ABSTRACT
Erik Erikson took a different view of the human psyche from many of the Freudians that had come before him. Erikson’s psychology was one that was based on developmental phases or stages of life. He felt that most people go through fairly predictable psychological struggles based on where in their life cycle they happen to be. The kinds of (psychological) problems and emotional concerns a 5-year-old might have are very different from those you might expect to find in a 55-year-old. Based on this idea, Erikson concluded that psychological development continues throughout life (unlike Freud, who believed the personality was basically “fixed” and static by the end of childhood) and that people can both successfully or unsuccessfully grow through these stages, which can lead to either satisfaction or neurosis at any time during the course of a human’s life span. The actor exercises in this chapter investigate the individual’s (and character’s) developmental path from childhood through maturity and old age.
