The Oedipus Complex a.k.a. When I Grow Up, I Will Marry My Mommy!

The idea is somewhat unusual and incestuous; nevertheless, it is the reflection of a sincere desire. This is Freud's Oedipus complex.

Freud's Oedipus Complex starts early. (PhotoXpress)

 
Let us start with the Greek myth on which Freud's Oedipus complex is based.

Freud's Oedipus complex background: The story about Oedipus

The Theban king Laius is foretold that his son Oedipus will kill him. To escape this prophecy, he orders a shepherd to kill him. He, however, fails to complete the task and sends the boy to another kingdom of Corinth where he is brought up with a lot of love by the royal couple. When Oedipus grows up, an oracle gives him a horrific prediction; he will marry his mother and kill his father. Oedipus therefore leaves in fear the kingdom of Corinth and while travelling he actually kills his real father Laius. After solving the riddle of the Sphinx, he becomes the king of the Thebes and the husband of the king’s widow, Jocasta, who is his real mother and when she realises the truth about her new husband, she kills herself.

What is Freud's Oedipus complex?

This is an emotional attachment to the parent of the opposite sex  formed in early childhood and it is related to rivalry with the parent of the same sex. It is accompanied by aggression, guilt and, in the end, the resolution.

 

Freud's Oedipus complex, named after the famous Austrian psychiatrist, Sigmund Freud, is one of his most controversial theories. Unlike today’s anthropologists and other researchers, Freud was convinced everybody experiences the Oedipus complex. Today, there are doubts and disagreement, as with most theories by Freud that are considered outdated and inaccurate. They believe the complex is typical of the societies of the developed Western countries and it is the result of an individual’s environment in which he or she lives. Anthropologist Dr. Vesna Vuk Godina gives, for instance, an example of the Oedipus complex on the Trobriand Islands where owing to different structures of upbringing – the mother’s brother has authority in upbringing – love is directed towards the uncle’s daughter, that is, the boy’s cousin. He wants to marry her, which directs aggression and guilt to the uncle instead of the father.

What is the importance of Freud's Oedipus complex today?

Most psychiatrists attribute the importance of an Oedipus relationship to personality development of an individual. In such a relationship, there are emotions of love and the attraction to the parents of the opposite sex,  or the hatred and rejection of the parent of the same sex. It may not necessarily involve sexual rivalry, but it is more the rejection of authority and power.

The fact which also has a significant impact  on the different way of thinking of today’s experts,  compared to Freud’s theories, is that the role of a father as a master is disappearing, so there is a smaller number of boys with Freud's Oedipus complex than in the past.

Incomplete resolutions of Freud's Oedipus complex

They are manifested in:

-  exaggerated competition by men (there is an attempt to defeat their own fathers in the background);

- incompatibility of love with sexuality;

- stereotypes, for instance, men become “mummy’s boys” or they force their wives to assume the role of their mothers.

Freud's Oedipus complex and girls

Later researchers defined the complex that appears in girls as the Electra complex. This complex comes from the name of a Greek heroine Electra who kills her mother in revenge for the murder of her father.

This complex is related to Freud's Oedipus Complex but with a few differences. Such a girl excludes her mother from her desires because she is attracted to her father. The positive resolution of the complex is when the girl, despite her efforts to seduce her father, is faced with his sexual rejection. When she accepts the situation, she is able to accept the possibility of sexual relationships with other men.

What's your take on the Oedipus Complex? Share your opinion in the Forum

---