Id Ego And Superego In Jane Eyre

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For one to mature, one must find the ability to discover the pros and cons of life decisions. Charlotte Brontë’s novel, Jane Eyre, tells the life of a young orphan, Jane Eyre. Jane is a girl, who continuously faces various hardships while growing up varying from her experiences with her malevolent aunt, Ms. Reed, Mr. Rochester, and St. John. Through hardships, Jane wants to become more mature after every struggle in her life. However, with weak spirit and poor resolve, Jane suffers the fierce attacks on her confidence and drive. With nothing to do, Jane can only learn to accept that assumptions that she is only a mere peasant that is under control by the “higher-ups.” Despite the continuous barrage of mortifying words, Jane finds a way to elicit herself so she could discover her inner rebel and develop as a woman. Through the descriptions of the actions, characterizations, and words of Jane Eyre, Bronte demonstrates that for one to evolve mentally and physically into a woman, one must learn understand one’s three parts of the psychic apparatus, the Id, Ego, and Superego.
The story of Jane’s miserable life starts out with false accusations from Ms. Reed and punishment from Ms. Reed herself, where Jane first suffers inhibition before discovering her first psychic state and that her dependence to Ms. Reed can be broken. Ms. Reed punishes Jane by sending her to the “red-room” after Jane’s unfortunate quarrel with John, Ms. Reed’s son. Bronte reiterates Jane’s pain to emphasize the process of evolving from a child by creating Jane’s own front line. This frontier is known as the Id, a psychic force defined as a way to seek to avoid pain, without considering consquences, aroused by increases of instinctual tension. Bronte’s provides an...

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...savage, high voice… I am not your dear; I cannot lie down: send me to school soon, Mrs. Reed, for I hate to live here… I was left there alone winner of the field… Something of vengeance I had tasted for the first time; as aromatic wine it seemed, on swallowing, warm and racy: its after-flavour and metallic and corroding, gave me a sensation as if I had been poisoned… but I knew, party from experience and partly from instinct, that was the way to make her repulse me with double scorn, thereby re-exciting every turbulent impulse of my nature” (Bronte 39)
Jane’s confrontation ignited Bronte’s profound idea about maturity through the three psychic apparatus. As Jane starts to develop her Ego, she discovers the consequences of rebelling against Ms. Reed. This phase has made Jane develope her mind to listen to reason, reflect on her actions, and understand her position.

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