The unconscious image of the conscious mindSay no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on “Why violent video games should not be banned”? Get an original essay “Psychology helps us talk about what the novelist knows” (Fish and Perkins), as through careful analysis of a literary work, its major themes or its symbolism, we can theoretically reach the personality and state of mind of the author. It is through the use of literary psychoanalysis that The Picture of Dorian Gray can be read as the unconscious image of Oscar Wilde, whose main characters reflect, in fact, the internal conflicts of his own troubled mind. The main trio that emerges from this arrangement: Lord Henry Wotton, Dorian Gray and Basil Hallward, represent the human mind described by the Austrian psychologist Sigmund Freud: composed of the id, the ego and the superego. Freud believed that no man is ever in his full mental capacity, nor in good health, for that matter; similarly, the artist, “like the neurotic, is oppressed by unusually powerful instinctive needs which lead him to turn away from reality and toward fantasy” (Eagleton 179). Only in the safety of such illusion can the irrational and unconscious id surface in a character like Lord Henry, the symbol of those dark and evil forces, or men, who find evil pleasures in tormenting the weak and to deceive the inexperienced. Watching his subject gradually drift toward emotional annihilation, he plays the role of the writer's personal Serpent of Eden, and represents all the repressed temptations that seduce the fragile ego, aka Dorian. “You will always love me,” he tells the confused boy, explaining, “I represent to you all the sins you never had the courage to commit” (Wilde 71). Its mentality, life ideology and principles (or lack thereof) ultimately arise from the deepest and wildest source of psychosexual desires and intuitive energy, widely known to psychologists as libido and defined by Lord Henry himself as the “new hedonism”. This philosophy is that of the unbridled, of what has long been rejected as barbaric, disdainful and above all immoral – because it is opposed to the fundamental concepts of civilization, first and foremost social unity and the repression of wild impulses. of reason. The id not only challenges morality in the cultural and intellectual sense of the term; As Dorian Gray submits to Lord Henry's corrupting influence, he irreversibly loses his own humanity, for while our actions are still ultimately motivated by "the avoidance of pain and the acquisition of pleasure" (Eagleton 191), once pleasure becomes the sole purpose of earthly existence, common sense is replaced by a mental state called psychosis. It is therefore reasonable to say, as the Freudians supposed, that the artist is just as obsessed as his patients, with the only difference that the painter or composer can channel his phobias or his unspeakable desires onto the canvas, or on musical notes, reduce the tension between the conscious and the inherent. However, the psyche is in incessant conflict between its major forces: the id, the ego and the superego. In this hidden battle, the ego is continually torn between the secret yearnings of the id and the guilt that results from entertaining socially inappropriate thoughts, such as the self-indulgent notion that "pleasure is the only thing worth a theory." (Wild 69). ). Dorian Gray is the personification of this "pitiful and precarious entity", which is forever "beaten by the outside world, scourged by the cruel reprimands of the superego, prey to the greedy and insatiable demands of thethat” (Eagleton 161). Thus, “Prince Charming” finds himself caught between the self-proclaimed hedonism of Lord Henry and the regulative teachings of Basil Hallward – his long-time friend, admirer and, ultimately, victim. The emotional transformation of the ego from an intact boy of exceptional beauty – whose oblivion of the faults and passions of the world makes him the ideal target for Lord Henry's diabolical experiments – into a heartless murderer, is the one of the most comprehensive and credible psychological studies in the literature. Because the Ego is the most changeable of the three fractions mentioned above: it goes through various stages, organized by Freud into so-called psychosexual stages of development. This theory asserts that all social and sexual problems appearing in adult life ultimately arise from a fixation occurring during one of the five focal stages. Dorian's promiscuous and apathetic behavior is most likely rooted in the phallic stage: the time of "moral and sexual identification" (Fleming and Neill). It is because of the theatrical death of Sibyl Vane and the influence of Lord Henry that Dorian demotes himself to become a mere spectator of his own life, perceiving people as unconscious puppets, which he learns to play as "a exquisite violin” (Wilde 34). ). Following in the footsteps of his decadent guru, the boy loses all respect for human dignity and morality, eventually becoming fed up with his notorious misdemeanor. Yet it is not the conscious burden of sin that makes him despise its luxurious practice; The reason behind Dorian's depression is the realization that he will never be able to rid himself of the most horrible memories, not to mention the tedious fear of being exposed. His paranoia comes from the lack of balance between the id, the ego and the superego; and while Lord Henry takes complete control of his mind and soul, it is Basil Hallward who desperately tries to balance the equation. After all, the role of the Superego is to control the selfishness and misdeeds of its shameless counterparts, censoring mental impulses that are generally unacceptable or simply too narcissistic. Although Freud's famous slogan, "where the id was, there the ego will be" (Eagleton 160), emphasizes the importance of the ego's resistance to immoral impulses, the process is supervised and largely stimulated by the superego – or, in our case, the principled Basil. His most powerful weapons being fear and guilt, he acts as the ultimate defender of morality and social norms; it is because of the possible revolt of the superego, disgusted by Dorian's corruption, that the murderer cannot help but notice what he believes to be contemptuous glances in the street or muffled sneers behind his back. Finding it impossible to launch a large-scale offensive against the id, the superego resorts to the best solution: implacable guerrilla warfare. For it is only through persistent reminders of sin (Basil's continued preaching) that the unconscious guardian of ethics can assure himself that "in its relations with man, Destiny has never closed its accounts » (Wilde 164). What pushes the character of Basil Hallward even further into the realm of the superego is his profession: being a gifted painter, he depicts artistic notions that are considered closely "related to repression and pain" (Spurgin) . Self-expression is the only way a painter, poet or musician can deal with unconscious feelings of guilt, fear and suffering. As the censor of all that has been thought or felt by the id and the ego, the superego must find some sort of tolerable ground to let out the unacceptable, thereby freeing the mind from what it cannot contain. . Nevertheless, art constitutes a, 1982.