Story Of An Hour Psychoanalytic Lens

The Story of The Story of an Hour
The Story of an Hour by Kate Chopin plays into Sigmund Freud’s theories of psychology that the Id, Ego and the Superego control the unconscious, desires, and the defenses of the individual. Through the psychoanalytic lens of The Story of an Hour by Kate Chopin we perceive her emotional journey and how that is initially driven by the Id, Ego, and Superego creating quite the ironic revelation. As Louise Mallard moves from learning of her husband’s death to learning of his survival, her id, superego, and ego all make an appearance through her actions and thoughts. The ego is how an individual copes with their unconscious desires. The ego can be seen taking power in Louise’s thoughts as she sits thinking in a chair “…there was a dull stare in her eyes, whose gaze was fixed away off yonder…it was not a glance of reflection, but rather indicated a suspension of intelligent thought”(Chopin 60). In this quote, Louise is not actively trying to process the information of her husband’s death, but she is trying to hold onto the tinge of optimism she feels revolving around the news of her husband’s death

when Louise has had time to process the information of her husband’s death and she begins to realize her potential freedom; the id begins to dominate over her superego causing Louise to feel optimistic and joyful. The id, Freud suggests, is the superego’s counterpart. As Louise’s id begins to gain power again, freedom starts to form in her mind, although she is unable to put a name to the thought. The narrative states, “There was something coming to her and she was waiting for it, fearfully. What was it? She did not know; it was too subtle and elusive to name…she was beginning to recognize this thing that was approaching her…she was striving to beat it back with her will…” (Chopin 1). The stimulus of her husband’s death is starting to create a word-presentation of the freedom she once had before she was