Freud's Theories Applied to Peter Shaffer's Amadeus

Essay by SharonStonJunior High, 7th gradeF, April 2004

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Freud's Theories Applied to Peter Shaffer's Amadeus

1. Preface

People live to balance between a morality principle and a pleasure principle. How well we harmonize the two can decide our life color. Therefore, I wonder which principle a great person chose to follow in one's life. I will talk about a great musician, Mozart applying Freud's theories in the movie, called Peter Shaffer's Amadeus.

2. The analysis of Mozart's character in the movie

I was able to notice through the movie that Mozart sought for a pleasure principle a lot, because he loved women, enjoying a game and drinking alcohol to persue only id. Therefore, he really disliked to follow the convention of the society and rules obligatorily, which are reality. However, normal people can hold back their pleasures although they greatly want to follow id in their mind, because they want to find a point of compromise between the two; the morality and pleasure principle.

Precisely, common people accept the rules, here, their mental attitudes are represented as superego. In the movie, I looked into how Mozart accepted the morality and pleasure principle.

1) Mozart leaving Salzburg

Around 18C, the archbishop, Hieronymus Colorado ruled over Salzburg. Colorado was an employer of Mozart and his father, Leopold Mozart and was really strict not allowing them to go to a concert tour well. He gave Mozart and his father a lot of money for a salary to make sure that they stand in the relation of master and servant. However, between Mozart's free character and the employer's autocratic character there caused lots of trouble. Therefore, Mozart got fired. Actually, that was what he really wanted. Colorado controlled Mozart, who really wanted to do his own seeking music, with many strict rules and restrictions, and Mozart gave up...