The Bedford Glossary of Critical and Literary Terms - Ross Murfin 2018

Id

Id: According to Austrian psychoanalyst Sigmund Freud, the inborn, unconscious component of the psyche that generates our instinctual physical, especially libidinal, desires. The id is often described as insatiable; ruled by the pleasure principle, it does not consider the consequences or implications of its desires or the actions involved in satisfying them.

Freud believed the psyche also has two other components: the superego and the ego. The superego, which internalizes social mores and norms, is the opposite of the id. The superego is often subdivided into the ego ideal, an ideal self to which the individual aspires, and the conscience, which distinguishes right from wrong. The ego, which is based on the reality principle, attempts to mediate between the id and the superego in the context of reality and the demands and possibilities it creates for the individual. Ego strength refers to how well the ego deals with the conflicting demands of the id and superego.