A Woman on A Roof is Lessing’s short story which is published in 1963. It mainly describes that a woman is enjoying sunbathing on a roof, whose behaviors attracted three male workers’ attention. Three workers work on another roof, and they want to attract the woman’s attention through different ways. But the sunbathing woman ignores them no matter what they talking and let out wolf. The three men comes form different ages while the woman comes from a different class. The woman’s indifference makes three workers dissatisfied. They adopt different ways to deal with this problem, and get different results. This story concerns the conflict between both genders and also reflects the fierce war of different classes.  

II. Analysis of the Men in A Woman on A Roof Under Human Psyche Theory

2.1 Introduction to the Human Psyche Theory

   Freud’s human psyche theory contains three factors, including id, ego and  superego（Freud 285). The id is the most original part in the human psyche theory. The id follows pleasure principle which human must obey the principle. The reaction to the id for people has the different ways in real life, because the principle is dominated by human themselves. In addition, the level between id and superego is ego, which is controlled by superego. And the function of ego is that control immoral human instinct in real life. The superego is the highest part, and the superego is the leader in the human psyche theory, it is formed by social and cultural ethics education. What’s more, superego is the moral personality structure which dominates the main principles of humanity and innervation of the superego seeks perfect way.

On the one hand, the three levels of human psyche theory are contacted with each other. For an intelligent person, the three levels are harmonious and unified and they closely cooperate to make people know the world effectively, so that people could realize their purpose. On the other hand, if three levels are disordered and destructed, it will produce psychological barriers, and endanger the personality development.

2.2 Tom － Id

   According to Freud’s human psyche theory, the id is an unconscious psychological process which is obtained by human nature, and it is one of the most original idea that the modern human society ethics and law can not accept it. The id follows the pleasure principle, it’s purpose is to seek happiness, avoid pain, reduce tension and discomfort. The id takes the human body as its energy source, and its energy can come into being two human instinct－the survival instinct of life and the death instinct of life.

   The novel begins with three workers on the roof watching the nearly naked beauty on another roof. Three men have different views to the woman, so two of them have the provocative language and behavior to the woman. On the one hand, young Tom is dominated by the human instinct and he wants to close to the woman. Especially, when he show his love to this woman, he thinks that the woman should belong to him. He argues with Stanley when he heard Stanley criticize the woman, he even fantasy that the woman has a different viewpoint for him.