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2.2 The Id—Lord Henry 5
2.3 The Superego—Basil 6
3 The Conflicts among The Ego, Id and Superego 7
3.1 Lord Henry’s Speech and Influences versus The Confession of Dorian Gray 8
3.2 The Admonition of Basil and The Changes of The Picture versus Dorian Gray’s Sins 9
3.3 Lord Henry and The Yellow Book versus Basil and The Picture 10
Conclusion 12
Acknowledgements 13
Bibliography 14
Introduction
Oscar Wilde’s only novel The Picture of Dorian Gray was published in 1890. When it came out the first time, it was considered as defective work by the public. It received more criticism than praises. However, as the time went by, it was gradually accepted by more and more readers. Nowadays, most of the critics put their emphasis on its modernism and aesthetic constituents. On the one hand, they think that the kind of desire and the dark side of humanity endows the novel with the sense of modernism; on the other hand, they all agree that the description of the environment in the book and the dramatic plots offer the readers the experience of aesthetics.
In China, the researches on The Picture of Dorian Gray concentrate more on the aspect of aesthetics. Due to the limits of times, the aesthetic factors described in the novel are considered similar to decadence that it was hard for the critics to judge the novel in an objective and fair way. From the turn of this century, the society is becoming more tolerant to such descriptions so it enables the critics to evaluate the book in a more objective way. Therefore, the researches on Oscar Wilde and the value of his works are growing in number.
In the novel, Wilde described Dorian Gray’s psychological changes in details. His attempt of describing not only opens a new field for modern literature to expand the literary arts from spiritual world as well as material world. It also provides a new research direction for critics that it allows them to analyze the intensions of literary works through some kinds of psychological theories.
In Group Psychology and the Analysis of the Ego, Freud mentioned the opinion of the ego and the id for the first time. He thought that the mind can be pided into two parts: the ego and the id. The id is the most original and unconscious mental structure that it is consist of the inherited instincts and desire. The id is full of strong urge which is emerged from instincts and desire. It always seeks to satisfy itself. Therefore, the id is a non-rational impulsion dominated by pleasure principle and keeps looking for contentment. The ego is a part from the id being modified and influenced by perceptual system. It represents reason and common sense. It accepts the real demand from the outside world therefore it is acting upon reality principle. It costs most of its strength controlling and depressing the non-rational impulsion for the id. It advocates restraining but it doesn’t deny the demand of the instincts. The relationship between the id and the ego is just like the relationship between the rider and his horse. Later in Freud’s Ego and Id, he subpides the concept of the ego and pides the ego into the ego and the model of the ego which is later determined as the ego and the superego. The superego is the superior, moral and transpersonal aspects of humanity which is also regarded as conscience or self-criticism. It represents the ideal parts that exist in human mind which is also the reason why it is called the model of the ego. The superego dominates the ego strictly in the form of conscience.
This essay expects to interpret the main characters in the novel by using Freud’s psychoanalytic theory of the ego and the id. And through further analysis on the characters in the novel, this essay hopes to raise the readers’ interest on its psychological contents beside aesthetic aspects.