Alfred Adler and the Self Ideal
Alfred Adler (1870s) diverged from Freud's emphasis on unconscious drives and focused more on social dynamics, the pursuit of personal goals, and the innate human desire for mastery. Central to Adlerian psychology is the notion of 'individual psychology,' which highlights the uniqueness of each person's subjective experience and underscores the importance of social context in shaping behavior.
Adler posited that individuals are driven by a 'striving for superiority,' a fundamental urge for mastery and competence that motivates them to overcome feelings of inferiority and pursue meaningful goals in life. Yet, this strive is driven by a subjective and personal 'self ideal.' One of the most effective ways to dive quickly and deeply into a character's psychology, Adler has become one of my recent favorites for literary analysis. His emphasis on subjective ideals helps him overlap well with other psychological, linguistic, and social models.
Lit. Application Checklist
⭘ Identify a character's self ideal - an image or concept that they aspire to be (even if they don't realize it)
⭘ Consider the consciousness of the character in relation to their self ideal. Are they aware of who they really want to be?
⭘ Explore characters' striving for superiority, in relation to their self ideal
⭘ Isolate moments of inferiority - when their self ideal is not reached
⭘ Isolate moments of compensation - when they attempt to make up for their perceived deficiencies
⭘ Courage! Confrontation of inferiority? Acceptance of responsibility? Resilience during failure? Risk despite uncertain outcomes?
⭘ Social Interest - An innate drive to contribute to society's welfare; compassion and empathy to the broader community
Strengths
Self ideal is easy to identify and a powerful and nuanced tool for literary analysis
Moments of inferiority (not achieving self ideal) are frequent in literature and are excellent to explain hostile and violent behavior
Simple to begin analysis, but deep potential for analysis
Great for a positive model on social responsibility and interaction
Holistic, broad perspective that takes into account a character's interaction with their environment as well as the narratives they form
Weaknesses
Birth order model seems weak and deterministic
Reductionist (arguable) - Can reduce complex human behavior to an arguably over simplistic level
Innate premises may not work for all literary works: people are driven to improve their community (broader context) and people are attempting to improve themselves in order to achieve a self-created ideal
Tretyak's Commentary
At the time of writing this (March, 2024), Adler is relatively new to me in the realm of literary analysis. Yet, I feel his ideas provide one of the best and most accessible frameworks for character analysis in the literary field. Unlike Freud, they do not feel so limited, deterministic, and dismissively diagnostic (or overused!). Unlike Lacan, your sentences don't create a philological black whole of meaning. Moreover, the 'self ideal' concept is incredibly practical and a wonderful tool for in-class discussion and self evaluation. This isn't even considering the nature of the 'self ideal,' that it's a narrative we create. And how realiable are those narratives? How perceptive are we of our own values, goals, and ideals? And are they our perceived ideals? Or simply shadows of another ideal, unaware, lurking, that is only revealed through out insecurities and feelings of insignificance?
Adler's ideas aren't simple, but they are simple to begin. The self ideal isn't a complex topic, but it is one made more complex through the interplay of perspective and humanity's unreliability. For these reasons, I'm beginning to really love Adler's model.