Who was Wallace Stevens?

The basicsAn American modernist poet, Stevens was born October 2, 1879 in Reading, Pennsylvania

He attended Harvard and then New York Law School

Spent the majority of his adult life working for an insurance company in Hartford, Connecticut

Had a wife named Elsie and one daughter named Holly

The cool stuffWallace Stevens was, for lack of a better term, kind of a badass.

A notorious drinker, Stevens had a habit of calling locations he had been drinking in the night before to inquire as to what he had done.

At a party hosted by a mutual acquaintance, Wallace (drunk yet again) proceeded to instigate a fist fight with Ernest Hemingway. Stevens broke his hand as a result of punching Hemingway in the jaw. It is reported that after the punch Hemingway repeatedly knocked Stevens to the ground until he gave up his attack.

This may have been the first confrontation between the two, but it wasn’t the last

What he thought about The Emperor of Ice Cream

“I think I should select from my poems as my favorite The Emperor of Ice Cream. This wears a deliberately commonplace costume, and yet seems to me to contain something of the essential gaudiness of poetry; that is the reason why I like it.” - Wallace Stevens

The Psychoanalytic View

of The Emperor of Ice Cream a poem by Wallace Stevens

Psychoanalytic Literary Theory

The literary school of psychoanalytic theory is predicated on the examination of literary works through a Freudian lens.

One analyses a work by identifying the underlying pieces of the human unconscious, the id, ego, and super-ego.

Each of these three parts represents a different facet of human motivation and emotional development

What does all that mean?

According to this literary theory, all human behavior and thought can be filtered through the knowledge of the unconscious mind.

Each piece of our personalities represents a different type of motivation and emotional consideration for our actions.

Welcome to the id

Sigmund Freud broke the human psyche into 3 distinct parts.

The first of these aspects is the “id”.

Latin for the word “it”, the id is also known as inner desire.

What is the idAccording to Freud the id is the most primitive and instinctive part of the personality.

The only concern of this facet is physical and emotional reward.

The id is incapable of understanding the idea of repercussions, and seeks to act regardless of consequence

I want it, NOW!!!!!Due to this attitude, the id does not possess subtlety, and is more likely to speak frankly.

From the perspective of the id the poem can only be about ice cream, and those who seek to keep it from him.

Call the roller of big cigars the muscular one and bid him whipFrom the childlike perspective of the id, the roller of big cigars is most likely some sort of father figure.

This is enforced by the description of muscular, it implies an inability to enforce one’s will over another. One can also infer an expectation that the “roller” is somehow in charge and capable of providing for the desires of the id.

A responsibility that would often be attributed to a parent.

Let the wenches dawdle in such dressAs they were used to wear, and let the boysBring flowers in last month's newspapers.Let be be finale of seem.

Here we are shown the disregard shown to those that the id considers inconsequential.

Being incapable of empathy, the id ignores those incapable of helping him to attain his desire as worthless.

As long as such minor players stay out of his way, he is unlikely to think upon them further.

Take from the dresser of deal, Lacking three glass knobs, that sheetOn which she embroidered fantails onceAnd spread it so as to cover her face.

Here we see a representation of the id’s emotional connection to the mother figure. (or lack there of)

As we saw with the father, the id sees the mother as more of an obstacle, though emotional attachment can be seen through the connection made with her embroidery and the reverence shown through the covering of her face.

If her horny feet protrude, they comeTo show how cold she is, and dumb

Here we are treated once more the inability of the id to create lasting or powerful emotional connections.

While the id is traditionally connected strongly with the mother figure, that connection is broken by the finality of death.

Now that the mother figure is no longer with the living, the id immediately lets go of her presence in favor of that which can still provide pleasure.

The only emperor is the emperor of ice-cream.

Time to meet the super-egoThe second of Freud’s theoretical pieces of the human psyche, is known as the “super-ego”.

The super-ego represents the portion of the personality that internalizes cultural/societal lessons and expectations.

The super-ego, for lack of a better term, functions as our conscience, constantly reminding us of the right thing to do.

In kitchen cups concupiscent curds.Let the wenches dawdle in such dressAs they were used to wear, and let the boysBring flowers in last month's newspapers.

Here we see a representation of societal expectation. The mother and father in a loving home, girls acting frivolous and feminine, while boys seek to win their favor with flowers.

The super-ego seeks to learn these lessons of contemporary society and encourages the speaker of the poem to model behavior according to them.

Take from the dresser of deal, Lacking the three glass knobs, that sheetOn which she embroidered fantails once

In these lines we are witness to the internalization of memory in the form of ideals.

The imagery of the broken knobs hint at a memory from childhood, how were they broken and what lesson was learned.

One can picture images from childhood of a mother sewing as a son learns what behavior is expected of women.

The harbinger of realityThe final of Freud’s psychic apparatus is known as the “ego”.

The ego is the part of the personality responsible for mediating between the id and the super-ego.

The ego seeks to satiate the id in realistic ways, without ignoring the long-term repercussions of immediate gratification.

The place where consciousness resides

The ego is the part of our personality that we are consciously aware of.

Freud credited the ego with the possession of control, judgement, tolerance and defence, among other things.

The only emperor is the emperor of ice-cream

If we credit the id for an insatiable drive for ice-cream

And we credit the super-ego with reminding us that this is not the time for ice-cream

Then it is the job of the ego to mediate this dispute between the other parts of ourselves.

Funeral now...

Ice-cream later!