The Essay

 

An essay on the application of Freud’s theories to The Lord of The Rings Trilogy

 

In this essay I will be looking at theories of Psychology in particular Psychoanalysis and how their ideas are brought forward and represented in film through interpretations of characters and events which provides a meaning deeper than the current interpretation.

 

While analysing the psychology of film there’s a baseline that’s being represented by Freudian theory of being and personality called Id, Ego and Superego but first we need to look at the context of what came out of it and who it was that discovered all of these ideals. Sigmund Freud was one of the first psychologists and definitely one of the more renown in the early days of the field and developed a range of new ideas under his freshly developed banner of Psychoanalysis, which is the basis of the therapies and treatments in the field which can help us form ideas on people’s problems, personalities as well as characteristics all of which help to build the psychological profile of the person. However referring back to the main point of my argument, the three neuroses brought forward by Freud all have vastly different views when using them in analysis especially in relation to film, starting with the Id it’s a point that was hypothesised by Freud that supposedly occurred during the infancy (baby-3 year old) of development where our minds are obsessed with the near constant flow of emotions depending on what’s happening, an example being denied a treat and crying, and the need for instant gratification. The second psyche to talk about is the Superego, now once we’ve developed further we begin to start an opposite against the power of the Id that’s brought to us by society and our parents as we begin to learn and understand what’s permitted and consequences of giving the Id bigger control, this also gives way to the desire for us to work on getting the perfection whenever attempting a task, the super remains on the prominent thought, while Id works through the instincts that we such as sleeping or eating the Super has the arena of being a forethought of something that have to consider their actions and what will be approved vs what won’t. Both have strong personality traits and need a counterbalance or control which leads us to the last state of mind, the Ego. This is not only the counterweight but the one that helps us balance our conscious and fulfil all of our needs on a level that we can understand such as granting the super satisfaction through doing tasks and then Id gets satisfaction through indulging in the rewards.

When analysing a film using these themes, we need to consider both the positives and negatives of this theory before applying it. In terms of pros of the theory there’s a lot that we can use and then apply through the analysis, such as opening the possibility to a wider spread such as applying the theory of identifiable characters following the Freudian pattern down to a genre specific trend than one that followed through film production. A second pro of using Freudian established theories for analysing films is that it allows us to gain a deeper understanding of the characters and identify the moments of development through the story and better show off Freuds ideas and visions through visual media in a way that’s appealing to us all. A final pro to discuss is the application that’s available as there are various interpretations that can be drawn on when using this method of evaluation, it means that following the various different trends and techniques used by different people and different genres can give a blanket term for a genre such as a stereotype of Id as attractive women in James Bond or the spy film genre itself as an example.

However just as there are some good and strong pros about using this theory as a basis for analysis there are also some equally big negatives, for one this method doesn’t address all of the possibilities that are available when analysing the text being examined, it does give the way open to make sure that we can see what the baseline is for an analysis. A second one is something that I mentioned earlier in the flimsiness of the breakdown, as this is the first major use of psychoanalysis it leaves a lot open to interpretation especially within the media today as it’s only to be used a guide rather than the dealing of cold fact against the text. A final con to using this a sole analysis method is that it only gives some good identification for certain parts of certain characters rather than giving a clear idea of the whole character themselves which doesn’t help in the relation of characters and genres to the idea of using psychological theories with an analysis of the film.

Applying this to the film industry we begin to see new and interesting ideas within them being revealed, an example to take is Lord of The Rings (Jackson, 2002). When using ideas like Freud’s to breakdown films you begin to see new and different perspectives on the idea that is being represented on screen, so in the case of Lord of The Rings we can see the psyches being represented by Freud in two different ways.

 

The first case is within three characters, during the second film we see three distinct archetypes being used to demonstrate the internal dialogue of the protagonist.

First is the visual representation of the Id in the character of Gollum, as a character we see him as an entirely chaotic presence who just does what he wants and doesn’t appear to care about the consequences of his actions throughout the journey. However applying the idea of Freudian analysis we see that what Gollum actually has is dominant personality psyche of the Id, “The id is driven by the pleasure principle, which strives for immediate gratification of all desires, wants, and needs. If these needs are not satisfied immediately, the result is a state anxiety or tension.” (Biwa) applying this to what we see on screen involving the character’s actions and dialogue we see that all of his functions seem to chase that need for instant gratification that’s mentioned by Biwa on the purpose of the Id, the ending result is also true that when he can’t receive what he wants he becomes more tense and irate (demonstrated in the refenced scene where he fights both Sam and Frodo for the ring) due to not getting what he wants. This also acts as an opposite force to the protagonist and the embodiment of the super ego in this fil which is a main source of tension throughout.

Using the second film to draw from during the journey, with the first encounter between Sam, Frodo and Gollum we see exactly how the id controls him as a character. When discussing this interaction, a good quote is “Id…selfish, primitive, childish pleasure –oriented part of the personality with no ability to delay gratification.” (Inc, 2017) In the scene of Gollum, his movements are very animalistic being on all fours without any regard for the possibility of damage to himself or the characters below him which shows off this trait in a strong visual way but it’s not just the primitive demonstration that we see and is mentioned in this interpretation but the selfishness of his actions too in his movement he’s focused on reaching his goal which is the ring around Frodo’s neck which is demonstrated by the direction he moves as well as the way his head doesn’t move from a seemingly fixed position as he continues his movements in a primal and almost predatory fashion almost as though he’s stalking prey. As an idea the presence of Gollum can be seen as a two fold move made by the director, this theory is explained better with “The author: The theory is used to analyze the author and his/her life and the literary work... The audience: The theory is used to explain the appeal of the work for those who read it.” (Inc, 2017) in this we see that a theory behind representation in the media (in this case through written examples) of maybe the authors unconscious thoughts and ideas, so with the availability of the character that’s viewable for us in a visual form could show a deeper possibly hidden part of the director that isn’t usually seen making the id use unique to the director rather than the genre itself. Following this theory as well also helps us to understand an audience reaction, having a character like this appeals to us on a deeper level, Freud discussed that the id was on an unconscious level where feel its needs and desires but not to a point where it becomes all we think about or obsess with leading to us liking the character for the value he brings to the story yet we have something deeper that fins this type of character so appealing to us as it resemble our hidden thoughts and desires.

 

As discussed previously the Ego works as the counterweight to the Id and works to make sure that it can meet the needs without getting to overwhelmed by their desires, the ego is what Freud described as the conscious level “Where id is, there shall be ego.” (Freud, New Introductory Lectures on Psychoanalysis, 1932) This is how Freud describes the ego as an extra or a wing man to the id itself almost as if they’re separate entities, or that they both exist to make sure that they complete what they need to survive.

Continuing with the example of the Lord of The Rings trilogy the embodiment of ego is seen in Frodo but it’s manipulated as the films progress, it starts out with Frodo being a good balance between giving into his desires for the ring and childish fun for completing social obligations and being respectable. A good example would be the forest scene (Lothlorien) in the Fellowship of The Ring we see Frodo getting commanded and dragged by Gimli who works as a smaller form of id before Gollum enters the party, but Frodo doesn’t respond to what has been said or the actions that he has made during. Zooming out to look at the mis-en-scene we can see it as a visual metaphor for Frodo’s mind, it’s quiet and within the sequence we can three visualisations of Freuds theories yet it’s not in charge of the actions being made. Freud said, “The ego is not master in its own house.” (Freud, Difficulty in the path of Psychoanalysis, 1917) and we see this idea played out within the scene that Frodo has no choice in where he goes or what happens next and if we look at the wider series in a whole then we begin to see that he’s being influenced by these external factors so from the first film he’s still under the greater influence of the Superego compared to the second or even the third film where the id is given a bigger control over his actions.

 

Finally, we come to the Superego or our interpretation of the rules and society around us and within the context of our films this embodiment comes in the form of Sam and there’s no real change against him across the Trilogy. Compared to the actions and changes from Frodo throughout the films as we see his character going from a strong focus on the rules and order from the first film to being driven from the basic pleasure of using the ring and Gollum manipulates his outward actions to seem more balanced in order to chase his own desires. Sam plays the role of the best friend to Frodo who as we know plays the method of the ego, Freud put forth a theory “Nothing can be hidden from the superego. Not even thoughts.” (Sigmund Freud) with this we can make some new ideas and decisions based on this idea and it’s a very common idea that we can see throughout these films is that Sam is the constant throughout. A good example from this would be the ending of the first film where we see Sam overcoming physical struggles such as swimming and risking his life in order to make sure that they’re together. This shows that he knew Frodo’s plans without him even knowing it or having to say it, this is a strong visual example of Freud’s idea that the Superego is not only in control but knows what the other psyches are thinking, bringing round what we’ve established previously about the Superego that it has the knowledge and restrictions of society and that feeds into the Ego (or the conscious) decision making it can allow the Superego to make judgements based on the information given to them.

In some form or another the Ego will always in fluctuation between what the Super wants and the Id’s needs, but both have unanimous needs that are easily worked with, all of them will have certain basic instincts which they need to feel accepted and ultimately gain the best outcome possible between all three sources. The id grants the drive to do these things for the gratification and the reward behind them and the Superego provides the goal which leaves the Ego for the execution, now Freud put forward an idea that “The first request of civilization ... is that of justice.”  (Freud, Civilisation and Its Discontents, 1930) While this may not seem relevant it does provide a unique spin of the story of the Trilogy. In the example that we’ve used so far in that of Sam he seems to only have the link to the entire plot because of Frodo but there is more to it than this, his motivation is seemingly going through the Protagonist, looking at the Council of Elrond scene we see that he’s quick to join the side of Frodo seemingly without his own motivation but that’s because he’s living through the protagonist in order to get his desire fulfilled and his own seemingly selfish need for his own sense of justice. This justice being the need of getting Frodo seemingly “free” but with his own need to get him back to an area where he can control being the Shire.

 

To conclude Freud’s theories provide a very different look to the Trilogy of the Lord of The Rings and we can see from these that Freud’s theories can be applied and demonstrate that not only can it apply new meanings to the characters and story at large but can give an even deeper depth to knowledge already known from Freud himself, this grants us a greater understanding of the characters and how these theories change how view their actions and ultimately the people themselves.  

References

Biwa, M. (n.d.). Retrieved from https://mrbiwa.weebly.com/uploads/5/7/2/7/57279595/project_information.pdf

Freud, S. (1917). Difficulty in the path of Psychoanalysis.

Freud, S. (1930). Civilisation and Its Discontents.

Freud, S. (Director). (1932). New Introductory Lectures on Psychoanalysis [Motion Picture].

Inc, G. J. (2017). Global Journal of HUMAN-SOCIAL SCIENCE: G Linguistics and Education. Psychoanalytic Theory used in English Literature: A Descriptive Study, 7.

Jackson, P. (Director). (2002). Lord of The Rings [Motion Picture].