Definition of Ego & the Wives of Bath Discussion

Humans having an identity crisis … again

01. .025 points, At least 25 words > Read Part 1 of The Wives of Bath (1993) by Susan Swan here and just figure out which you think is more disruptive to the development of a human’s ego – being adopted or being sent to boarding school? In order to to get credit for your answer you need to choose one of these options over the other and explain and defend your choice by referencing one of the adoption stories listed below and then comparing and contrasting it to one of the characters from The Wives of Bath (1993), also listed below. Here is a quick link back to the assignment where I first introduced Sigmund Freud’s (1856-1939) theoretical ideas about the ego. Oh! Also, before you start reading Part 1 of the Wives of Bath (1993) make sure you read through the rest of the questions on this assignment so you know what else to look for in the reading. It will make this assignment go much, much faster. There is an okay summary of the novel on Wikipedia here Links to an external site., but you really should read it 😉 Trust me! It is so good! You will be glad you read it! When I teach this class live, face to face, I use the film version of this book and typically everyone goes crazy for it. But I can’t assign the film for this remote section of the course because it is really hard to track down, plus, the book is, ultimately, better for learning Freudian and Jungian theory, which is what we are using it for.

Adoption stories

• Bobby, Eddy, David
• Anaïs and Samantha
• Jonas and Nicole

The Wives of Bath (1993) characters

• Mary Beatrice “Mouse” Bradford
• Pauline “Paulie” Sykes/Lewis
• Victoria “Tory” Quinn

02. .025 points, At least 25 words > Do you trust Mouse as a narrator? That is, do you trust her descriptions of the things that happened to her at Bath’s Ladies College, particularly her relationship with Paulie and Tory? Formulate, defend and explain your answer with specific reference to Part 1 of The Wives of Bath (1993) by Susan Swan, archived here. The only other time you have had a first person narrator for some source material in this course was when I assigned you Jenny Boylan’s writing on A04, see Q04. Jenny would be, roughly, the same generation as Mouse, by the way 😉

03. .025 points, At least 25 words > Make the argument that the character of Paulie, at least how she is depicted in Part 1 of The Wives of Bath (1993), has a stronger ego than Mouse or Tory. Use Freud’s definition for what an ego is. You can find it on A04. And defend and explain your argument by showing that you understand the social structure and culture of Bath Ladies College as Mouse describes it.

04. .025 points, At least 25 words > Make the argument that the character of Tory, at least how she is depicted in Part 1 of The Wives of Bath (1993), has a stronger ego than Mouse or Paulie. Use Freud’s definition for what an ego is. You can find it on A04. And defend and explain your argument by showing that you understand the social structure and culture of Bath Ladies College as Mouse describes it.

Gender … again

05. .025 points, At least 25 words  > Do you think one of the reasons it was easy for Paulie to create the persona of Lewis was because she was living in all female environment, i.e., a girl’s school? Formulate, defend and explain your answer with specific reference to Part 1 of The Wives of Bath (1993) by Susan Swan, archived here.

06. .025 points, At least 25 words  > What do the three tests Paulie puts Mouse through to “become a boy” tell us about the ways masculinity was defined in mid 20th century North America? Formulate, defend and explain your answer with specific reference to Part 1 of The Wives of Bath (1993) by Susan Swan, archived here. And take note that The Wives of Bath (1993) is set in early 1960s Canada, which is roughly around the time Bobby, Eddy and David were born and a good 60 years or so after Freud was theorizing about stuff.

• Test 1 – Mastery over other men
• Test 2 – Mastery over women
• Test 3 – Mastery over nature

Sexuality … again

07. .025 points, At least 25 words > Who had the more “honest” romantic relationship – Mikael and Lisa or Paulie and Victoria? In order to to get credit for your answer you need to choose one of these options over the other and explain and defend your choice by referencing the story Mikael and Lisa are a part of, Tomboy (2011), first assigned here, as well as The Wives of Bath (1994), first assigned under Q01 on this assignment. By romantic in this question I just mean a relationship characterized by intense like, love or sexual attraction and/or a highly idealized friendship/sexual relationship.

08. .025 points, At least 25 words > Speaking of Paulie and Victoria, what do you think is going on with them romantically? I.e., Why the creation of “Lewis?” Who is Lewis for? Paulie? Victoria? Back your answer up with specific reference to Part 1 of The Wives of Bath (1993) by Susan Swan, archived here, and be sure to explain and defend your response. 

The Electra complex … again

09. .025 points, A passage and an at least 25 word explanation, Note the word count change > Find a passage from Part 1 of The Wives of Bath (1993) by Susan Swan, archived here, to describe and explain what Carl Jung (1875-1961) would call Mouse’s Electra complex. I first introduced the “Electra complex” on A05, but here Links to an external site.is a quick Wikipedia link to it. You can screenshot the passage from Swan or just copy it, it doesn’t matter. Just be sure to explain how the passage can be used to describe and explain the Electra complex.

10. .025 points, A passage and an at least 25 word explanation > Find a passage from Part 1 of The Wives of Bath (1993) by Susan Swan, archived here, to make the argument that President Kennedy was a father figure for Mouse. By father figure I just mean an older man who is respected for his paternal qualities and may be an emotional substitute for a father. You can screenshot the passage from Swan or just copy it, it doesn’t matter. Just be sure to explain how the passage can be used to describe and explain how Kennedy was a father figure for Mouse.

11. .025 points, At least 10 words, Note the word count change > Does the story Mouse tells about her mother’s death in the movie Lost and Delirious (2001) below comes up in Part 1 of The Wives of Bath (1993). There is a right answer to this question and a wrong one 😉

12. .025 points, Create a quick taxonomy, Note the word count change > Fill out the chart below to create a quick taxonomy of the kinds of families Mouse, Paulie and Tory come from and live in when they are not at bordering school.

The character of Paulie is based on a real life person

13. .025 points, At least 10 words > The Wives of Bath (1993) by Susan Swan is based on a real life crime. Read the Preface to the novel here and just tell me when, where and what this crime was all about.

Freud would say that the most important social influence over Paulie was her family

14. .025 points, At least 25 words, Note the word count change > Read Parts 2 and 3 of The Wives of Bath (1993) by Susan Swan, archived here. Make the argument that both Mikael [from the narrative fiction Tomboy (2011), first assigned on A04 and A05], as well as Paulie Sykes [from the narrative fiction The Wives of Bath (1993)], regard the human body as being an important part of their respective gender identities. Be sure to explain and defend your response with specific reference to both fictive texts, Tomboy (2011) and The Wives of Bath (1993).

15. .025 points, At least 10 words, Note the point value and word count change > Does Mouse think Paulie’s violent actions towards Sergeant are an indication that Paulie is psychologically unstable? There is a right answer and a wrong answer to this question, so be sure to explain and defend your response with specific reference to Parts 2 and 3 of The Wives of Bath (1993) by Susan Swan, archived here. 

16. .025 points, At least 10 words > Does Victoria think Paulie’s violent actions towards Sergeant are an indication that Paulie is psychologically unstable? There is a right answer and a wrong answer to this question, so be sure to explain and defend your response with specific reference to Parts 2 and 3 of The Wives of Bath (1993) by Susan Swan, archived here. 

17. .05 points, At least 25 words, Note the point value and word count change > Would Carl Jung’s theory of the “Electra Complex,” see Q09, help explain Paulie’s violent actions towards Sergeant? In order to get credit for your answer, you need to show that you know what Paulie’s relationship to her parents, especially her father, was like, outside of Bath’s Ladies College.

Let’s replace Chaucher with J.M. Barrie

18. .05 points, At least 20 words, Note the point value and word count change > The Wives of Bath (1993) by Susan Swan is rooted in Geoffrey Chaucher’s Canterbury Tales (c. 1400), specifically “The Wife of Bath’s Prologue and Tale.” If you want to get a sense of “The Wife of Bath’s Prologue and Tale” you can read it here Links to an external site., but you don’t have to. I, personally, don’t love Chaucher, but if you are curious about why someone like Swan would use it as a literary reference for a novel about young women and gender identity in late 20th century Canada, this Links to an external site.very brief 1994 essay by Jonathon Blake is kind of interesting. But again, you don’t have to read it. Now, you do need to pay attention to this next piece of information: In the movie version of The Wives of Bath (1993), a film called Lost and Delirious (2001), the Chaucher references are replaced with ones from J.M. Barrie, the guy who wrote Peter Pan (1911). See below. Seriously, isn’t the casting perfect in this film? I love the actresses they chose to play Mouse, Paulie and Tory. I also love a good Peter Pan reference since as literary figures go, he is key to the field of social psychology, as you will soon learn over the next couple of assignments 😉 Anyways, what do you know about Peter Pan. Did you ever see the play or the animated Disney version that came out in 1953? Do you know that the pop singer Michael Jackson (1958-2009) literally altered his face to look like the Disney animated version of Peter? Write up as much as you know or don’t know and post it to this discussion board using at least 10 words, respond to at least one other posting and then as your answer to this question, just let me know you did all that 🙂 And get ready for A07 and one of the most popular pop social psychological concepts of the late 20th century, the “Peter Pan” complex. Oh. Wow. Did you notice that rumbling? That was Sigmund Freud and Carl Jung rolling in their respective graves.