Attribute to the Inner Self of the Characters in Wuthering Heights

Abstract

The psychoanalytic reading expands the horizon of literary criticism and explores the state of mind of the characters as well as the author who created them. This article aims to explore the psychological insight into characters and the negative implications of psychological issues. Sigmund Freud was an Austrian psychoanalyst (1856-1939), is well-known for his theory of Id, Ego, and Superego which are the three components that determine the psychological behaviour of the characters. Known as the structural theory of personality, Freud’s theory highlights the significance of innate psychological tensions in shaping actions. As individuals progress from childhood to adulthood, Freud believed that the conflict between their id, ego, and superego evolves. The id is described as the unconscious part of the mind driven by instincts and emotions, while the ego represents rational and realistic thinking. When one is active and awake, one relies on their ego or conscious mind. It is by this mind one expresses their desires, has rational thoughts, and makes decisions. The superego influences the way the conscious works, which is drawn from social orders and cultural codes. These are analyzed through the study of the psychological understanding of characters in the novel, Wuthering Heights by Emily Bronte published in 1847. As a critic, Margaret Willy writes, that Emily Bronte shows some surprisingly modern psychological insights in Wuthering Heights, showing that the novel is always viewed from a psychoanalytic standpoint and states it as “strikingly modern”. In the psychological analysis, the character Heathcliff illustrates the symbol of the id who remains in the unconscious state of life, Catherine depicts the symbol of the id in her childhood and the symbol of ego in her adolescence, the character Edgar Linton represents the symbol of superego who is an educated gentleman with proper behaviour, morality, civilized and well-cultivated culturally. As a whole, Wuthering Heights reveals the themes of love, desire, revenge, loneliness, independent lifestyle, failure of love, and the cunningness of characters to attain their goal out of their id, ego and superego of characters.