Sigmund Freud Narcissism

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As Sigmund Freud stated “No matter what may fill the gap, even if it be filled completely, it nevertheless remains something else.” This quotation by Freud and many like it refer to the act of ‘coping’ in the event of misfortune, and has generally been linked to identifying one’s self in their perception to the external world. Throughout this essay the main concept that will be reiterated is sublimation and its relationship with repression, both which are used to cope, their impact on narcissism and its development within the structure of the mind. These will all ultimately come together to further the understanding of todays’ western society in terms of the enforcement of repression against that of narcissistic concerns and the inevitability …show more content…

Where the caretakers’ daughter, assumed by Freud, is exposed to more sexuality growing up is more likely to go through life without any neurotic symptoms due to her lack of repression whereas the landlords’ daughter will feel that her early experience with her sexuality is wrong in the society she is raised in and will inevitably repress any sexual activity, become frigid and will not find happiness in her marriage due to her neurosis. Freud (1916-17) makes a lot of assumptions in conversing this example, he assumes it will be the ‘proletarian girl’ that will be the ‘seductress’ in this situation, who will go on to lead a life ‘without damage’ because she has already observed ‘adult sexuality’. Who is to say that the caretakers’ daughter was raised with a strict moral grounding of sexuality like the landlords’ daughter? Perhaps, it was the landlords’ daughter who played ‘seductress’. Freud (1916-17) emphases that the landlords’ daughter is ‘well-brought-up, intelligent and high-minded’ which reduced her sexual engagement but can repression really be limited down to high social status or intelligence alone? What about other high society and intelligent girls, do they all repress their sexuality? It seems here that Freud has some holes in his development of neuroses in relation to the educational miscarriage; ultimately generalising a population. In (Hall, 1954). Freud is quoted expressing how sublimation leads to ‘socially useful and culturally creative channels’, however these ‘creative channels’ in Freud’s theory of psycho-analysis cannot be adequately explained as to the extent of people’s artistic abilities over that of others’ abilities, leaving yet another hole that needs

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