Freud Foucault and Marilyn Monroe

I believe that Marilyn Monroe lends herself to both a Foucault and Freudian analysis.  The Foucault analysis comes from Marilyn’s beginnings and rise to stardom.  She grew up in foster homes for most of her young life.  She grew up without a father and her mother was mentally unstable.  The reason that this part of her life would lend her to a Foucault analysis is because Foucault was known for his analysis and criticism of the social hierarchy.  He used the painting Las Meninas to show how various social norms where challenged and changed over the years.  His most emphasizing quote was “the disappearance of that which is its foundation.” This leads itself to Marilyn because she lost her own foundation.  Most would say that shelter and a family are their foundation and she lost both of them at an early age.  Now, Foucault claimed that it was the disappearance of the foundation that would eventually lead to the change in the times.  As was such with Marilyn as she was the first to be on the cover of Playboy Magazine.  One could argue that she was at the forefront of human sexuality and the movement from being proper in the 1950’s to being promiscuous in the 1990’s.  This is where the Freudian analysis comes into play.  Along with all of Freud’s psychoanalysis, Freud was renowned for his redefinition of sexual desire.  He claimed that it was the primary motivation in human life.  When the foundation of Marilyn fell out from under her she was left to “survive.”  At this time, according to Freud, her natural instincts took over and she began modeling as a way to earn money.  Then, when she couldn’t make it she began to pose nude for photographers.  Marilyn turned to her primary motivation as her primary way to remain alive and earn money.