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].
