In Analyzing the self, Freud states that there are three determining factors: the id, the ego, and the super ego. In either of these categories it’s important to note that all surround themselves with the self. In the movie The King’s Speech, the protagonist of the film, Bertie (aka King George VI), has a severely aberrant perception of himself. His lack of ego is what drives his self-esteem down, and what in turn makes him feel incapable of becoming king. His esteem in both male/male relationships and male/female relationships is quite vivid and keenly felt by the audience.

Bertie’s esteem can be considered as low, as he has a speech impairment and thus his dominance or power over other males is also considered low because he is abnormal. He gains sympathy from certain characters in the film (i.e. his wife during Bertie’s knowledge of becoming king she supports him but Bertie is in turn not supported by other members of his family and keeps asking himself what would his father think) but this does not lead to a succession of feelings of self-worth (McKinnon, 2015, p. 4).

Bertie’s ego and self-esteem also grows out of other people’s perceptions of him, or Cooley’s theory of the looking-glass self. Bertie’s stuttering doesn’t allow him to properly communicate as a child and so he is left playing along while his older brother goes out and plays with his friends. This isolation further impairs Bertie’s self-esteem. Hi image of himself is of someone who is less than; that is, who is less than his older brother, who is less than a king, and sometimes in the movies it’s subtly referenced that he’s less than a husband. Each of these feelings are quite strongly connected to his inability to communicate (Isaksen, 2013, para. 2-4). Stuttering, and the image of a person who stutters as being in some way dumb is the overriding impression and stereotype that Bertie feels is his damning inheritance.

When Bertie hires the language coach, Lionel Logue, Bertie presents a lot of defensive communication. For instance, when Lionel requests small exercises from Bertie, the king at first refuses and doubts Lionel’s ability as a vocal coach. Bertie in fact gets very frustrated with Lionel and acts out in a way that the audience has previously not seen. Bertie gets aggressive, and defensive. He’s very closed off about Lionel at first since Bertie feels his stammering is such a private affair. Bertie is anticipating Lionel to be a threat to him, to somehow make his private affairs public, or out him in some fashion (Gibb, 2015, para. 1). This is shown almost exclusively in the first few meetings between Lionel and Bertie. Bertie shows this emotion by at first barely speaking with Lionel, accusing him of things he hasn’t done, and finally leaving the vocal coach’s office in a huff.

This defensive communication is, of course, halted as the two protagonists begin to form a lasting friendship built on trust; the trust that means a great deal to Bertie as he feels he can be himself around Lionel as with no one else in his family (excepting his wife). This type of communication, defensive communication, had either been absent, or in subtext, during Bertie’s relationships with others in his life (such as his father and brother) most likely because of his low ego/self-esteem. Bertie felt that he wasn’t man enough to confront them about how he thinks (looking-glass self) they think of him because of his stuttering. Each form of communication leads into and gives reasons for the next in this most beautiful film, The King’s Speech.