Psychoanalytic Theory on King LearPsychoanalytic theory was born in the 19th century by a man named Sigmund Freud with the help of Dr. Joseph Breuer, this theory is based on behaviors and personality humans. The human personality is broken down into three elements: the id, the superego and the ego. The id element is the internal and basic needs such as hunger, thirst and even sex. Ignore pain but seek pleasure. The superego is the approach to acting in a socially acceptable manner. It is behavior learned by living in society and receiving instructions from parents. The ego is the balance between the id element and the superego. Help both elements by understanding how to act in an acceptable manner. Psychoanalytic theory is applied to one of Shakespeare's plays, King Lear, understanding Lear's needs for love from his daughters and the actions that follow. Throughout the play King Lear's tone is harsh and angry due to his madness over his daughters betraying him. After Lear foolishly divides his kingdom among his daughters based on their love for him, his pride and self-esteem reach a low point. Throughout the play Lear does not seem to know himself as well as others. He feels betrayed because his daughters, who claimed to “love” him more, went against his orders. It is as if Lear sees himself as weak and no longer powerful. In the first act, Lear orders his daughters to foster their love for him, but out of respect for her father Cordelia refuses to do so. Because Cordelia did not obey his orders, Lear throws her out. He becomes furious because he feels like his daughter doesn't love him. In this act Cordelia explains to her father that yes, she loves him like a father, but most of her love must go to her husband b...... middle of paper ...... who have greater power and one an ego larger than Lear's. There are several symbols throughout the work. The storm in the middle of the play symbolizes the chaos that is happening in Lear's mind. It also symbolizes his anger and madness towards his daughters, which is why the storm is so violent. It is an internal confusion of Lear's mind. It's like he can't believe his daughters would be so cruel to him. Another symbol throughout the play is Glouster's blindness. Glouster's blindness symbolizes that he and Lear both have loyal sons and disloyal sons. Since Glouster has lost his sight and Lear has gone mad, both fathers realize the mistake they made in letting their sons become powerful. Both fathers realize this at the end of the show, when they are in the same zone as each other.