final essay
Lecture:
Psychoanalytic Play and Macbeth
Hence the stage of the subject is like the actor's stage. Both have disconnected parts that are managed and held together through representation. The psyche is a stage where to act and to play mean to be a meaningful subject. The subject, like the play, achieves excellence when all its acting parts work together.
Freud describes the active subject as one who mediates the ego, id, and superego—it is a management of conflicting parts at play. To play is to act, and the most irresponsible, passive subjects are the one that never act, i.e. acknowledge conflict. Identity becomes active when there is an affective engagement of all the subject's various parts/roles. Most of us are unwilling or just too nervous to face our issues and engage on the subjective stage. Still, being an active subject and facing both the unconscious and conscious aspects of our psyche allows us to play. This is the point where we become responsible beings and our "struggle" pays off, where we see the difference between fantasy and reality more clearly. top
To identify with = mimesis. Often, the subject uses mimesis and the identification or analysis of another psychic stage to avoid going through trauma. Learning through drama, the subject avoids acting rashly and sustaining serious injury.
Accordingly, the subject's enjoyment is based on illusion when they are not owning their own psyche or "stage." Each play entails the subject acting to face traumatic, unconscious, or difficult issues.
The subject is involved in drama on both a conscious and an unconscious or affective level. The (psychic or artistic) stage is where the subject explores emotional possibilities as well as conceptual values. Oftentimes the subject's values will not be reflected in their character, and drama produces change more effectively than enlightenment thought. Dramatic change can occur directly in the subject's character or indirectly through art. Either way, when the subject decides to act they change their character, behave differently, and work through conflict. Dramatic portrayals in art, drama, or film may spur the subject into action. Learning through art, the subject makes their own stage to handle life's stress, demands, and conflicts. top