The Id， Ego and Superego of “I” in “Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening”

【Abstract】This article employs Freudian theory of the three psychic zones to analyze the id， the ego and the superego of the character “I” in “Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening” so as to help understand not only the theme of the poem， but also the life philosophy embodied in the poem.

【Key words】Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening； Freud； id； ego； superego

1. Introduction

Robert Frost （1874-1963） was one of the most outstanding American poets in the 20th century. He won the Pulitzer Prize four times and was invited to read his poem at President Kennedys inauguration in 1961， which made him the nations unofficial Poet Laureate.“Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening” is one of Frosts poems which are associated with nature. This poem， written in 1922 and published in 1923， shows the typical features of Robert Frosts poems， in which Frost expresses a complicated feeling about mingling with the beautiful and quiet nature and the responsibility which the speaker bears in the world.

2. Freudian Theory of the Three Psychic Zones

Freud divides the mental process to three psychic zones：the id， the ego and the superego. The id is irrational and sometimes dangerous. Its governed by pleasure principle. Thus， it is essential to have regulating agencies to protect the individual and society. One is the ego which helps protect the individual. The ego， dominated by reality principal， is rational and serves as intermediary between the world within and the world without. The other is the superego which helps protect society. The superego， dominated by morality principal， plays a critical and moralizing role， which can stop one from doing evil things that ones id desires and help make the ego behave morally rather than realistically.

3. The Id， Ego and Superego of “I”

In “Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening”， the psychic conflict of the character “I” is the conflict between the id and the superego of “I”， which is resolved by the ego. This process faithfully reflects Freuds theory of the three psychic zones.

In this poem， the woods stand for all sorts of allure in the real world that may be dangerous， by which everyone might be temporarily disturbed. The id of lonely “I”， without exception， is allured by the beautiful snowy scene and desires to stop and enjoy it to gratify his instincts for pleasure without regard for individual and society， ignoring his responsibilities temporarily.

However， the superego of “I”， as one of the two regulating agencies， urges him to stop enjoying the beautiful scene and move on his journey to shoulder his responsibilities， because the social morality principal demands him to be responsible and creditable. At this moment， the superego and the id of “I” are contradictory to each other. While one acts on pleasure principle the other acts on morality principal. The character “I” has an internal struggle and he has to choose between the two to balance his inner world.endprint

The ego plays the role of a mediator and works to balance the id and the superego according to the reality principal to keep “I” a mentally and physically healthy individual. In the last stanza， there are such lines， “But I have promises to keep/ And miles to go before I sleep/ And miles to go before I sleep”. Theses lines show that the character “I” realizes that he has promises to keep and still has a long way to go， so he just stops for a while and then goes on his journey. This is the result under the reconciliation of the ego. The reality principal allows “I” to stop for a while to have a rest， but it does not allow him to stop for too long because he may be frozen to death （known from the second “sleep”）， and he has to fulfill his promises. The last line of the poem indicates that the ego succeeds in balancing the id and the superego of “I”.

4. Conclusion

“Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening” is a poem not only presents a charmful world， but also offers us a way against losing ourselves in facing allure in the modern world. In this poem， the id is seduced by the woods at first， so he wants to stop to enjoy it. However， the superego requires him to move on to fulfill his responsibilities. Thus， the conflict shows up. In order to resolve this conflict， the ego， as a mediator， allows “I” to stop for a while and then moves on. This poem uncovers the psychological change process of “I”， which faithfully explains Freudian theory and tells us that to take responsibilities and to realize ones value is the most important thing in ones whole life.

References：

[1]常耀信.美國文學簡史[M].天津：南開大學出版社，1990.

[2]Robert Frost.The Poetry of Robert Frost.（Edward Connery Lathem，ed.，Copyright 1923），New York：Henry Holt and Company， Inc.，1969.

作者簡介：彭娟（1992-），女，漢族，四川達州人，寧夏大學研究生在讀，研究方向：英美文學。endprint