Oedipal Complex Research Paper

The oedipal complex is described as, “the attachment of a child to the parent of the opposite sex...and aggressive feelings toward the parent of the same sex” (Dolloff, 2006). Freud coined the term after Sophocles’ Oedipus Tyrannus, where Oedipus kills his father and sleeps with his mother. In young males, the conflict arises because the boy develops a desire for his mother. The child then fears that if his father finds out, he will lose what he loves most, his penis. This in turn develops the fear of castration (McLeod, 2008). Freud believed that this attachment and resentment were present in most familial relationships. Sigmund Freud determined that these feelings were unconscious and developed in the phallic stage (Dolloff, 2006). In The Ego and the Id (1923), Freud discusses the two forms of the oedipal complex, the positive and the negative (as cited in Silverman, 1992, p. 360). In the positive form the child rivals the same sex parent to compete for love from the opposite sex parent. The “negative” form is when the child’s rivalry is with the opposite sex parent, and the child desires the same sex parent (Dolloff, 2006). The child does not move past this conflict until they find a partner to replace their parental desire.
Movies, books, and television all thrive off of the Oedipal complex. One such example is the movie Psycho by Alfred Hitchcock, we witness the main character Norman Bates obsession with his mother. When Bates’ father passes away, the young boy becomes dependent on his mother. It is later revealed that Mrs. Bates sexually abused Norman. Thus, Norman never moved on and remained reliant on his mother (Oedipus Complex, N.D.). In Shakespeare’s Hamlet we see the similarities. Hamlet has a distaste for his stepfather/uncle and feels protective over his mother. The Oedipal complex has been prevalent in society as early as Sophocles’ Oedipus