Can anyone explain the Oedipus Complex for me?
My dictionary gives me this definition: “(in Freudian theory) the complex of emotions aroused in a young child, typically around the age of four, by an unconscious sexual desire for the parent of the opposite sex and a wish to exclude the parent of the same sex. (The term was originally applied to boys, the equivalent in girls being called the Electra complex.)” Supposedly, when a boy goes through puberty, he has disturbing sexual dreams he never tells anyone about. (How we know about this if he never tells anyone, I don’t know). I don’t know if this is true – I am not a boy – but the Oedipus complex works on the same principle. A boy has a sexual desire for his mother, even if he doesn’t know it. In this complex it isn’t just incestuous lust – the boy is very young, only 4 or 5, so he shouldn’t really be having sexual desire for ANYONE, let alone his poor mother. He also has no desire to bond with his father or spend time with him in any way. A VERY BREIF SUMMARY: The Oedipus Complex
