Difference between revisions of "Oedipus complex"

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The "[[Oedipus complex]]" is considered by [[Freud]] as one of the "cornerstones" of [[psychoanalysis]].<ref>{{F}} (1923a) "[[Sigmund Freud:Bibliography|Two Encyclopaedia Articles]]", [[SE]], Vol. 18, p. 247.</ref> [[Freud]]'s conception of the [[Oedipus complex]] is probably one of the most popularized and at the same time one of the most misunderstood ideas of [[psychoanalysis]].  
 
The "[[Oedipus complex]]" is considered by [[Freud]] as one of the "cornerstones" of [[psychoanalysis]].<ref>{{F}} (1923a) "[[Sigmund Freud:Bibliography|Two Encyclopaedia Articles]]", [[SE]], Vol. 18, p. 247.</ref> [[Freud]]'s conception of the [[Oedipus complex]] is probably one of the most popularized and at the same time one of the most misunderstood ideas of [[psychoanalysis]].  
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The [[Oedipus complex]] is named after [[Oedipus]], a prominent figure in Greek mythology who unwittingly killed his [[father]] and married his [[mother]].
 
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<!-- The term is named after the [[Oedipus]], a prominent figure in Greek mythology who unwittingly unknowingly killed his father and married his mother. Taking his cue from the ancient Greek tragedy by [[Sophocles]], [[Oedipus Rex]], where [[Oedipus]] unwittingly kills his [[father]] and becomes king by marrying his [[mother]], [[Freud]] suggested that our deepest [[unconscious]] [[desire]] is to murder our [[father]] and marry our [[mother]]. -->
 
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<!-- One of the cornerstones of the theory of [[psychoanalysis]], the idea of the [[Oedipus complex]] derives from the Greek legend that tells how [[Oedipus]] unwittingly killed his father Laius and married his mother Jocasta.  When he finally learns what he has done, he blinds himself./ It comes from the Greek myth of Oedipus, a Greek hero who unknowingly killed his father and married his mother.  /  The term derives from ''[[Oedipus]]'' was a prominent figure in Greek mythology who killed his father and married his mother. / [[Freud]] attributes the "gripping power" of [[Sophocles]]' play, ''[[Oedipus Rex]]'' to its depiction of what [[Freud]] considers a "universal event in early childhood." -->
 
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<!-- Followers of the psychologist Sigmund Freud long believed that the Oedipus complex was common to all cultures, although many psychiatrists now refute this belief. -->
 
  
 
The "[[Oedipus complex]]" is a concept used by [[Sigmund Freud]] to refer to the [[unconscious]] [[sexual difference|sexual]] [[desire]] of the [[child]] - especially a [[male]] [[child]] - for the parent of the opposite sex, usually accompanied by hostility and rivalry with the parent of the same sex.
 
The "[[Oedipus complex]]" is a concept used by [[Sigmund Freud]] to refer to the [[unconscious]] [[sexual difference|sexual]] [[desire]] of the [[child]] - especially a [[male]] [[child]] - for the parent of the opposite sex, usually accompanied by hostility and rivalry with the parent of the same sex.
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<!-- It initially refers to the boy's perception of his mother as a sexual object and of his father as a rival, but Freud's description of this 'universal phenomenon' becomes more complicated as he integrates the findings of his studies of the 'sexual theories of children.' -->
 
<!-- It initially refers to the boy's perception of his mother as a sexual object and of his father as a rival, but Freud's description of this 'universal phenomenon' becomes more complicated as he integrates the findings of his studies of the 'sexual theories of children.' -->
 
<!-- The [[Oedipus complex]] is rather more complicated than this, though, and represents [[Freud]]'s attempt to map the [[ambivalnce|ambivalent]], both [[love|loving]] and hostile, feelings that the [[child]] has towards its parents. In its positive form the complex manifests itself as the desire for the death of a rival, the parent of the same sex, accompanied by the sexual desire for the parent of the opposite sex. In its negative form the complex works in reverse, as the desire for the parent of the same sex and a hatred towards the parent of the opposite sex. In actual fact, a so-called 'normal' Oedipus complex consists of both positive and negative forms. What is important about the Oedipus complex is how the child learns to negotiate and resolve its ambivalent feelings towards its parents. -->
 
<!-- The [[Oedipus complex]] is rather more complicated than this, though, and represents [[Freud]]'s attempt to map the [[ambivalnce|ambivalent]], both [[love|loving]] and hostile, feelings that the [[child]] has towards its parents. In its positive form the complex manifests itself as the desire for the death of a rival, the parent of the same sex, accompanied by the sexual desire for the parent of the opposite sex. In its negative form the complex works in reverse, as the desire for the parent of the same sex and a hatred towards the parent of the opposite sex. In actual fact, a so-called 'normal' Oedipus complex consists of both positive and negative forms. What is important about the Oedipus complex is how the child learns to negotiate and resolve its ambivalent feelings towards its parents. -->
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<!-- =====''Oedipus Rex''===== -->
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The complex is named after [[Oedipus]], a prominent figure in Greek mythology who unwittingly killed his [[father]] and married his [[mother]].
 +
<!-- The term is named after the [[Oedipus]], a prominent figure in Greek mythology who unwittingly unknowingly killed his father and married his mother. Taking his cue from the ancient Greek tragedy by [[Sophocles]], [[Oedipus Rex]], where [[Oedipus]] unwittingly kills his [[father]] and becomes king by marrying his [[mother]], [[Freud]] suggested that our deepest [[unconscious]] [[desire]] is to murder our [[father]] and marry our [[mother]]. -->
 +
<!-- One of the cornerstones of the theory of [[psychoanalysis]], the idea of the [[Oedipus complex]] derives from the Greek legend that tells how [[Oedipus]] unwittingly killed his father Laius and married his mother Jocasta.  When he finally learns what he has done, he blinds himself./ It comes from the Greek myth of Oedipus, a Greek hero who unknowingly killed his father and married his mother.  /  The term derives from ''[[Oedipus]]'' was a prominent figure in Greek mythology who killed his father and married his mother. / [[Freud]] attributes the "gripping power" of [[Sophocles]]' play, ''[[Oedipus Rex]]'' to its depiction of what [[Freud]] considers a "universal event in early childhood." -->
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<!-- Followers of the psychologist Sigmund Freud long believed that the Oedipus complex was common to all cultures, although many psychiatrists now refute this belief. -->
  
 
=====History=====
 
=====History=====

Revision as of 21:22, 7 November 2006

French: complexe d'Oedipe

Sigmund Freud

The "Oedipus complex" is considered by Freud as one of the "cornerstones" of psychoanalysis.[1] Freud's conception of the Oedipus complex is probably one of the most popularized and at the same time one of the most misunderstood ideas of psychoanalysis.

The "Oedipus complex" is a concept used by Sigmund Freud to refer to the unconscious sexual desire of the child - especially a male child - for the parent of the opposite sex, usually accompanied by hostility and rivalry with the parent of the same sex.

The complex is named after Oedipus, a prominent figure in Greek mythology who unwittingly killed his father and married his mother.

History

The "Oedipus complex" is first introduced by Freud in 1901; it comes to acquire central importance in psychoanalytic theory thereafter.

Phallic Phase

The Oedipus complex emerges in the third year of life and then declines in the fifth year. The Oedipus complex coincides with the phallic stage of psychosexual development. The Oedipus conflict, or Oedipus complex, was described as a state of psychosexual development and awareness first occurring around the age of 5 and a half years (a period known as the phallic stage in Freudian theory).


Jacques Lacan

Symbolic Structure

The Oedipus complex is, for Lacan, the paradigmatic triangular structure, which contrasts with all dual relations (though see the final paragraph below). The key function in the Oedipus complex is thus that of the father, the third term which transforms the dual relation between mother and child into a triadic structure. The Oedipus complex is thus nothing less than the passage from the imaginary order to the symbolic order, "the conquest of the symbolic relation as such."[2] The fact that the passage to the symbolic passes via a complex sexual dialectic means that the subject cannot have access to the symbolic order without confronting the problem of sexual difference.

Times

In The Seminar, Book V, Lacan analyzes this passage from the imaginary to the symbolic by identifying three "times" of the Oedipus complex, the sequence being one of logical rather than chronological priority.[3]

First

In the first time of the Oedipus complex, the child slowly comes to realize that it is not identical to, or the sole object of, the mother's desire, as her desire is directed elsewhere. He or she will therefore attempt to satisfy her desire by becoming the object of her desire. The dyadic relationship between the mother and child is thus turned into a triangular relationship between the child, the mother and the object of her desire. Lacan calls this third term the imaginary phallus. The imaginary phallus is what the child assumes someone must have in order for them to be the object of the mother's desire and, as her desire is usually directed towards the father, it is assumed that he possesses the phallus. Through trying to satisfy the mother's desire, the child identifies with the object that it presumes she has lost and attempts to become that object for her.

Second

The second time of the Oedipus complex is characterized by the interven­tion of the imaginary father. The father imposes the law on the mother's desire by denying her access to the phallic object and forbidding the subject access to the mother. Lacan often refers to this intervention as the "castration" of the mother, even though he states that, properly speaking, the operation is not one of castration but of privation.

Third

The third 'time' of the Oedipus complex is marked by the intervention of the real father. By showing that he has the phallus, and neither exchanges it nor gives it,[4], the real father castrates the child, in the sense of making it impossible for the child to persist in trying to be the phallus for the mother; it is no use competing with the real father, because he always wins.[5] The subject is freed from the impossible and anxiety-­provoking task of having to be the phallus by realizing that the father has it. This allows the subject to identify with the father. Lacan follows Freud in arguing that the superego is formed out of this Oedipal identification with the father.[6]

Clinical Structures

In accordance with Freud's view of the Oedipus complex as the root of all psychopathology, Lacan relates all the clinical structures to difficulties in this complex. Since it is impossible to resolve the complex completely, a completely non-pathological position does not exist. The closest thing is a neurotic structure; the neurotic has come through all three times of the Oedipus complex, and there is no such thing as a [[neurosis without Oedipus. On the other hand, psychosis, perversion and phobia result when "something is essentially incomplete in the Oedipus complex."[7] In psychosis, there is a fundamental blockage even before the first time of the Oedipus complex. In perversion, the complex is carried through to the third time, but instead of identifying with the father, the subject identifies with the mother and/or the imaginary phallus, thus harking back to the imaginary preoedipal triangle. A phobia arises when the subject cannot make the transition from the second time of the Oedipus complex to the third time because the real father does not intervene; the phobia then functions as a substitute for the intervention of the real father, thus permitting the subject to make the passage to the third time of the Oedipus complex (though often in an atypical way).


See Also

  1. ↑ Freud, Sigmund. (1923a) "Two Encyclopaedia Articles", SE, Vol. 18, p. 247.
  2. ↑ Lacan, Jacques. The Seminar. Book III. The Psychoses, 1955-56. Trans. Russell Grigg. London: Routledge, 1993. p.199
  3. ↑ Lacan, Jacques. 1957-8: seminar of 22 January 1958
  4. ↑ Lacan, Jacques. The Seminar. Book III. The Psychoses, 1955-56. Trans. Russell Grigg. London: Routledge, 1993. p. 319
  5. ↑ Lacan, Jacques. Le Séminaire. Livre IV. La relation d'objet, 19566-57. Ed. Jacques-Alain Miller. Paris: Seuil, 1991. pp. 208-9, 227
  6. ↑ Lacan, Jacques. Le Séminaire. Livre IV. La relation d'objet, 19566-57. Ed. Jacques-Alain Miller. Paris: Seuil, 1991. p. 415
  7. ↑ Lacan, Jacques. The Seminar. Book II. The Ego in Freud's Theory and in the Technique of Psychoanalysis, 1954-55. Trans. Sylvana Tomaselli. New York: Nortion; Cambridge: Cambridge Unviersity Press, 1988. p.201
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