According to Sigmund Freud, "the human mind contains three psychic zones. These zones control the mental functions from which come motivations " (Freud, 4). Freud's psychoanalytic theory of consciousness revolve around the three psychic zones "the id, the pleasure principle that is lacking in morals and values, nor can distinguish between good or bad; the ego, the reality principle which regulates the id's [drive] into socially acceptable outlets" " (Freud, 5). However, the superego is the morality principle which is the source of ethics, the one which monitors and evaluates an individual's behaviors and actions. In William Shakespeare's Macbeth, the character of Macbeth illustrates the three psychic zones throughout the play. His internal conflict between his three psychic zones - the id, the ego, and the superego " illustrates how an internal war leads him to his downfall. Macbeth's id represents his actions toward other individuals in the play to satisfy his pleasure urge to be king, while his ego represents his ambitions of becoming a king and how he intends to fulfill his hidden desire. The "home of conscience and of pride " (Freud, 6), the superego, is responsible for Macbeth's state of torment with his conscience as his actions reach their extremity. Hence, Macbeth's desire of becoming a king leads him to a fatal downfall.
One of the three psychic zones is the id. The id is the illogical, unconscious part of the mind. It consists of an individual's pleasurable satisfaction that drives the individual to an extent for the sake of the pleasure in return. The character of Macbeth is driven by his id to satisfy his desire to be king that leads to the extremity of murdering King Duncan and taking over his throne. His id manifests the unconscious primal urges, like power, dominance and an immediate satisfaction for himself and also his wife, Lady Macbeth. Due to his ambition to claim the throne, he engages a plan to exile Malcolm as he serves as an interference to him from getting the throne and he says to himself, "let not light see [his] black and deep desires " (1.
