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Sigmund Freud And His Psychoanalytical Theory Essay

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Psychoanalysis describes searching the subconscious mind to find the origin of all thoughts, behaviors, and desires. Authors of many notable works of literature have used Sigmund Freud and his psychoanalytical approach to further analyze their character 's inner thoughts and desires, and to give reasons for their faults and flaws. People tend to repress their shameful desires in the present, because they cause dissonance and because it makes them feel uncomfortable. Freud believed conflicts occur due to one’s repressed desires, which cause inconsistencies in the id, ego, and superego. The id describes the part of one’s unconscious personality which contains the primitive impulses, thrives off of the pleasure principle, and aids in helping people achieve their basic needs. The id serves as a part of one’s deep subconscious and exists as an inaccessible part of one’s personality, which one cannot control Contrary to the id, the superego describes the conscious part of human personality, which contains the morals and values of the society and tries to restrain one from engaging in behaviors that go against those values. Between the id and superego lies the ego, the mediator of “instinctual pleasure and societal authority” (Baym 210). The ego determines which desires to satisfy. When in harmony, the three create a stable and healthy personality, but when one offsets others and disobeys commands, guilt and shame occur. In the psychological romantic novel, The Scarlet Letter,

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