Rose For Emily

According to Sigmund Freud’s psychoanalytic theories (1615), Faulkner’s story, “Rose for Emily” Miss Emily’s characteristics can be explored from the psychological point. As Freud state that, “human behavior unconscious force of the id and super-ego active within every individual” (1616); nevertheless, Miss Emily was very attached to her father when she grows up and the closeness with her father make her to fail her sexual-fulfillment. Emily’s attachment to her father, and the impact of the father figure on Emily’s life affected her psychosexual development. However, the characteristics such as id, ego and super-ego, plays a major role in Emily’s life. Emily’s unconscious id, her very most basic and primary desire which is to possess a man; the relationship with Homer can be

She has been denied all of her life due to the fact “none of the young men were quite good enough for Miss Emily and such” (Faulkner, 219) because the “Griersons held themselves a little too high for what they really were” (Faulkner, 219). Emily’s father did not allow her to marry nor have men visitors. The desire of Miss Emily’s id is uncontrollable and governing instincts that eventually causing her to murder her lover with rat poison to possess him completely. Again, the ego works on the reality principle; what the id wants and what reality can provide in life and Miss Emily’s ego is having the real life that she had had dreamed to survive. The mental instability and Emily’s delusions, and her losing touch with the reality of her time result in her desire and action of necrophilia. So, Miss Emily killed her lover and sleeps in bed next his corpse every night to satisfy her dream need. Additionally, in the super-ego or “over the self,” Emily is always fighting to achieve what is socially correct and morally