Blanche Devereaux Character Analysis - 2911 Words

Running head: BLANCHE DEVEREAUX: ACCORDING TO FREUD This paper will be an analysis of the personality of Blanche Elizabeth Devereaux from the show titled â€Å"The Golden Girls.† In this paper Blanche will be analyzed from two points of view. The first analysis will be from the view of psychodynamics using Freud’s ideas on personality. For this analysis I will begin with the structure of Blanche’s personality in regards to the Id, which is the aspect of personality that deals with the instincts, the Ego, which is the rational aspect of the personality, and the Superego, which is the moral aspect of personality. The second analysis will be from the perspective of Abraham Maslow; I will use Maslow’s hierarchy of needs and his†¦show more content†¦Blanche seems to be flooding her Ego with too much anxiety. The anxiety she has is caused by her insecurities. She’s insecure about herself because often she feels that even if she were to stick with one of the men they wouldn’t want her after awhile. Blanche has both neurotic and moral anxieties. On the neurotic side, she feels as if her instincts (for sex) will get out of control and make her crazy. She often feels like sex has taken over her life and that’s she’s become dependent on it. She knows that it isn’t good for her but feels like she has no other options. On the moral side, she fears that she’s going against her husbands wishes when she sleeps with all the men. Blanche’s ego is overwhelmed and she often uses the defense mechanism of rationalization to help that. She often tries to turn situations into to ones that are more acceptable. For example, on one show after she slept with a man who hadn’t had sex in awhile she made herself feel better by claiming that â€Å"he needed it† and that she did him a favor. On another show she says that she collects lingerie because one day she can pass it all down to other women who may need it. Blanche also seems to use the id entification technique in order to reduce anxieties. She attaches herself to the idea of men and sex in order to increase her self-esteem and her self-worth. Blanche also uses the technique of regression. She lies about her age to everyone she meets. She even lies about her age to the