MARIANO MARCOS STATE UNIVERSITY

College of Teacher Education

LITERARY CRITICISM ANALYSIS PROJECT

ELIT 106 Literary Criticism
First Semester, School Year 2022-2023
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Title of the Essay: Manifestation of Id, Ego, Superego in the short story “The wedding dance” by
Amador Daguio

Submitted by: Gajonera Janice, Sadorra Roselle, Trisha Mae Tolosa

Submitted to: Dr. Jahnese D. Asuncion

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Human behavior is complex. In Sigmund Freud’s Psychoanalytic theory, he identified three

elements of personality and these are id, ego, and superego. Each element has been interrelated to

each other, as they work together to understand the complexity of human dispositions. Each

component has an important contribution in looking into an individuals’ actions and personality.

Freud’s psychoanalytic theory has remained one of the most used theories in analyzing a literary piece.

This theory helps in explaining the hidden emotions, behaviors and thinking capabilities of a character

in a story. Moreover, it also guides learners to study the author. Why and how the author chose to

write that piece, what influences him and what does the author’s message do to the readers. Using

this theory, let us examine how id, ego, and superego are manifested in the story The Wedding Dance

written by Amador Daguio.

The Wedding Dance tells the story of a couple, Awiyao and Lumnay, who were separated

because of their cultures and Awiyao's desire to have a child. During Awiyao’s wedding dance with

his new wife, he checked on Lumnay, who is very upset with their situation. The two dearly love each

other; however, despite doing everything to conceive a child together, Lumnay is unable to do so.
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The story is written by Amador Daguio, a poet, novelist and teacher during the pre-war. He

served as chief editor for the Philippine House of Representatives before he died in 1966. In 1973,

six years after his death, Daguio was conferred the Republic Cultural Heritage Award. In his writing,

Daguio seeks to establish a pure Filipino voice, distinct from its colonizers. Even in English, Daguio’s

writing is Filipino in essence. In The Wedding Dance, he draws upon the culture of his ancestors to

explore Filipino traditions along with the universal themes of love, suffering, and societal

expectations.

With his literary piece The Wedding Dance, there are evidences that prove how the id, ego,

and superego function and interrelated with each other. In this analysis, incorporated are three primary

manifestations that were discovered in the story. The first one is:

Superego overpowers id and ego. According to Freudian Principles which was pointed out

by Anna Freud in her 1936 book, The Ego and the Mechanisms of Defense, it was stated that the

primary action of the superego is to suppress entirely any urges or desires of the id that are considered

wrong or socially unacceptable. It also tries to force the ego to act morally rather than realistically.

Finally, the superego strives for moral perfections, without taking reality into account. This statement

is found and clearly demonstrated on the following excerpt:

She took herself away from him, for a voice was calling out to him from outside.

Awiyao! Awiyao! O Awiyao! They are looking for you at the dance!

I am not in hurry.

The elders will scold you. You had better go.

Not until you tell me that it is all right with you.

It is all right with me.

I do this for the sake of the tribe.

I know.

(Paragraph 55-62)
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Awiyao and Lumnay's superego is demonstrated in these paragraphs by their awareness of

what is right and wrong in the eyes of society and their tribe. Although their love for one another is

obvious and undeniable, their feelings are insufficient to keep them connected. By adhering to their

tribe’s standards and expectations regarding men having their own children, Awiyao demonstrated

his dedication to his tribe. It is clear from his words, "I do this for the sake of the tribe," that he is not

marrying another woman in the hopes of having a child for himself but rather for the sake of their

group. In a tribe, a child is significant because he or she carries on the father's legacy and establishes

the father's reputation as a strong, honorable guy.

On the other hand, Lumnay's superego is also exhibited in the paragraph as she did not try to

keep Awiyao with him but instead told him that someone was looking for him. She knows what is

right, as she has not let her emotions contain her and has not used her love for her former husband to

do what is unethical in their tribe. As her superego leads her, she urges Awiyao to go and be in the

celebration of his wedding rather than to be with her. From this phrase, "she took herself away from

him," it is evident in this line that Lumnay knows how to handle the situation by letting go of Awiyao

as a respect to their tribe and also to his new wife. Lumnay's love for Awiyao is immeasurable, and

even though she genuinely wants the two of them to be together, it is clear from her responses of "I

know" and "It is alright with me" that she fully comprehends the need for their separation. By letting

Awiyao leave rather than keeping him in a union where they are unable to produce a child on their

own, Lumnay exemplifies selflessness by considering what is best for Awiyao.

Superego dominates id and ego, as what is moral will always be prevalent in this world. It

incorporates the morals and ethics of society, which are learned from the children's parents and the

people they interact with. Superego makes you aware of the consequences and can make you feel

guilty without knowing why you feel that way. According to Saul Mcleod (2021), the role of the

superego is to restrain the id's impulses, especially those that are socially taboo, like sex and

aggression. This is because the super-ego tends to stand in opposition to the desires of the id because
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of their conflicting objectives. This claim can be primarily exhibited with the next manifestation

found in the story:

Super-ego works in contradiction to the id. Freud said, typically, our sense of the collective

good restrains the amorality of our individual desires. The super-ego 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 super-

ego acts as the conscience, maintaining our sense of morality and proscription from taboos. This is

evident on the following excerpt:

Go back to the dance. It is not right for you to be here. They will wonder where you

are, and Madulimay will not feel good. Go back to the dance.

-Paragraph 30

Lumnay here felt obligated to let Awiyao go back to the dance (though at some point, her id

says otherwise) because her conscience said that it is not right for Awiyao to stay with her due to the

fact that he is already marrying another woman. In this case, superego overcomes her id.

Substantiation for this is also shown in the following lines:

Suddenly she found courage. She would go to the dance. She would go to the chief of

the village, to the elders, to tell them it was not right. Awiyao was hers; nobody could

take him away from her. Let her be the first woman to complain, to denounce the

unwritten rule that a man may take another woman.

-Paragraph 69

In this paragraph, the Id is present as the manifestation of Lumnay’s desperateness to take

back Awiyao which made her run back to the village and thought of breaking the law of their tribe.

She was desperate enough that she didn’t think about what and how the villagers would look at her.
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However, despite this impulsive decision of her, in the end, her Id is stopped by the superego as shown

in the following paragraph:

Her heart warmed to the flaming call of the dance; strange heat in her blood welled

up, and she started to run. But the gleaming brightness of the bonfire commanded her

to stop. She stopped. She did not have the courage to break into the wedding feast.

Lumnay walked away from the dancing ground, away from the village.

-Paragraph 70-71

Lumnay did not continue her plan of breaking into the wedding in order to be with her

Husband because she realizes that it is wrong to do so. She is not meant for her husband for she cannot

bear a child as oppose to what is socially acceptable to them. Therefore, Lumnay chose to stay away

because it is the right thing to do and the thought of Awiyao having no child, and his name to not live

on in their tribe because of her build up a sense of conscience and guilt which then made her to

conform in their rules regardless. This is further supported as what Freud stated that the super-ego

can be thought of as a type of conscience that punishes misbehavior with feelings of guilt and that the

superego tries to perfect and civilize our behavior. In this way, the superego contradicts with the Id

to serve as a guide for making judgments and acceptable decisions.

It is evident that the superego is so strong that it managed to ignore the underlying id in the story.

However, despite superego being the dominant behavior that is manifested in the story, there are also

proof that show id is trying to defy the superego which can also be infer as:

Id opposes the dominating superego. It was emphasized by Freud that the id is the

personality component made up of psychic energy that works to satisfy basic urges, needs, and desires.

Freud’s conception was that the id and superego are in constant conflict, because the id wants instant

gratification regardless of the consequences, but the superego tells us that we must behave in socially

acceptable ways.
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First manifestation of this is at the very first paragraph when Awiyao went to Lumnay at the

middle of the wedding ceremony. He does not mind if the elders will get mad at him because he

wanted to satisfy his id which is to see Lumnay even for the very last time. All he thinks is that his

desire and need to see Lumnay because of her situation.

Second manifestation is when Awiyao tried to encourage Lumnay to dance before their

separation which is evident in this line:

Go out—go out and dance. If you really don’t hate me for this separation, go out and

dance. One of the men will see you dance well; he will like you dancing, he will marry

you. Who knows but that, with him, you will be luckier than you were with me.

I don’t want any man, she said sharply. I don’t want any other man.

-Paragraph 6-7

From this paragraph, Lumnay’s strong emotion which is a deep suffering and grief is evident

as she said her words sharply as described in her line. She has the strong urge to tell her feelings as

she may not contain it any longer when she kept silent for a longer time. Also in the following line,

it is serves as a repetition what her heart really wants is no other than his loving husband Awiyao:

I don't care about the fields," she said. "I don't care about the house. I don't care for

anything but you. I'll have no other man.

-Paragraph 41

Lumnay showed and expressed her desire that she doesn’t want any other man than Awiyao.

She didn’t care about what Awiyao says, but she just cares and acknowledges her strong feeling of

love to Awiyao. The expression “want” symbolizes a desire for something thus revealing the id

manifestation. In Freud’s 1933 book New Introductory Lectures on Psychoanalysis, he described the

id as the "dark, inaccessible part of our personality." The only real way to observe the id, he suggested,

was to study the content of dreams and neurotic behavioral clues. Thus, the realization falls into id as

being an extremely unstoppable due to its innate or natural effect on people.

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To satisfy this claim, in the following paragraph is evidence that shows how much Lumnay wanted

so bad to have a child that she killed one of their pigs to offer to Kabunyan without Awiyao’s consent

which is manifested in this paragprah:

You know that I have done my best, she said. I have prayed to Kabunyan much.

I have sacrificed many chickens in my prayers.

Yes, I know.

You remember how angry you were once when you came home from your work in the

terrace because I butchered one of our pigs without your permission? I did it to

appease Kabunyan, because, like you, I wanted to have a child. But what could I do?

-Paragraph 16-18

Lumnay did this because she was very wishful to have a child to the extent that she did not

care of the possible consequences like what if Awiyao will get angry at her. Her strong feeling at

this point is evidence that she didn’t think enough about the possible consequences that it may bring

to their situation.

It is then forwarded that the three primary manifestations that were discovered in the story are

Superego overpowers id and ego, Superego works in contradiction to the id, and Id opposes the

dominating superego. These were the manifestations found in the literary piece “The Wedding

Dance”, as it proved how the id, ego, and superego function and interrelated with each other in the

analysis of the story.

Therefore, it is then concluded that the story was produced by the conflict between biological

impulses and social restraints. The characters’ behavior is influenced by repressed desires or conflicts

among the id, ego, and superego. Indeed, it instills an undeniable fact that whether it is driven by id,

ego, or superego, when it comes to love, pain will always be there and pain is totally inevitable. In
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love, especially romantic relationships, there are a lot of things that will test your relationship just

like in the story, there is a conflicting manifestation of love and cultural reality that made their

relationship in a difficult situation.

It is then recommended that in love, it is not wrong to fight for it even if difficult circumstances

happen. But if love is really true, no matter what, you will always find a way to compromise and

make things happen. However, at some point, being able to choose what is upright is also a different

kind of love because love is not just for unification. You can also find love in separation wherein it

represents conditional love because people are able to sacrifice for the greater good. Hence,

selflessness is a great love. In the end, what matters is not the way love is portrayed or measured, but

the love itself that all people have in their hearts. It is that we have our own expressions of love.