Psychoanalytic Critique on the Black Swan

How does the main character deal with her id ego and superego? Which part of the subconscious seems to dominate?
I believe Ninas Id is the dominant because she constantly in the movie is doing what she can to satisfy what she wants she does what she’s told to do to get it and be able to do it correctly.

How does the relationship she has with other people? Does there seem to be a childhood trauma or a childhood experience that has occurred?

She isn’t really able to have relationships with other people she doesn’t even have a good relationship with her mom I feel like she’s still some sort of child on the inside like a teen rebelling. I think this is probably because she didn’t really communicate with her mom as a child or have a dad around.

What in the protagonist’s past has triggered her to be the way she is in her relationships now?
I think Nina was probably isolated as a child that’s why she doesn’t really have that many relationships as an adult. She still lives with her mom, which shows she doesn’t really know how to deal with regular daily things on her own.

What does the protagonist dream about? What is the first thing she thinks about when she wakes up? What does this tell us about her?
She had a sexual dream where she was receiving from lily. She believed it actually happened until lily tells her she left right after and didn’t stay the night. I think this shows that she was receiving love in a different way then she receives it from her mom since she doest really have any relationships like a boyfriend and friendships.

What core issues does the character have and where do you think they come from?
I think these issues come from her childhood she obviously grew up without a dad and her mom shows how overprotecting she is with her. She does have a habit of scratching herself when something seems to overwhelm her.

What are the fears of our protagonist and why?
The fears Nina has are not being perfect and not playing the role she was given. And she fought for. She always wanted everything perfect. I think she’s probably scared of herself as well since she scratches her self without realizing it most of the times.
What are her desires and how do they affect her subconscious?
I think her desires are to be the best at ballet and being the swan queen she wants to finish on top beating everyone else. Well throughout the movie this was what she wanted and she didn’t want lily to take that from her mainly. Which she thought was better and maybe she wanted to be more like lily since she saw how carefree she was unlike her.

How does the characters sexuality affect how people view her and why?
Since Nina was a virgin she was viewed as innocent the goody goody ballerina. After her sexual dream I viewed her a little different as in she wanted to receive love in a different way then her mom she wanted to maybe break out of the shell she was in.

What types of defense mechanisms do they use and what are they trying to repress?
She constantly has to cut her nails because she scratches herself I think she uses this as a defense mechanism to avoid having herself having to deal with the other problems around her.