Saw this old copypasta I made a long while ago posted on /mlp/ recently. It got me thinking.

I suppose the first thing to do is talk about what I would change.

Mainly I would develop the three sides to her personality better. Using Freudian psychology is fun even if it is not accepted in modern psychology. It's simply a good way of ordering her personality. And as I mentioned in the above copy image, they all correspond with a particular area of interest or facet to her identity. Naturally, this is a character analysis and not a genuine psychological insight. Everything is too simple for that.

Naturally, one may argue that this is an arbitrary and/or contrived way of analyzing Rarity. I disagree, because she does lend herself to it very easily. Not just because of how the three levels of the psyche correspond with different sides to her character, but also because it is an idea clearly shown in her songs. The songs being very strong insights into the character in question after all.

Really though, none of the other ponies have anything like this and it is my contention that Rarity is the deepest (meaning being composed of the most complex emotions and motivations) and this is a good way to get to the heart of why I think that is the case.

Operational definitions are needed naturally.

Id - primary motivations of a person, unconscious desires.

Superego- conscience essentially, learned cultural norms and morals. Often acts in opposition to the id

Ego - reconciliation of the Id in accordance with what can be practically achieved. It is also responsible for satisfying the Super Ego as it (the Ego) is the dominant part of the psyche, although it does not directly control the Super Ego. It simply has to take into account what it wants.

As mentioned before, each one of her songs illustrates one of these terms.

Becoming Popular is her Id, she wants acceptance. It also shows her primal fear, rejection and being overlooked. As shown by the line "not just another Jane Doe" and used to greater effect in the Nightmare Rarity arc.

This side to her could be called the Artist, she wants to shine and hates rejection. Consistent with how artists operate. This is a base desire of hers, it is her core motivation as a character.

Becoming Popular does also show off her Ego, so it is not a pure look into her Id. This is because being a socialite is a realistic way of satisfying the Id. Perhaps not the most moral way, but such concerns are the demesne of the Superego. The Nightmare Arc is the best example of a deeper look into Rarity's Id, but Becoming Popular came first and shows both the happy and sad sides to the Id, the hope and the fear.

Rarity's Season 4 song, Generosity, is clearly the superego. Showing her social graces and moral leanings.

The superego is her as a Lady. Ladylike charm and grace is a learned social expectation which is consistent with what the superego governs. Not to mention being a lady means, in some form or another, being generous.

It is also responsible for judging one's behavior and striving for perfection. Another aspect to Rarity's character as she is nearly always the first to judge her own misbehavior and always elects to do better. Sonic Rainboom, Green Isn't Your Color, Sisterhooves Social, Sweet & Elite and Rarity Takes Manehattan all employ this aspect of her. And in every case she, in essence, strives to be more appropriately ladylike.

Moreover, the back and forth between the Id and Superego is not only apparent in her flaws, as they are almost invariably a conflict between these two sides of her character, but is also responsible for another aspect of her character.

As stated previously, Rarity wants to shine and receive positive attention. However another side to her personality is her desire to have others shine and, more precisely, look beautiful. In fact, one could ague she wants to make the world beautiful when she can. Which is the result of the interplay between these two sides to her, she sees such a thing as being fulfilling for her and wants to share it in accordance with her ethical principles. This is not the exclusive way she shows her generosity, but it is the most prominent.

In this way, the Superego shows its influence over the Ego and consequently the Id. This is shown by Art of the Dress since she wants her friends to shine but is also what the Inspiration Manifestation book took advantage of with its magic, as Rarity believed she was helping others and also wanted praise and accolades for doing it. It is very easy to see this as her Ego (the side devoted to taking things realistically) being removed from the equation and leaving the Id and Superego to satisfy each other without regard for the reality of what she was doing. Which makes Spike telling her the truth fairly meaningful, as it removed her ability to not see what was happening and broke the book's spell. It can even be seen in Magical Mystery Cure wherein she wanted to improve the weather through artsy designs but only made people dislike her, which in turn made her sad for disappointing them.

Furthermore, the Nightmare Rarity shows the interplay between her desire to be accepted and her generosity as two sides to the same coin. The Nightmare even goes so far as to state her generosity and her insecurity are how they were able to turn her.

Lastly, Art of the Dress is her Ego as she is reconciling her Id's desire to shine in a constructive way. Where she makes use of her talents and interests to further this end.

Here she also is attempting to satisfy the Superego by acquiescing to her friends' demands. After all, another task of the Ego's is to avoid upsetting the Super Ego.

And the Ego could be called the Fashionista. As it is the ego's job to reconcile the id, and her fashion is her using her traditionally feminine interests to express her artistry. Artistry being the Id, and her feminine sensibilities being the Lady (Super Ego).

Fashionista may not be the best term, other acceptable labels may be Entrepreneur or Socialite, however I find Fashionista to be better as it is directly reconciling the feminine interests at the core of who she is into something concrete and real for the purpose of making her mark on the world. Which is what the ego does, reconcile the psychology of a person in accordance with reality. Socialite can arguably be better since it is clearly a feminine term and more clearly shows what Rarity is after, social acceptance. Entrepreneur, on the other hand, is a term I found to be lacking as it fails to capture the same dynamic the other two do.

Truthfully, the Ego is present more or less throughout her entire personality (since it can be represented by her job, and the Ego is the strongest part in a stable person). This song is just the first and most obvious time we see it.

Moreover, Art of the Dress more prominently shows the interplay between all three sides to who she is. It shows how she satisfies her id in a realistic manner, but also shows how the superego influences the id to more moral goals rather than a purely practical one, as evidenced by her allowing her friends to make their alterations to her dresses.

I would add more but I think I can make more blogs out of them and give them more spotlight that way. One such subject would be what being based off of Audrey Hepburn means for her character exactly, not to mention giving the Nightmare Rarity arc the exposure it requires since it is the most intimate look into her personality in the entire franchise. They can, of course, be done together.