Oedipus Complex

The Oedipus Complex
By Lauren Dolloff
November 16, 2006

The Oedipus Complex

Definition

The attachment of the child to the parent of the opposite sex, accompanied by envious and aggressive feelings toward the parent of the same sex.
These feelings are largely repressed (ie. made unconscious) because of the fear of displeasure or punishment by the parent of the same sex.
In its original use, the term applied only to the boy or man.

The idea of the Oedipus Complex is derived from Sophocles' Oedipus Tyrannus, during which Oedipus learned that he was cursed to kill his father and sleep with his mother.
The Picture

Oedipus is contemplating the Sphinx's riddle in this image.

The history of the prophecy that doomed Oedipus

Laius, who ruled Thebes at the time, was told the prophecy that his son would kill him and sleep with his wife.
He and his wife gave their baby son to one of their slaves, who was to bring the baby to Mt. Cithaeron, which was haunted by wild beasts.
However, the slave felt pity for the baby, so he gave him to another shepherd from the city of Corinth located on the other side of the mountain.
King Polybus of Corinth was presented with the baby and decided to bring him up on his own.
When Oedipus was older, someone calls him a bastard.
He decided to leave Corinth for Delphi, so he could learn of his parentage at the oracle of Apollo.
There he was given the news that he would kill his father and sleep with his mother.
To prevent the oracle from coming true, Oedipus went to Thebes.
On the way he ran into an old man driving a wagon at a place where three roads cross. The man ordered Oedipus to move off the road, but he refused.
He became aggressive and killed the man and what he thought to be all the guards.
Before Oedipus could enter Thebes, he had to solve the riddle the Sphinx, who guarded the entrance to the city, asked him. No one had ever solved the riddle before and as a consequence, they were killed by the Sphinx.
The riddle is, "Which animal has one voice, but two, three, or four feet being slowest on three?" Oedipus answered correctly with the answer, "Man."
The city welcomed Oedipus and offered him the vacant job of king and the marriage to Laius' widow, Jocasta.
Years passed while Oedipus was king of Thebes. He had four children by Jocasta.
Eventually the city was infected by a plague. Oedipus promised to save his city, so he ordered his brother-in-law Creon to consult the oracle at Delphi.
He returned with news that the plague was caused by the unpunished murderer who killed Laius. Oedipus cursed the killer, but Tiresias said that Oedipus was the killer.
Oedipus was furious and blamed Tiresias and Creon for creating such a story to dethrone him so that they could have power.
Jocasta explained to Oedipus that robbers killed Laius at a place where three roads crossed. Oedipus remembered that he killed a man at such a place.
He contemplated the possibility of him being the killer, but Jocasta reassured him that a witness saw several robbers kill Laius.
Oedipus sent for the witness, so the issue could be resolved.
While he waited, a Corinthian messenger arrived with news that Polybus had died, so Oedipus would be King of Corinth.
Oedipus told the messenger that he could not go back while his mother was alive.
Surprise overwhelmed Oedipus, for the messenger told him that she was not his mother. He explained that he was given the baby many years ago by a Theban shepherd.
Jocasta then realized that Oedipus was her son.
The witness finally arrived and revealed that he was given the baby by Jocasta and passed it to the messenger because he did not want to kill him.
Oedipus realizes the truth and went to tell Jocasta, but she had already killed herself.
He blinds himself and was ordered to leave Thebes by Creon, the new king.

The Electra Complex

Definition

It is the female analog to the Oedipus Complex.
It is the female child's erotic desire for the father and simultaneous fear of the mother.

The Picture

Electa and Orestes meet unexpectedly at the tomb of their father.
Electa brings gifts to the tomb.

The History of Electra

It is named after Electra who, in the Greek myth, sought to avenge the death of her father Agamemnon.
She was away from home when her mother, Clytemnestra, and her lover, Aegisthus, killed Agamemnon.
Electra and her brother, Orestes, came home years later to the tomb of their father.
There they plotted how Orestes would kill Clytemnestra, which he successfully accomplished.

Freud's Oedipus Complex and Electra Complex

Freud created the term Oedipus complex during his self-analysis.
He claimed that this psychological condition is universal.
Oedipus Tyrannus effected both the ancient Greeks and today's audiences; everyone has oedipal feelings.
When Freud saw the play's incredible success in Germany and France in the 1880's, it supported his belief that the play moves modern audiences with as much force as it did originally in Greece.
He characterized it as loving and hostile wishes that children experienced toward their parents at the height of the phallic phase. The phallic phase is the stage of psychosexual development occurring between the ages of three and seven.
In its positive form, the child's rival is the parent of the same sex and the child desires sexual union with the parent of opposite sex.
In its negative form, the child's rival is the parent of the opposite sex and the child desires the parent of the same sex.
The decline of the Oedipus complex and entry into the latency period are related to threat of castration for boys and the desire for a baby for girls.
After puberty, the resolution of the complex happens through the choice of a suitable substitute for the object of love.
However, the Oedipus complex continues to be an unconscious organizer throughout life. It also forms an indissoluble link between wish and law.
The Picture

This is a picture of Sigmund Freud.

The Oedipus Complex in the Media

The song, "The End" by the Doors has a verse where the vocalist claims to want to kill his father and have sex with his mother.

The killer awoke before dawn, he put his boots on
He took a face from the ancient gallery
And he walked on down the hall
He went into the room where his sister lived, and...then he
Paid a visit to his brother, and then he
He walked on down the hall, and
And he came to a door...and he looked inside
Father, yes son, I want to kill you
Mother...i want to...fuck you

Will Wuu, the antagonist from Gun X Sword, suffered very heavily from the Oedipus complex.

Gun X Sword is an anime production that premiered in July 2005. The protagonist traveled the world to find the man that killed his bride.
Will Wuu was a villain who was an aloof and philosophical individual who suffered from Sigmund Freud's Oedipus complex.
He despised his father for receiving his mother's complete attention.
He tried to kill his father, but instead his mother took the blow and died instead.
Will Wuu's guilt tormented him years later.

Fei, the main character of the video game Xenogears, seemed to suffer from the complex.

In the game, Fei Fong Wong, was an eighteen-year-old male wno had no clear memory of his childhood.
However, eventually he discovered the truth of his childhood through a flashback.

In his youth, he hated his mother for painfully testing him. She though that he was God's "chosen one."
He begged his father to stop his mother, which was opposite the normal hatred of the father at his age.

Fei is one of the many characters in the game that alludes to the psychological concepts of Freud.
The picture is of the character Fei Fong Wong.

In the Star Wars film, Return of the Jedi, Yoda explained that Luke Skywalker had to confront his father, Darth Vader, in order to realize Jedi.

Because of his mother's death, Luke did not focus his sexual desires during the phallic stage of his development.
Therefore, he had a deviant form of the Oedipus complex. His sexual desires were focused on the other female in his family - Leia.
They tried to hide their forbidden love because Luke feared that his father would punish him by "castrating" him. This was a normal feeling for a boy suffering from the Oedipus complex.
Vader did "castrate" him by cutting his saber-phallus from his hand.
It is believed that Vader had a sick and terrible sexual love for his son. The "dark side" was a metaphor for the sexual abuse Vader inflicted on Luke. Luke resisted Vaders seductions.
Vader then tried to get Leia to join him, but Luke rebelled. He cut Vader's saber-phallus and hand to protect his sister.
It is ironic that Luke, the son, castrated Vader, his father, to protect Leia, his lover. It is a reversal of the Oedipus complex.
The picture is of Luke Skywalker and Darth Vader fighting with their sabers.

The character Norman Bates, from the novel and movie Psycho, showed many signs of having an Oedipus complex when he murdered his mother and her partner.

The movie was released in 1960 when Freud was heavily followed and praised for his work.
The movie was remade in 1998.
Norman Bates suffered abuse as a child by his mother. His father died when he was young.
Bates' mother took a new lover, which made him jealous.
Norman killed his mother, Norma, and her lover. He preserved his mother's corpse.
He developed multiple personality disorder by assuming his mother's personality.
As Norma, he dressed in her clothes and killed people who came between her and her son. He believed that she was still alive.
As Norman, he was a barely functional adult who ran a hotel.
The picture is of Norma Bates in the shower. She about to murder a girl.

The song "Oedipal Complexions" is by a glam-punk band Blanche Davidian. The song appeared on both their debut album and the "Encyclopedia Arizonica" compilation.

Oedipal Complexions
I won’t wait! I’d said it’s great
to be, punctually tardy
You think? Shrinking my head, by swelling my brain,
with vice instead you’d best
analyze this bliss oh Oedipus Rex!
my complexion it’s the best!
whilst stroking my molten scales,
oh Oedipus Rex!

Bending, crawling, bleeding, backwards
Sailing, smiling, singing backwards
Floating, dying, waiting, backwards
Kicking, crying, screaming, backwards

Why stand in line waiting for bread?
Nether instead I’ll lay
in Vodkaville euphoria
Is dancing in my head
true to Magazine I’ll masturbate
Catholic-guilt it seems to cramp my wrists
Whilst stroking my molten scales,
oh Oedipus Wrecks!

Bending, falling, dying backwards
Kicking, screaming, calling backwards
Floating, flying, falling backwards
Bending, breathing, dying backwards

American-Pop witness a quest!
popular and universal
Impetus, must I digress?
I’m ‘Bastard-Son’ my home
so long ago I left ‘twas best!
color me unimpressed
It sat next to me on the U.F.O.
the Easter Bunny and a lot of dope(s)!

Bending, falling, dying backwards
Kicking, screaming, calling backwards
Floating, flying, falling backwards
Bending, breathing, dying backwards

Hamlet, of Shakespeare's Hamlet, is a prime example of someone who suffered from the Oedipus complex.

In Freudian's theory there is ambiguity in the father-figure. He said that children often create "romances," where their current father is replaced by something greater.
Hamlet's "father" was virtual, for Hamlet's father was represented as a ghost that only Hamlet could speak to. Also, Gertrude could not see the ghost.
Claudius' marriage to Gertrude filled Hamlet with rage. He despised his mother for their marriage.
It is evident that Hamlet was obsessed with his mother's sexuality. He often mentioned Claudius' sexual actions towards Gertrude.
Before Hamlet died he said goodbye to the "wretched queen," which suggested that Hamlet never resolved his father-issues and maternal fixations.
Hamlet is a literary example of a boy that never overcame his Oedipus complex.
The picture is of Hamlet and Gertrude.

Edmund and Mary, of Eugene O'Neill's Long Day's Journey Into Night, both suffer from unresolved Oedipial conflicts.

Edmund suffered from a power struggle with his father and was romatically fixated on his mother.
He tried to defend his mother, but Tyrone, his father, only addressed the fact that his son did not have the authority to attack his father; he did not address the issue Edmund brought up about his suffering mother.
Edmund desired to have his mother to himself and to cast away his father.
In the family, Edmund and Mary were the only ones to display any form of physical affection.
Mary had a Oedipal fixation on her father, which Tyrone was aware of. She never wanted to be reminded of her father after his death.

A Joke Involving the Oedipus Complex

A Jewish woman brought her son in to a psychiatrist.

After privately talking to the boy, the psychiatrist

explained that he had a severe Oedipal conflict that

would take years to resolve. The woman exclaimed,

"Oedipus, schmedipus, as long as he loves his mother!"

Interesting Fact

A leading UK hypnotherapist estimates that 75% of the population need to resolve their complex, and that 50% of all heart attacks are caused by these complexes.

Works Cited

Armstrong, Richard. "Oedipus as Evidence: The Theatrical Background to Freud's Oedipus Complex." 1998. 11 Nov 2006 <http://www.clas.ufl.edu/ipsa/journal/articles/psyart1999/oedipus/armstr01.htm>.

When Freud first talked publicly about the Oedipus Complex, he claimed that it was a universal psychological condition. However, he did not have much evidence to gain support. He used Sophocles' story, Oedipus Rex, to establish what the Oedipus complex is. Even modern audiences all harbor oedipal feelings. When the play was produced in the 1880s and 90s, it supported his claim that the modern audiences were moved as greatly as the ancient Greek audiences were. Freud's own presychoanalytic experience of the play's performance made him predisposed to claim the universality of his own feelings toward his parents.

Brian. "The Oedipus Complex and Star Wars." Rum and Monkey. 11 Nov 2006 <http://rumandmonkey.com/articles/90/>.

Although it appears that "Star Wars" is a tale of good vs. evil, the central conflict is on the Oedipus complex. Star Wars shed new light on the Freud's idea, for it showed the tragic consequence of sexual abuse and the effects of being brought up without a mother. In Star Wars, the penis is represented by the Light-saber that Luke Skywalker and Darth Vader used. However, Leia did not have a saber. Because Luke's mother was not present, he turned his desires towards his sister. He had a deviant form of the Oedipus complex. Luke feared that his father would punish him for loving his sister. Darth Vader castrated his son by cutting his saber from his hand. Vader had a sexual love for his son. The "dark side" that Vader tried to pull Luke into was a metaphor for the sexual abuse Vader inflicted on Luke.

Davidian, Blanche. "Oedipal Complexions." Blanche Davidian Media. 2005. Blanche Davidian. 11 Nov 2006 <http://www.blanchedavidian.com/media/lyrics/oedipal.html>.

The lyrics of Blanche Davidian's song, "Oedipal Complexions," are written on this page.

Felman, Shoshana. "Beyond Oedipus: The Specimen Story of Psychoanalysis." Vol. 98 No. 5. Dec 1983. p. 1021-1053. 11 Nov 2006 <http://links.jstor.org/sici?sici=0026-7910%28198312%2998%3A5%3C1021%3ABOTSSO%3E2.0.CO%3B2-Q>.

Freud tells stories about others and himself. Freud uses the Oedipus story as a reference narrative, which is the specimen story of psychoanalyic story. Freud read Sophocle's play to confirm his theory of the Oedipus complex. Oedipus Rex is a dramatization of the theory.

"Gun X Sword." Wikipedia. 10 Nov 2006. Wikimedia Foundation. 11 Nov 2006 <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gun_X_Sword>.

"Gun X Sword" is a 26 episode anime production that premiered in July 2005. Van, the protagonist, traveled the world to find the clawed man who killed his bride. He met people along the way that had incidents with the mysterious man. The show was set on "The Planet of Endless Illusion." Each of the heroes, villains, and armors are listed with a description of who they are. Armors were generally humanoid in design, and were mostly used for combat.

Heller, Ergá. "Oedipus and the Fabrication of the Father: Oedipus Tyrannus in Modern Criticism and Philosophy." Poetics Today. Vol 14. No 4. 1993. p. 778. 11 Nov 2006
<http://links.jstor.org/sici?sici=0333-5372%28199324%2914%3A4%3C778%3AOATFOT%3E2.0.CO%3B2-S>.

Pucci attempted to show the character of Oedipus as having more than one father. Pucci said that the Greek Oedipus has four fathers: Laius, his biological father; Polybus, his adoptive father; the king as a father to his citizens; and Apollo, as the divine Father. Pucci believed that the oedipal stage is not a time for the desire for one's parents. It is a time where the child desires to know and understand his or her own history. In the end of Oedipus Rex, Oedipus is haunted with guilt. Once he knew that he is his own father's killer, his father emerged from his absence. Oedipus' self-blinding was an act of liberation, for he no longer needed to fabricate a father. In conclusion, Pucci believed that Oedipus was a character of self-awareness.

Lane, Steven. "The Oedipus and Electra Complex." Irish Hypnotherapy. 11 Nov 2006 <http://www.irishhypnotherapy.com/page21.html>.

The Oedipus complex is a Freudian term that was named after a man that unknowingly killed his father and slept with his mother. Freud said that a boy develops an unconscious infatuation towards his mother, and simultaneously fears his father to be a rival. This happens at an unconscious level. Girls experience a similar conflict called the Electra complex. A result of an unresolved Electra complex, may be that a woman would seek out a man who treats her similar to their father.

"Norman Bates." Wikipedia. 11 Nov 2006. Wikimedia Foundation. 11 Nov 2006 <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Norman_Bates>.

Norman Bates was a fictional character of the novel Psycho by Robert Bloch. The character was based on a real life serial killer Ed Gein. Bates suffered from severe emotional and sexual abuse as a child by his mother. His mother took a lover, which angered Norman enough that he killed both of them. He kept his mother's corpse preserved. As an adult he dressed like his mother and killed anyone that was to come between her and her son. He actually believed that she was still alive. As Norman, he was a barely functional adult that ran a hotel. He was eventually arrested by a young woman. He was declared to be insane, and therefore he was sent to an institution where he completely became his mother. In the movie, Bates was portrayed as a mid twenty year old handsome boy, but in the book, he was in his late forties. In the sequels to the original films, he was released from the institution, but in the TV series, he was never released from the institution.

Rowell, Maria Helena. "The Oedipus Complex." The Freud Page. 2006. 11 Nov 2006 <http://www.geocities.com/mhrowell/oedipus_complex.html>.

Freud's discovery of the Oedipus complex was made during his self-analysis. The Oedipus complex is a characteristic constellation of loving and hostile wishes that children experience towards their parents at the height of the phallic phase. In its positive form, the rival is the parent of the same sex and the child desires a sexual relationship with the parent of the opposite sex. In its negative form, the rival is the parent of the opposite sex, while the parent of the same sex is the child's loved one. In its complete form, both positive and negative forms exist at the unconscious level.

"The Oedipus Complex in Literature." Everything 2. 19 Jan 2004. The Everything Development Company. 11 Nov 2006 <http://everything2.com/index.pl?node=Oedipus%20complex>.

Freud believed that the Oedipus complex is a core element of the human pschye. Shakespeare's Hamlet showed the longing for the mother and ambivalence toward the father. To fully understand Hamlet it is necessary to study the ambiguity of the father-figure. Hamlet saw his father as a ghost, which Gertrude could not see. Hamlet's vengeance was directed towards his new father. Hamlet's situation was an example of unresolved father-issues and maternal fixation. Eugene O'Neill's Long Day's Journey Into Night, showed the impact of an unresolved Oedipus conflict. Edmund was struggling with his father and romantically fixated on his mother. Mary also had a fixation with her father.

"Oedipus Complex." Wikipedia. 8 Nov 2006. Wikimedia Foundation. 11 Nov 2006 <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oedipus_complex>.

The Oedipus complex is a concept developed by Sigmund Freud. The idea is based on the Greek myth of Oedipus. Freud used the Oedipus complex to explain the formation of the super-ego. In a child's coming-of-age, a male child selects the mother as the object of sexual investment. However, this is believe to anger the father, and the infant is therefore castrated. He thought that females initially had homosexual desires towards their mothers. He studied the subject of castration anxiety and the Oedipus complex on a young boy known as Little Hans. There are several critiques of the Oedipus complex and other work by Freud. Philosophers and psychiatrists have studied the complex further.

Wilson, Andrew. "The Theban Story and Its Interpretations." Oedipus. 12 Feb 2006. The Classics Pages. 11 Nov 2006 <http://www.users.globalnet.co.uk/~loxias/myth.htm>.

Laius, king of Thebes, was told the prophecy that his son wouldl kill him and sleep with his wife so he sent his son away. However, the son ended up in the care of Polybus, king of Corinth. Years later, Oedipus was told that he was a bastard, so he went to the oracle of Apollo. The oracle told him that he would kill his father and marry his mother. Oedipus left for Thebes, and on the way he was ordered to get off the road so a carriage could pass. Oedipus refused to move, but therefore was hit. As a result, he killed the man and what he thought were all the guards. When he got to Thebes he solved the Sphinx's riddle and was welcomed into the city. He was offered the open position of king and the hand of the widow Jocasta. Years passed, during which Oedipus had four children with Jocasta. Oedipus found out that he killed Laius, his father, and married his mother, Jocasta. He was horrified, so he gouged his eyes out and exiled himself from Thebes.

Pictures

"Glossary of People." Encyclopedia of Marxism. MIA. 12 Nov 2006 <http://www.marxists.org/glossary/people/f/r.htm>.

A brief biography of Freud and a picture of him is found on this site.

Hamill, Mark. "Photos." Yahoo! Movies. Yahoo! Inc.. 12 Nov 2006 <http://movies.yahoo.com/movie/contributor/1800024828/photo/544257>.

This website contains just the picture of Luke Skywalker and Darth Vader fighting with sabers.

"Hamlet the Dane." 2002. Learning Online, Inc.. 12 Nov 2006 <http://www.learnersonline.com/weekly/archive99/week18/index.htm>.

The picture of Hamlet and Gertrude is on this website.

Jones, Bill A.. "House of Universal." 12 Nov 2006 <http://www.monsterjones.com/Norman.html>.

There is a sculpture of Norman Bates and a Psycho poster on this website.

"Orestes." Wikipedia. 8 Nov 2006. Wikimedia Foundation. 12 Nov 2006 <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Orestes>.

This site is about Orestes and contains the pictures of Orestes and Electra at the tomb of Agamemnon.

Summers, Kirk M.. "Greek and Roman Mythology." The University of Alabama. The University of Alabama. 12 Nov 2006 <http://bama.ua.edu/~ksummers/cl222/>.

This site has the picture of Oedipus at the Sphinx.