IndexIntroductionPsychological analysis of Wuthering Heights: Id, Ego and Super EgoHeathcliff - IdEdgar Linton - Super EgoCatherine Earnshaw - EgoConclusionIntroductionPsychological literature and theories, even if developed in different eras or before 'other, it can be parallel because of the ability of both the author and the psychologist to understand the human condition. For this reason, it is possible to take psychoanalytic approaches to texts that may have been written long before more popular psychological theories were introduced. Some of the characters in Emily Brontë's 1847 novel Wuthering Heights reflect Sigmund Freud's theory of personality. Wuthering Heights is the story of two diametrically opposed families, Wuthering Heights and Thrushcross Grange, starting from the moment a young boy named Heathcliff is adopted and arrives in Wuthering Heights. The novel depicts the emotional story of Heathcliff, Catherine, Edgar, and others as they grow from young children, through adulthood, and many to their eventual deaths. Sigmund Freud, known as the father of psychoanalysis, developed the psychic theory of the id, superego, and ego in the early 1920s. Simply put, the Id controls basic and mostly subconscious impulses, the Super Ego controls adherence to social values ​​and morals as part of conscience, and the Ego balances the two by understanding the demands of reality. Three characters in Emily Brontë's Wuthering Heights represent Sigmund Freud's theories of personality because Heathcliff reflects the Id, Edgar represents the Super Ego, and Catherine attempts to act as the Ego. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on "Why Violent Video Games Shouldn't Be Banned"? Get an Original Essay Psychological Analysis of Wuthering Heights: Id, Ego and Super EgoHeathcliff - IdHeathcliff of Wuthering Heights represents the id of Sigmund Freud's personality theory. Freud characterized the id as primitive and instinctive, existing in the subconscious part of the mind. The id drives someone to seek immediate gratification of an impulse and is not influenced by logic or morality. Heathcliff as a character is very aggressive, impulsive and neglects any kind of ethics. After Heathcliff escapes, he returns years later with one goal: to take revenge on his half-brother Hindley and be with Catherine. He tells Catherine of his return saying, “…I brokered this plan; - just to take a look at your face: a look of surprise, perhaps, and feigned pleasure; then settle my accounts with Hindley; and then impede the law by carrying out the execution on myself.” Heathcliff has left Wuthering Heights and has no real reason to return after being gone for three years. He is motivated by identity, so he just wants to satisfy his urges by seeking revenge and being with Catherine. Heathcliff ignores his super ego, because he doesn't care that Catherine is married and that trying to be with her would be socially unacceptable. He does not consider these attempts to be unrealistic because they do not take his ego into account. In another scene, Isabella, Heathcliff's wife, says that Heathcliff has told her that he will suffer so long that his true love, Catherine, will be ill. Isabella writes: “He [Heathcliff] told me of Catherine's illness, and accused my brother [Edgar] of having caused it; promising that I would be Edgar's proxy in suffering, until he could capture him." Isabella's innocence in Catherine's illness is irrelevant to Heathcliff; his aggressive instincts and lack of interest in rational thought drive him to abuse anyone he likes. Whether he announces his thirst for revenge, saying he will perform vivisection for fun, abusing innocent people orkilling small animals, Heathcliff's id-driven personality is his most defining characteristic. Edgar Linton - Super egoEdgar Linton of Wuthering Heights reflects Sigmund's superegoFreud's three-component model of personality. The superego emphasizes the importance of moral values, the internalization of cultural rules and the adherence to socially appropriate customs. Above all, however, Edgar directly conflicts with the id of the novel, Heathcliff. Although Catherine is married to Edgar, she maintains a level of intimacy with Heathcliff. Edgar asks her to choose one or the other, saying, “'Will you give up Heathcliff henceforth, or will you give me up? It is impossible for you to be my friend and his at the same time; and I absolutely need to know which one you will choose'” (111). Edgar, reflecting the Super Ego, is obsessed with maintaining adherence to social standards and cultural rules. As a result, Edgar is very dissatisfied that Catherine has not shown him full loyalty, so he simply asks Catherine to choose between him and Heathcliff. In this situation, Edgar, the Superego, is literally in conflict with Heathcliff, the Id, just as Sigmund Freud described them. In another attempt to maintain social order and adhere to cultural standards, Edgar completely severs his relationships with his sister Isabella after she marries Heathcliff. He refuses to see her, stating: “Yet it is out of the question that I should see her: we are eternally divided; and if she really would please me, let her persuade the villain she married to leave the country... My communications with Heathcliff's family will be as parsimonious as hers with mine. It won't exist!'”. Edgar does not approve of Isabella quickly marrying someone of lower social status and someone who lives in an environment diametrically opposed to theirs. She sees her marriage to Heathcliff as socially unacceptable, so she severs ties with Isabella completely. Edgar is the opposite of the Id and seems to have no trace of the mentality of the Id; rather, it reflects the superego by maintaining a strict and almost unrealistic adherence to social standards. Catherine Earnshaw - Ego Catherine Earnshaw Linton is the ego of Freud's personality theory in Wuthering Heights, as she balances the id and super ego. The ego's purpose is to act as a balance between the superego and the id while taking into account the demands of the id, the superego, and reality; Simply put, it's common sense and judgment. It works according to the reality principle, delaying the gratification of immediate needs to make a person function effectively in society. Catherine attempts to act as ego, but fails because she cannot balance Heathcliff (id) and Edgar (super ego). When Edgar asks Catherine to marry, she still has a strong love for Heathcliff, but must balance opposing forces. He says: “'...did it never occur to you that if Heathcliff and I were to marry, we would be beggars? Instead, if I marry Linton, I will be able to help Heathcliff rise again and remove him from my brother's power'”. This statement shows how Catherine believes she can balance Heathcliff and Edgar (opposing forces in the literal and psychoanalytic sense) by marrying Edgar and then helping Heathcliff. She is aware that marrying Edgar is more realistic, despite the demands of the Ex. Furthermore, she knows that she loves Heathcliff (the Id that attracts her), but she also understands that it is more socially acceptable to marry Edgar (the Super Ego that attracts her). She even says, when asked why she loves Edgar, "And he'll be rich, and I'd like to be the biggest woman on the block...". Catherine, acting as ego, tries to balance the forces of the id (her love for Heathcliff) and the forces of the superego (her understanding that marrying Edgar is more socially acceptable). Sigmund Freud believed that when the ego fails to