Oedipal Complex in Oedipus Rex
Briefly, an overview of Freud's Oedipus complex (in all its decidedly masculine perspective) is:
The sudden outburst of carnal feelings from the child for the opposite sex parent in conjunction with inimical feelings for the parent of the same sex.
Freud adamantly asserted, first in The Interpretation of Dreams in 1900 and then later in Three Essays on the Theory of Sexuality (1905), that the Oedipal period of the child's life (from between 3-6 years) was the crucial moment in which adult personality disorders later formed if unresolved. Due to the innate disharmony of the emotions felt towards both parents there is an overwhelming sense of ambivalence in regard to the father figure whom the boy has to identify with yet feel at odds due to the competition for the mother's affections. To some extent there is
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Attempting to circumvent this undesirable outcome his parents abandoned him and ironically set this sequence of events in motion causing Oedipus to unwittingly become a self-fulfilling prophecy. The idea of a curse of fate is very important as it correlates with Freud's opinion that it is intrinsic in human nature, the famous quote from which Freud extrapolated and used to back much of his theory being: "Before this in dreams too, ...many a man has lain with his mother". It is from this single quote that Freud realised that this phenomenon was not only limited to himself and Sophocles but "many" men stretching back centuries
In Sophocles' Oedipus Rex, Jocasta exclaims, "How oft it chances that in dreams a man/Has wed his mother!" For Sigmund Freud, "how oft" meant "always." The theory of the "Oedipus complex", examined by Freud in The Ego and the Id, formed the core of his interpretation of many psychological
Inspired by Sophocles’ Oedipus Rex and his analyses of his own and patients’ psychological behavior, Sigmund Freud developed the Oedipus complex. Freud believed that dreams suppress oedipal urges, and that these urges are universal to humankind. Opposition to the theory’s name is common, since many believe that Oedipus Rex has a profounder meaning than Freud asserts. Through the content of the play, Sigmund Freud supports his complex by shining light on Oedipus’s tragic, yet inevitable prophecy. The Oedipus complex was developed by the famous psychoanalyst Sigmund Freud.
The name “Oedipus” means “swollen feet” in Latinized Greek. His parents, Laius and Jocasta, gave him this name while piercing a metal rod through the ankles of his feet, in order to prevent the fulfilment of the oracle’s prophecy. Despite this heinous act, their efforts were in vain as Oedipus’ free will conquered the theme of fate. In the play Oedipus Rex by Sophocles, the tragic hero, Oedipus, demonstrates hamartia, a fatal error in judgement, which brings about his own downfall. It was Oedipus’ hubris that was responsible for the tragic ending of this play. Evidence of this statement occurs when Oedipus’ determination towards solving the mystery behind Laius’ death ironically lead to the truth behind the oracle’s prophecies. Additionally, Oedipus’ overweening pride and ego resulted in the murder of Laius, which was a major stepping-stone in the prophecy. He illustrates his error in judgment through his pride, blindness, and foolishness and therefore is at fault.
...ual tendencies by repressing them. He claims that this will be better for society and allow for better coexistence between people. Freud used free association so that we would be able to relate anything which came into our mind, regardless of how irrelevant or embarrassing. By just stating whatever is on one’s mind Freud was able to find what we are like and further analyze the root of our problems. He believed that we would eventually verbalize what our unconscious mind was storing and he would then be able to treat us. Freud stated that the Oedipus complex is essential for maturation. It is a process that must occur in males and (Electra complex) in females. It is critical for the child to identify with being in competition with other males and a fixation for mating with females during this stage. If they do not then they may become homosexual or pedophiles etc.
The greek playwright, Sophocles, was born around 496 B.C., and died in 406 B.C. During his life, he wrote many plays, one of which was Oedipus Rex. Sophocles was the first dramatist to add the third actor to the play. Actors were able to perfrom many different parts, but the play was limited to only three actors and the chorus. (Literature, page 1065)
The more Freud worked with patients, the more he theorized about how important the unconscious parts of the mind were. This was especially true in the case of his younger patients. From his research he coined the term "Oedipus Complex" which he derived from mythology that a child feels the need to sexually have the parent of the opposite sex .Later in life he took his psychosexual work a step further and detailed stages of human development. Sigmund Freud stated that to form a healthy adult a child had to move from each stage successfully. If the child had issues with one stage, he believed that would be stuck there and unable to function properly.
According to psychologist Sigmund Freud, who is known for his theory of psychoanalysis, the human mind contains “a reservoir of mostly unacceptable thoughts, wishes, feelings, and memories” (Meyers 597). These unconscious desires then resurface and develop into the impulses for one’s actions and thoughts. Moreover, one of the most prominent and often times controversial ideas of this theory is the Oedipus complex. In Meyer’s textbook of psychology, the Oedipus complex is described as affecting young males by causing the development of sexual desires for their mothers and also jealousy towards their fathers
When the play Oedipus The King is mentioned, what do you think of? I think of a very ignorant man that tries to escape his fate-- a man that had so much confidence in himself that he would put false accusations on people and defy his gods just because he thinks he is right. During the play, Oedipus realizes his own flaws while he investigates who the "true killer" of Laius is.
Essentially, a boy feels like he is competing with his father for possession of his mother. He views his father as a rival for her attention and affection. In psychoanalytic theory, the Oedipus complex refers to the child’s desire for sexual involvement with the opposite sex parent, usually a boy’s erotic attention to his mother (Wood et al, 366). Freud’s complex is named after a character in an ancient tragedy, Oedipus Rex by Sophocles. The main character accidently kills his father and marries his mother. But when it is referencing to females, the complex is called the Elektra complex, it is also after a similar play but a woman is the main character. These plays were popular during the 19th century in Europe, and Freud believed their popularity was because of the repeating theme, love for one’s opposite-sex parent. This represented a universal conflict that all human beings must resolve early on in their development (Cherry). With this assumption, Freud claimed that during the phallic stage, boys seek their mother’s attention and behave in a hostile way towards their fathers. Usually, boys resolve the Oedipus complex by identifying with his father and suppressing his sexual feelings for his
With every one of the prophets and talk of prophecies it is undeniable that there is some form of
It is the fate of all of us, perhaps, to direct our first sexual impulse towards our mother and our first hatred and our first murderous wish against our father. Our dreams convince us that this is so’’(Freud). The real power of Oedipus The King lies not in the fact that it illustrates the Oedipus complex—that Oedipus was oedipal—but that it depicts a troubling and seemingly universal dimension of human behavior; the way we unwittingly create the fate we fear and abhor. Oedipus, like many of us, falls victim to what he frantically strove to avoid. Readers identify with Oedipus not because they wish to possess one parent and eliminate the other, but because they often end up precisely where they didn’t want to be: a woman who was abused as a child may choose a partner who mistreats her; or the boy who was crushed by his marginal status in his family and unwittingly lives his life so that as an adult he is repeatedly unseen and under appreciated. What Oedipus could teach us is how magnetic the pull is to repeat what we desperately wish to
Even though Oedipus is a hero, we should not admire him, as the intentions for his actions are self-centered. This distinction is necessary to help us better understand the difference between being a hero, and a hero worth of admiration. It is important to know that somebody’s admiration must ultimately stem from the intentions of their actions rather than the results of their actions alone, so we can act accordingly in the future.
Psychoanalytic Theory itself has, what seems to be, two contradictory halves: Freudian psychoanalysis and Lacanian psychoanalysis. The first half focuses solely on the author and the unconscious mind; the second considers the unconscious, but prefers to concentrate on outside influences by deconstructing the text itself. According to Freud, interpretation is achieved by examining conflicts and symbols, such as Freudian slips and dream images. These outlets are help to determine whether an individual’s external behavior coincides (or conflicts) with their internal emotion. Freud placed emphasis on sexuality and the Oedipus complex, which is the idea of repressed sexual feelings toward a parent of opposite sex. He also defined three levels of the subconscious mind: the ego, the super-ego, and the id. Barry explains that the stages align with “the consciousness, the conscience, and the unconscious” respectively (93). On the other hand, Lacan, a follower of Freud, concentrated on the relationship between an author and his or her work. He claimed the two were inexorably connected, that objectivity is nonexistent. In an essence: an author’s personality is used to interpret the text and, in contrast, the text is used to gain insight about the author. Regardless of the emphasis, psychoanalytic criticism engages an
Freud emphasized that early childhood experiences are important to the development of the adult personality, proposing that childhood development took place over five stages; oral, anal. Phallic, latent and genital. The phallic stage is the most important stage which contains the Oedipus complex. This is where the child (age 4 - 6 yrs) posses the opposite sex parent and wants rid of the same sex parent. Freud argued that if the conflict is not resolved in childhood then it could cau...
Here is a story where Oedipus the King, who has accomplished great things in his life, discovers that the gods were only playing with him. He has everything a man of that time could want; he is king of Thebes, he has a wonderful wife and children, and great fame through out the lands. He has lived a good life, but in the end everything is taken from him.
From the very beginning, Oedipus was destined to fulfill Apollo's prophecy of killing his father. Even though King Lauis tries to kill Oedipus to stop the fulfillment of this shameful prophecy, fate drives the Corinthian messenger to save Oedipus. What the gods fortell will come true and no human can stop it from happening, not even the kings. Oedipus is once again controlled by this power when he leaves the place of his child hood after he hears that he is to kill his father and marry his mother. "I shall shrink from nothing...to find the the murderer of Laius...You are the murderer..." Oedipus tried to stop the prophecy from coming true by leaving Corinth and only fate can make Oedipus turn to the road where he kills his true father. Leaving Corinth makes Oedipus lose his childhood by making him worry of such issues young people should not have to worry about and becoming a king of a strange land. Last of all, Oedipus carries the last part of the prophecy out, marrying his mother. " I would... never have been known as my mother's husband. Oedipus has no control over the outcome of his life. Fate causes Oedipus to have known the answer to the Sphinx's riddle and win his marriage to his mother, Jocasta. Had fate not intervened, the chances of marrying Jocasta would have been small since there is an enourmous number of people and places to go. Oedipus loses his sense of dignity after he discovers he is not only a murderer, but also that he had committed incest.