Sigmund Freud, the key developer of the psychoanalytical approach to the human mind, created a theory that can explain the driving force behind all forms of human life. In his theories he uses the desire for sexual pleasure as one of those driving forces, but very often, according to Freud, those desires are not met, weather they are through the actual event of receiving pleasure or through some alternate form of dispersing the energy that the desire builds. The ideas become repressed upon not being met and eventually become entrenched in the unconscious part of our mind, also known as the id. It is my belief that Olga Broumas used the poem “Little Red Riding Hood” as an opportunity to express herself to the literary community, but as Freud’s theories argue, not only do her intentions become a part of her writings, but also her viewpoints on herself and her surroundings arise from the depths of her id to haunt the poem with personal references that were not originally designed to be in a poe…
A Freudian Analysis of Ode to the Death of a Favorite Cat (Favourite)
A Freudian Analysis of Ode to the Death of a Favorite Cat (Favourite)
“Ode to the Death of a Favorite Cat” can be a poem that represents a sexist view of women while identifying the three psychological entities; the id, ego, and superego.
The cat in the poem represents the human female. Throughout the poem it is referred to as a “she”, and identified with similar, sexist traits that women have. These traits are laziness, the need for shiny, pretty objects, and an unquenchable desire for material goods. Just as the cat is drawn by the gold fish so is a woman’s attention drawn to this glimmering metal. Just as line 24 says “What female heart can gold despise.” The cat’s desire for the glistening fish ultimately ends in its death. This is similar to what will happen to a woman if left to her desires unchecked. This cat has nothing in its life to prevent it from its folly. A woman needs a man to set her on the right path. If left to her own devices it will mean her end, or so that’s what the poem implies of women. I the end a universal moral is introduced that can be applied to the human world, “Not all that tempts your wand’ring eyes, and heedless hearts is lawful prize, nor all that glisters gold.” (lines 40-42)
This then leads into a perfect comparison of women and men as two psychological entities, the id and superego. Since the cat in the poem is so consumed by its desire that it impulsively acts on its greed and is a representation of the human female then obviously women can be considered representations of the Id. They impulsively act on their desires and ultimately, like the cat, are consumed by these desires if left unchecked. This is where man comes in. Men must be there and act as the superego holding back a woman’s natural desire for material gain. Since both represent a different entity respectively then obviously the union of man and woman must be the ego. A balance between the two. A woman’s desire for material gains and a man’s natural inclination for law and order. This then does bring in the idea that certain human traits can be identified not only as manlike and womanlike but also things that are naturally inclined towards the superego and the id.