Analysis of Erik, Phantom of the Opera Using Two Contrasting Personality Theories

The epic poem, “The Iliad,” written by the Greek poet Homer, contains many occurrences of the psychologist Freud’s approach of the three systems of Superego, Id, and Ego. Superego, the little angel on one’s shoulder, is considered to be the voice of our moral compass (conscience) that speaks from the unconscious mind on the difference between real and ideal situations. It strives for perfection with tracking what we ought to behave like. Id, opposite to Superego, is the little devil on the other side of one’s shoulder. Its unconscious energy strives to satisfy the basic drives to survive, reproduce, and aggress. To balance these two systems, the Ego becomes the mediator and compromiser to keep both content. One’s Ego focuses on responses to the real world, stemming from the reality principle. It contains our partly conscious perceptions, thoughts, judgements, and memories.

Oedipus Rex, an ancient Greek tragedy authored by the playwright Sophocles, includes many types of psychological phenomena. Most prominently, the myth is the source of the well-known term Oedipal complex, coined by psychologist Sigmund Freud in the late 1800s. In psychology, “complex” refers to a developmental stage. In this case the stage involves the desire of males, usually ages three to five, to sexually or romantically posses their mother, and the consequential resentment of their fathers. In the play, a prince named Oedipus tries to escape a prophecy that says he will kill his father and marry his mother, and coincidentally saves the Thebes from a monster known as the Sphinx. Having unknowingly killed his true father Laius during his

In order to completely understand Oedipus and his actions, we must first understand the basics of Freud’s theories. One of the most well known aspects of Freudian theory is the Oedipus Complex. We can already see a relationship between the Oedipus

Freud, Sigmund. “The Oedipus Complex.” Trans. James Strachey. A World of Ideas. 7th ed. Print.

Freud strategized that the personality was composed of three elements; the id, ego, and superego. The id is the component of personality that is present from birth, and is exclusively unconscious. “According to Freud, the id is the source of all psychic energy, making it the primary component of personality” (Cherry,1). On the other hand, the ego is the element of the personality that is responsible with reality. “According to Freud, the ego develops from the id and ensures that the impulses of the id can be expressed in a manner acceptable in the real world” (Cherry, 1). It

Freud’s theory of Oedipus complex has brought a lot of controversies in modern psychology and literature while some critics opine Freud’s concept of Oedipus complex deserves a great deal of appreciation. When Sigmund Freud (1856–1939) proposed that the Oedipus complex was psychologically universal, he provoked the evolution of Freudian psychology and the Psychoanalytic treatment method.¬¬¬¬¬¬¬ Certain contemporary psychoanalysts agree with the idea of the Oedipus complex to different degree. Hans Keller proposed it is so "at least in Western societies"; and others consider that ethnologists already have established its temporal and geographic universality. Nonetheless, few psychoanalysts disagree that the "child then entered an Oedipal phase which involved an acute awareness of a complicated triangle involving mother, father, and child" and that "both positive and negative Oedipal themes are typically observable in

     We are given our first example of Erik’s beauty when Raoul is spying on Christine in her

Freud Sigmund, based on his study of the psychosexual development, came up with the Structural Model which refers to the three parts of a person’s personality. These parts are known as the Id, Ego and Superego. He believes that by the time of the birth, a newborn, has already the Id which is the pleasure-seeker portion of our personality and through that we are able to know and get our basic needs satisfied. (Sarah Mae Sincero (Jun 15, 2012). Psychodynamic Theories of Personality ,Retrieved Aug 03, 2015 from

One major portion of Sigmund Freud’s perspective on psychology involves the personality structure of the id, ego, and

Freud’s structural and topographical model of personality, revolves around the id, ego and superego (McLeod, 2008). As a newborn, I was born with my id which allowed me to get my basic needs met. As an infant, I would cry if I was hungry or tired or just wanted to be held, I did not think of anyone else. The second part of my personality started around when I was three years old, and according to Freud this is when I began to develop my ego. An example of this would be if I was hungry I would want to satisfy my id, but at the

Freud described humans as having three essential components that built personality. The three components were the id, the ego, and the superego. He described the id, as being what governed an infant’s drive to overcome their primitive biological desires. According to his theory infants had no other goal than to release the tension that built up when their

Freud’s structural model illustrates that within every individual there is tripartite structure consisting of the Id, Ego and Super Ego.

Identify one strength and one weakness of Freud’s concept of the ego, id and superego in relation to understanding human development and individual behaviour.

The following will analyse the Psychodynamic theory founded by Sigmund Freud. It will focus on the components of the ‘mind’ including the Conscious, the pre-conscious proper and the Unconscious. Examining his structure of Personality with reference to The’ Id’, ‘Ego’ and ‘Super-ego’. It will discuss Freud’s proposal of stages within his ‘psychosexual development’. It will then focus on Carl Rogers Humanistic theory, explaining his concept of the ‘Actualizing tendency’ and incorporating his creations of ‘Self concept’, the ‘Organismic self’ and the ‘Ideal self’. As a contribution to Roger’s work also highlighting Abraham Maslow’s ‘Hierarchy of needs’. Freud and Rogers will then

Psychologist, psychoanalyst, doctor of medicine, and author, Sigmund Freud’s contributions to the world of science and psychology were far from limited. The self and widely regarded scientist was born in Friedberg in 1856 where he lived before moving to Vienna, Germany, where he would later produce founding revelations at the birth of psychology as a science. From his beginnings, Freud focused on psychopathology and the conscious mind (Jones, 1949). The renowned “Father of Psychoanalysis” created a pathway and a foundation for psychology, influencing the world of psychology from its birth to modern day practice. Freud’s delve into the unconscious, dreams, psychosexual development, and the id, ego, and super-ego, are just a limited number of his studies that greatly influenced numerous psychologists and theories of modern psychology. One of his earliest practices and most accredited work dealt with psychoanalysis specifically. Though this practice is seldom used in modern psychology in the treatment of psychological disorders, it assuredly carried great influence in the development of modern practices of psychological theories. Freud’s creation of psychoanalysis exceeded his professional career, influencing modern psychologists and theories, one specifically being ego psychology, that was founded in the mid 20th century of modern