Wednesday, November 18, 2009

The Id, Ego and Superego in Endgame

When I read Endgame I felt like the characters did not represent human beings but rather the parts of the self. The characters comments on life and relationships to other characters are similar to the different parts of our own psyche.
Freud describes the Id as "It is the dark inaccessible parts of our personality... We all approach the Id with analogies: we call it chaos, a cauldron of seething expectations." In Endgame Nell and Nagg represent the Id. First off they are the most sentimental of all the characters. Nagg asks Nell " What is it my pet? (pause) Time for love?" They go own to talk about banal things such as the need to scratch, their eyes and hearing and teeth. Hamm tells Clov to "Bottle them up". Much as a superego would want to bottle up the Id because it is the least controllable and most unpredictable part of the psyche.
Freud says the ego " represents what may be called reason and common sense, in contrast to the id which contains the passions. " In Endgame Clov is obviously the Ego. He is the most passionless character of the four. He is the slave and has his focus on his tasks with little sentimentality. Hamm asks Clov if he loves him and Clov says nothing because there is nothing to say since it is not germaine to the task at hand. Most of Clov's dialogue is centered around whatever task he is charged to do.
Often the superego is described as the part of our psyche that strives for perfection. It encompasses the psychic goals of the individual but criticises the individuals drive and fantasies. The best example of this is when Clov has moved Hamm's chair. Hamm demands that it must be returned to the exact center. " I feel a little far to the left.... Now I feel a little far to the right....I feel a little too far forward....Now I feel a littlle too far back..." Consistently Hamm tries to control the characters around him. This need for control is the superego trying to keep the Id and Ego in check.
Endgame ressonated with many people despite it's like of plot or story. One reason may be that the various parts of ourselves are represented through these characters. These characters relationship to time and space allow us to understand how our psyche tries to cope with the Zen Buddhist like nothingness in our world.

1 comment:

Playscript Interpretation said...

This is a really persuasive interpretation! I want to go back and read the play again with this in mind. One thing I love about Beckett's plays is that I can look at them over and over again and find a different meaning each time.

Incidentally, the first time I saw The Big Lebowski I thought the same thing. I figured Walter (John Goodman) was the Id, The Dude was the ego, and Donny (Steve Buscemi) was the superego.