died. One poisoned and the other committed suicide. So in a way he got the attention he wanted but apologized in the end for feeling awful on what he caused.

So overall both characters King Lear and Edmund showed in the play the three different parts of the mind. Which were the Id, the Superego and then the Ego itself. But it’s not just those characters that went through those three mindset levels. We being human beings go through those three parts of the mind every day.