Analysis on the Latest English Literature

PSYCHOANALYSIS APPROACH ON ANNA AND THE KING MOVIE

Lecturer: Drs. Subur L. Wardoyo, Ph.D

Reported by: Heri Dwi Santoso A4A009016

ENGLISH LITERATURE MASTERS DEGREE PROGRAM IN LITERATURE DIPONEGORO UNIVERSITY SEMARANG 2010

INTRODUCTION

Persons personality consists of three apparatus that are Id, Ego, and Superego. The Superego is a moral principle, contradicted with id, the pleasure principle. Whereas, Id is a reality principle of humans personality. The Superego strives to act in a socially appropriate manner, whereas the id just wants instant self-gratification. The Superego controls our sense of right and wrong and guilt. It helps us fit into society by getting us to act in socially acceptable ways. The Superego's demands oppose the ids, so the ego has a hard time in reconciling the two. The conflicts between three of them can result an anxiety if there are no fine solution. Anxiety is a kind of painful experience as a consequence of egos reaction to id or superego. In A Primer of Freudian Psychology, Hall said that: Anxiety is a painful emotional experience which is produced by excitations in the internal organs of the body. The excitations result from internal or external stimulus and are governed by the autonomic nervous system (Hall, 1954: 61) Related to the above, when we are watching Anna & The King, we find any conflicts that represent the anxiety and how to mend it. Spectators may assume that the story in it more and more cant far away from love in any conflict even when its considerably served in more complex and typical way. Indeed, this story strongly constitutes psychological conflicts in each actor especially Anna Leonowens and King Maha Mongkuts.

ANALYSIS

The analysis in this paper includes several sub-chapters that analyze about Annas conflict of personality. These are the analysis: 1. Annas Ideal a. Western Ideas as Annas Superego Anna Leonowens personality is dominated by her strong superego. It is because shes affected by the western culture, including tradition, and idea that is considered as the highest culture compared with the others. The ideas she adopts include the gender relation, especially in marriage, thats giving a moderate point of view to treat women. Theres a far wider area in which women can independently think and act in the society. This idea influent Annas ideal. Anna lives as an English soldier widow with one boy, Louis. Her profession is a teacher and she previously has grown and stayed in India, one of English colonies at that time. She grows with the belief in modern western ideas and lives in Protestant religiosity including the idea of monogamy and the belief of equal relation of love for male and female. Her modern characters made her became wise, clever, faithful, and professional.

b. Thomas Leonowens as Annas Father Figure Thomas was Annas husband. Hes murdered in a war as a British soldier in India. Anna sees Thomas as a model figure for her ideal mind. In Annas description, Thomas was a moderate husband who was giving tolerances to Anna to speak, be herself and to realize her willingness including to be a teacher. King Anna : : Husband must have been very understanding. My husband was never threatened by my ideas or my opinions. (Anna & the King Movie, 00:37:51.84 - 00:38:03.65)

The dialog above describes about how Anna defend her ideology in front of the Kings cynical comment. It is because the figure of Thomas has consequently been adopted in Annas mind and has become one of her superego. 2. Anna in Relieving the Anxiety a. Anna in Mending the Broken Heart The death of her husband, Tom, became a big striking moment that made her losing happiness. The Annas quality helps her ego growing up. The pressure from superego that is ideal way to understand the meaning of her life stimulate Anna to struggle shifting her pain of broken heart.

The unsatisfied passion of love as an Id principle becomes a stimulus for ego to defend. Otherwise, the morality principle giving pressure to ego stimulates ego to take an alternative way resolving the anxiety cause by broken heart. The manifestation of ego is by projection, a mechanism of ego defense, in which Anna receive and accept King Mongkuts offer to teach his oldest son, Prince Chulalongkhorn, in purpose to modernize the future of kingdom inheritants. However, the pressure given by Id to repress Ego, even not as strong as superegos pressure, the anxiety is still cant totally satisfied by egos projection. Anna comes in Siam bringing her loneliness and heartbroken. The ego mechanism by projection manifested in her willingness to teach English education to the royal prince. But then Annas ego begins disturbed when then King acts authoritarian manner. He denies the contract agreement to give housing for Anna outside the Palace. b. Special Figure of King Maha Mongkut King Maha Mongkut is a leader identified to the god so it is forbidden for people to look at his face. King Mongkut is the dominant figure in Siam; his ego is the superego for the Siamese people. All of the orders he rules become the customs in Siam that people must obey. All of his demand should be realized just because everything he needs and wants is for the goodness.

Ego of King Mongkut with the authority he has and the totalitarian manner he plays is so dominant in legitimating the entire Siam. It becomes the new superego for Anna Leonowens. Kings repression stimulates Annas ego to do regression. After having debate with the King about claiming the promised house, Anna then imagining flashback to the memory of her husband by looking at his army uniform at her room in the palace. The initial days in Siam, Anna is forced to be accustomed to the monarchy system in Siam that is considerably a very patriarchal society. Therefore the ego cant develop because the monarchy, the patriarchal system, the superego repress Annas ego dominantly. Basically, the Siams tradition is traditional, old-fashioned, not fit for the vision of modern society. It includes slavery, women subordination and polygamy representing the traditional patriarchal system. The repressed ego does its resistance. As a teacher, she is steady and professional. She keeps teaching children with modern knowledge, new science, and western ideology as she has understood before she came in Siam. She consciously gives a new understanding in opposition of the Kings and Siameses traditional and old-fashioned ideology. Anna professionally teaches all the things to modernize the mind of Kings inheritants.

c. Annas Wise Defense Because of her smart and wise manner, she can step by step freeing up her ego upon the restriction of superego. Interestingly, Annas vision including her teaching method impressed the King who finally gives a house for Anna at riverside. The Kings ego, as Annas superego, indeed, - slowly but for sure is influenced by Annas ego. The confrontation between Annas ego and the rules of law in Siam happens in several cases. For example, when she found a slave women tied in the palace because of her willingness to buy her freedom and when Anna found a girl which is forced to be the new concubine for the King. The climax is when Anna criticizes the court that gives a death punishment to concubine Tumpim for betraying the King just because she wants to pursue her true love and for that she decides to be a monk, cleaning her head hair out. Anna cant handle the aggressive movement of her ego ignoring that intervening and disturbing the court is forbidden. She criticizes how the King cant do anything. Below is the dialogue: Anna King Anna : You have the power to lead your-: Now is not the time to change the way that things are done! : Well, if not now, then when? How many more people must die so that you might save face? (Anna & the King movie, 01:44:55.73 - 01:45:07.50)

The dialogue above is Annas statement about her disappointment for the irrational death punishment to concubine Tuptim. She wants to show her rejection to this kind of Siams law. She asks for the King about his disability and unwillingness to reform some aspects of the traditionally Siamese customs and traditions. Indeed, King Mongkut is not a fully devil. His ego has just decided to make intervention the court just before Anna states to public in the courthouse about her willingness to ask the King to stop the trial. Kings ego is just pressed by his egoistic desire to maintain his authority, power, and nobility without losing his face upon his people. In Kings opinion, it is because Annas intervention. Annas ego and Kings ego confront each other. Actually, behind it, theres a fact that the Kings ego is driven by Annas ego. It becomes the turning point in which Annas ego take over the dominant position upon the King. Kings ego does projection. At the time Tuptim is executed, King goes to vihara, crying to God for his mistake. Back to the previous statement that Anna comes to Siam to forget her pain and loneliness. Her desire of love cannot be satisfied at all until she finds a new love to replace her loneliness. But, as time goes by, Anna seem finding the image of her husband, her symbol of love in the personality of King along with the development of the Kings ego that is step-by-step satisfying Anna.

We can found it when the King is in the battle against traitors who are intended to make a betrayal. Anna clearly speaks to the King after winning the battle about her unwilling to lose him just like she has lost her husband, the man she loves. However, Annas anxiety is still not totally relieved because the Id, the love need, isnt satisfied. The moral responsibility of the professional relationship, the contract of teaching as the manifestation of superego has been over at last and Anna thinks wisely to go back to her homeland, England. CONCLUSION It can be said that the influence of Thomas Leonowens, Annas dead husband, in the superego of Annas personality is so great. As the story tells, the death of the husband has poses Anna to be anxious just because of the lonely and sad feeling. The anxiety of Anna after the death of her husband is repressed by her willingness to teach and socialize with other society. The approach of Kings figure has successfully cheer Anna up from her sadness and loneliness but the ego is able to maintain the superego role for avoiding trapped in the new love and relationship to other man, in this case, coming from other culture and idea in the representation of King Maha Mongkut. Otherwise, the anxiety in Annas personality is not totally satisfied. Anna takes a wise solution by leaving Siam by the end of her contract. Its so hard to relieve but the as the consequence of her superego thats dominantly affected by the repression of the father figure in representation of Thomas Leonowens ideal figure. 8

REFERENCE

Hall, Calvin S. 1954. A Primer of Freudian Psychology. New York: The World Publishing Company Anna & The King (Movie), produced in 1999.