Sam Nowicki In the story Oepdipus Rex, struggles with the three components of personality.

The id, the superego, and the ego.The id is based on instant gratification, and pleasure. The superego is the moral side of us. The superego is the part that tells us right from wrong. The ego is the side that helps us balance our impulses between the id and the superego. Oedipus mainly makes his decisions on how they will benefit himself. Therefore, the personality that wins out over Oedipus is the id. Oedipus fits the personality of the id because as he grew older he was told his fate. Oedipus's fate was that he would kill his father, and sleep with his mother. After being told, oedipus flees Corinth, to "run away" from doing the big wrong. This fits the id because the id wants whatever feels good at that particular time. The id makes decisions without thinking of later consequences. The id is obviously evident in the character of Oedipus in the sense that he kills his father, and sleeps with his mother. This represents the id because, Oedipus is seeking pleasure. The pleasure of winning over his mother by knocking his father out of the way. The id is based on the pleasure principle, so this represents the id perfectly. Oedipus acts this way because he is trying to escape his fate. Oedipus is a selfish man and is all about his pride. Oedipus does not think of other people, the id wins over by telling Oedipus to do things based on how it will benefit himself. If the id was not present in Oedipus the story would not be so intense. If the id was not present, Oedipus would not have left Corinth, and he would not have killed his father. The superego is evident in Oedipus when he becomes king, and tries helping the city of Thebes to find the murderer of Laius. Oedipus is not only thinking of himself, but he is thinking of the society. Oedipus expresses that he will find the murderer and punish him even if it was himself. The superego is the angel on someones shoulder. This personality dictates right from wrong, and thinks about how decisions will effect the society. Oedipus is driven to act this way because he is the king of Thebes. He wants the best for his city, so he will stop at nothing to identify the murderer of Laius. Oedipus's superego is also evident when he solves the riddle of the sphinx. Oedipus was not thinking of how it could benefit him but how it could benefit his city. oedipus believes he is a man of high birth, so that is where his morals step in. Oedipus wants to be a good king because he has morals. The superego developes morals and ethical issues. Oedipus's superego gives the story depth. As a king Oedipus is selfish, but he also does what is best for his city when they need him the most. The ego personality is evident in Oedipus because he is the king of his city. As the king Oedipus needs to make decisions for everyone. The ego balances both the id and the superego. Making decisions could help Oedipus but they could also hurt the city of Thebes. Oedipus makes the decision to find the murderer of Laius, even if he found out it would be

him he would kill them. Oedipus also fills the ego personality because he specifically asks creon to help his daughters throught the rest of their lives. Oedipus could either ask for forgiveness for himself, but he could also ask to give his daughters protection. The ego helps Oedipus make his decision. Oedipus's ego helps the story end. In the beginning of the story Oedipus was all about himself, and towards the end Oedipus's ego becomes more evident because he starts realizing what he has done wrong and makes decisions not based on only him but what will benefit others as well. Defense mechanisms are evident in everyone. Oedipus, out of everyone in the play struggles with other emotions. Three defense mechanisms noticble in Oedipus are denial, displacement, and regression. Denial is refusing to acknowledge something that has occured. Oedipus denys being Laius's murderer at first because he does not want to recognize that it was actually him. Oedipus denies this because he believes he is a great king, and does not want Thebes to know it was him. Displacement is shifting actions from one target to another, when the disered target in unavailable. Oedipus blames Creon for Tiresias being involved in the murder of Laius. Oedipus wants to blame Tiresias, but he is not present, Creon is. So out of anger Oedipus blames Creon. Regression is the action of taking the olace of a child in a stressful situation. Oedipus pokes his eyes out with a sword. Oedipus does not know how to deal with the news of himself being the murderer. Poking his eyes out, is sort of like a child curling up in the fetal position. Oedipus's motives to poke his eyes out was to never see his real mother of father, because he knew what he had done to them. Although poking your eyes out is not easy, it was Oedipus's way out. Sigmund Freud's theaory of the Oedipal complex stems from a boy's desire for physical contact with his mother. As the boy grows older, or the sexual desire grows more intense, the father is seen as just another obstacle for the boy. By perceiving his father as a blockade he has aquired and Oedipal complex. The act of killing his father, and sleeping with the mother will have consequences, and it should be repressed. Oedipus never approached the situation at hand. Oedipus went on through his life trying to avoid it. By never approaching the situation the Oedipal complex remains. The only way the complex can be destroyed is if the boy believes that the father is superior. Oedipus obviously did not feel that his father was superior, so the complex was never destroyed.