Outline your understanding of the Oedipus complex and its significance for psychoanalysis.

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Outline your understanding of the Oedipus complex and its significance for psychoanalysis

The Oedipus complex is felt to be one of Freud’s most well-known and controversial theories. This essay will analyse Freud’s definition of the Oedipus complex and will attempt to explain why it is so controversial. Freud’s theory of infantile sexual development will be discussed, as the Oedipus complex is an important stage in this development and finally, the importance of the theory to psychoanalysis will be examined.

To understand the Oedipus complex, the origins of Oedipus must be explained. The term stems from the Greek myth of Oedipus who unknowingly killed his father and unwittingly married his mother. This was his fate and in trying to avoid it, both Oedipus and his parents enabled him to fulfil the prophecy (Bettelheim, 1983). Freud used this story to illustrate his theory that there is a stage in psychosexual development when male children start to develop sexual interests in their mother and see their father as a rival resulting in a wish to do their father harm (Storr, 2001, p.33).

There is a difference in this stage between male and female children. This will be discussed later.

The Oedipus complex emerges during infantile sexual development. The theory of infantile sexuality and the Oedipus complex developed after Freud’s self-analysis and abandonment of the seduction theory (Storr, 2001, p.29 /33). Freud believed that sexuality began at birth and it’s onset came in two phases, the first

phase from age 1-5 and the second stage being in puberty when sexuality re-emerges from the latency period.  This development was seen to be normative and was key to the formation of personality. Sexuality according to Freud was about taking pleasure in the body and so the development of infantile sexuality was focused on a major biological function, which was assumed to be the focus of pleasure. This also met his need that ‘psychological processes should, wherever possible, be formulated in terms of their indispensable organic foundation’ (Storr, 2001, p.29).

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The first phase of sexuality from 1-5 has several stages, the first being the ‘oral’ stage. This is usually from birth to 12 – 18 months when the focus of pleasure is on the baby’s mouth. At this age children will suck, bite and chew anything that will fit into their mouths. Freud considered this behaviour to be sexual and that the mouth was a site of sexual pleasure. He believed that if children were overly indulged or deprived of oral gratification then they could become fixated at this stage in adulthood and have an influence on their character. ...

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