The Oedipus complex is a psychoanalytic theory introduced by Sigmund Freud, suggesting that children have an unconscious desire to possess one parent and eliminate the other. The theory applies to both boys and girls and is believed to be essential for well-being.
The Oedipus complex is a psychoanalytic theory introduced and made famous by Sigmund Freud. The theory, first put forward by Freud in 1897, although not fully defined until much later in his career, suggests that children have an unconscious, repressed desire to possess one of their parents and eliminate the other parent. The exact nature of the child’s theory and subconscious desire varies between sons and daughters.
The theory’s name and concept comes from a Greek myth in which Oedipus Rex accidentally killed his father and married his mother. Freud borrowed the term and began applying it to his patients after conducting case studies that demonstrated the existence of an unconscious desire to own or possess a parent. Freud developed the theory over the course of his career, eventually coming to believe that this wish was universal and healthy.
Freud’s theory of the Oedipus complex initially applied only to boys. According to the theory, sons have an unconscious attraction to their mothers and thus view their fathers as a threat, and even come to believe that castration is the likely result of rivalry, thus developing castration anxiety. Freud believed that this oedipal wish occurs mainly in boys between the ages of three and five.
Freud eventually expanded the theory to include girls as well. Freud, however, believed that the theory manifested itself in girls as a strong homosexual attraction to their mother, before becoming father-fixated when they were disillusioned with their mothers due to their mothers’ lack of a penis. Thus, Freud suggested that the development of the Oedipus complex in females was more complex than the development of the Oedipus complex in males and led to the development of penis envy.
In addition to believing that the Oedipus complex and the Oedipal wish are natural, Freud also believes that successful resolution of the complex is essential for well-being. He postulated that failing to overcome the Oedipus stage and resolve desire could lead to sexual behaviors considered deviant, such as sexual neurosis, pedophilia and homosexuality.
According to Freud’s theory, children go through their oedipal phase developing a deep affinity with the same-sex parent. In other words, children lose the desire to possess the parent of the opposite sex and instead begin to identify with the parent of their own sex. Sexual desires are thus redirected elsewhere.
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