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Oedipus stage of development


What Is Oedipus Complex, and Its Common Symptoms?

Introduction

Oedipus complex is something that many children go through in their early childhood. It is a theory derived from Sigmund Freud, which discusses children’s affection toward a parent of the opposite sex. This blog covers the Oedipus complex, its stages, symptoms, and real-life examples. Keep reading ahead to learn more!

What Is Oedipus Complex?

The Oedipus complex is a concept developed by Sigmund Freud. It refers to children’s emotions and feelings toward their parents, particularly the parent of the opposite sex. The term derives from the play Oedipus Rex, written by Sophocles. In this play, Oedipus unknowingly murders his father and marries his mother. According to Freud, all humans experience this at some point in childhood, but it passes before we become aware of it for most of us.

While this process in psychoanalysis is considered normal, it is usually very harmful in our society. We live in a culture that generally encourages people to be as independent as possible, posing problems for children who try to form close bonds with their parents. To prevent children from seeing their parents as competitors for their parent’s affection or attention, they are taught from an early age that these feelings are unacceptable.

What Is Freud’s Theory of the Oedipus Complex?

The Oedipus complex concept in psychoanalysis describes a child’s desire for a parent of the opposite sex and simultaneous rivalry with the same-sex parent. Sigmund Freud introduced the idea in his book Interpretation of Dreams (1899). Sigmund Freud introduced the concept and coined the term Oedipus complex based on Greek mythology, killing his father and marrying his mother. The child directs these feelings toward their parents due to the unconscious perception that they are of the same sex. This psychological conflict among children settles on its own between the ages of three to six.  

Freud believed that all children have sexual feelings toward their parents of the opposite sex. Thus, children often identify with one parent over another by gaining love or emulating that parent. The term is “Electra complex” for girls; for boys, the name of the complex is “Oedipus.” He also believed these feelings were repressed as a part of normal sexual development as a person grew into adulthood. 

What Are the Stages of the Oedipus Complex?

According to Sigmund Freud, there are five stages of psychosexual development that lead to the Oedipus complex:

1. Oral Stage

During the oral stage (birth to 18 months), babies use their mouths to explore the world around them. They use their gums for teething and their tongues to taste and touch different objects. 

2. Anal Stage

Children learn about independence during the anal stage (18 months to 3 years). They begin toilet training at this stage and learn how to control their bowels, which is also when children become interested in possessions and privacy.  

3. Phallic Stage

The phallic stage is the most critical stage of psychosexual development in children. According to Freud, the Oedipal complex is a stage in psychosexual development that most males go through during the phallic stage, between ages 3 and 6.

4. Latency

This stage lasts from 5 years to around 12 years of age. During this stage, the child becomes dormant but has healthy feelings towards the opposite sex.

5. Genital Stage

The genital stage is the last stage of psychosexual development. This stage occurs during puberty and results in active sexual attraction towards the opposite sex.

What Are the Symptoms of the Oedipus Complex?

There are few Oedipal complex symptoms as powerful as a child’s love for their parents. If you ask a child who their favourite parent is, they will probably say “Mommy” or “Daddy.” No matter what, children tend to favour one parent over the other.

One of the most common symptoms of the Oedipus complex is a child’s fantasy about their parents’ love life. For example, children often feel jealous because they want their parents’ attention. Thus, the child imagines how their parents would spend time with them if only the parent didn’t have to work or was home early from work.

Some other common symptoms of the Oedipus complex include:

  • Jealousy towards the male parent
  • Child insisting on sleeping in between parents
  • The desired parent has an intense possessiveness (generally the female parent).
  • Irrational hatred towards the male parent.
  • Protectiveness towards the female parent.
  • Attraction towards older people.

What Are the Examples of the Oedipus Complex in Literature?

The Oedipus Complex is a normal part of development. Still, it can become problematic if the child feels anger and hatred towards the parent of the opposite sex and desires to replace them in the family structure. This complex is evident in many works of great literature, and in this segment, we will look at some examples.

  • In Sophocles’ Oedipus Rex, Oedipus unknowingly kills his father, Laius and marries his mother, Jocasta. He then discovers that he is their son and the King of Thebes.
  • In Hamlet, he could speak to his father, who was a ghost. Due to his obsession with his mother, he was furious about his mother’s marriage to his uncle Claudius.
  • In the play, O’Neill’s Long Day’s Journey Into Night, written by Eugene Edmund and Mary, both suffered from Oedipus’s complex

How to Help People with Oedipus Complex?

If someone has the Oedipus complex, they believe that love is a form of competition, and aggression and control are the basis of attraction between males and females. Many people with this condition also believe that not love but power and struggles are the basis of relationships between a mother and her child, making it difficult for people who suffer from the Oedipus complex to forge loving, lasting relationships in adulthood.  

If you are experiencing feelings of inadequacy, low self-esteem, or lack of self-worth, these could be the most common symptoms of the Oedipus complex. Treatment for this condition can include Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT), medication, and alternative therapies such as hypnotherapy, meditation, and cognitive restructuring.

Counselling at the UWC allows you to explore your Oedipus complex in a safe and supportive environment. Trained Counsellors listen to you carefully, lead you through psychodynamic processes such as free association, and help you understand different aspects of your condition. Learn more here.

Conclusion

The Oedipus complex is more than just a psychodynamic theory; it has also evolved into a sociological approach. The person has no control over the complex, which leads to learning about sexuality, hostility, and guilt. The key to dealing with it is channelling negative energy towards something positive.

Oedipus Complex Meaning and Overview

Also called the oedipal complex, the Oedipus complex is a term used in the psychosexual stages of development theory by Sigmund Freud. The concept, first proposed by Freud in 1899 and not formally used until 1910, refers to a male child’s attraction to their parent of the opposite sex (mother) and jealousy of their parent of the same sex (father).

According to the controversial concept, children view the same-sex parent as a rival. Specifically, a boy feels the need to compete with his father for the attention of his mother, or a girl will compete with her mother for the attention of her father. The latter concept was termed the “Electra complex,” by a former student and collaborator of Freud, Carl Jung.

The controversy centers on the theory that a child has sexual feelings towards a parent. Freud believed that though these feelings or desires are repressed or unconscious, they still have a significant influence on a child’s development.

The complex is named after Oedipus Rex — a character in Sophocles’ tragic play. In the story, Oedipus Rex unknowingly kills his father and marries his mother.

According to Freud’s theory, the psychosexual development in childhood happens in stages. Each stage represents the fixation of libido on a different part of the body. Freud believed that as you grow physically, certain parts of your body become sources of pleasure, frustration, or both. Today, these body parts are commonly referred to as erogenous zones when talking about sexual pleasure.

According to Freud, the stages of psychosexual development include:

  • Oral. This stage happens between infancy and 18 months. It involves fixation on the mouth, and the pleasure of sucking, licking, chewing, and biting.
  • Anal. This stage occurs between 18 months and 3 years of age. It focuses on the pleasure of bowel elimination and developing healthy toilet training habits.
  • Phallic. This stage runs from age 3 to 5. It’s believed to be the most important stage in psychosexual development in which boys and girls develop healthy substitutes for their attraction to the opposite-sex parent.
  • Latency. This stage occurs between 5 and 12 years of age or puberty, during which a child develops healthy dormant feelings for the opposite sex.
  • Genital. This stage occurs from age 12, or puberty, to adulthood. The maturation of healthy sexual interests happens during this time as all of the other stages are integrated into the mind. This allows for healthy sexual feelings and behavior.

According to Freud, the first five years of life are important in the formation and development of our adult personalities. During this time, he believed we develop our ability to control and direct our sexual desires into socially acceptable behaviors.

Based on his theory, the Oedipus complex plays a significant role in the phallic stage, which happens between approximately 3 and 6 years of age. In this stage, the child’s libido is focused on the genitalia.

The symptoms and signs of the Oedipus complex aren’t as overtly sexual — if at all — as one might imagine based on this controversial theory. The signs of Oedipus complex can be very subtle and include behavior that wouldn’t make a parent think twice.

The following are some examples that could be a sign of the complex:

  • a boy who acts possessive of his mother and tells the father not to touch her
  • a child who insists on sleeping between parents
  • a girl who declares she wants to marry her father when she grows up
  • a child who hopes the parent of the opposite sex goes out of town so that they can take their place

The Electra complex is referred to as the female counterpart of the Oedipus complex. Unlike the Oedipus complex, which refers to both males and females, this psychoanalytic term refers only to females. It involves a daughter’s adoration for her father and her jealously toward her mother. There’s also a “penis envy” element to the complex, in which the daughter blames the mother for depriving her of a penis.

The Electra complex was defined by Carl Jung, one of the pioneers of psychoanalysis and former collaborator of Freud’s. It was named after the Greek myth of Electra. In the myth, Electra persuades her brother to avenge her father’s murder by helping her kill her mother and her lover.

According to Freud, a child must overcome conflicts at each of the sexual stages to be able to develop healthy sexual desires and behaviors. When the Oedipus complex is not successfully resolved during the phallic stage, an unhealthy fixation can develop and remain. This leads to boys becoming fixated on their mothers and girls becoming fixated on their fathers, causing them to choose romantic partners that resemble their opposite-sex parent as adults.

The Oedipus complex is one of the most discussed and criticized issues in psychology. Experts have, and will likely continue to have, differing views and opinions on the complex and whether or not it exists and to what degree.

If you’re concerned about your child’s behavior, speak to your child’s pediatrician or a mental health professional.

What is the Oedipus complex | e1.

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We continue to consider the psychosexual stages of child development according to Z. Freud. Today we will talk about what changes the phallic stage of development brings with it.

Between the ages of three and six, a child's interests shift to a new area, the genital area. During the phallic stage, children can look at and explore their genitals, show interest in matters related to sexual relations. Although their ideas about adult sexuality are usually vague, erroneous, and highly inaccurate, Freud believed that most children understand the essence of sexual relations more clearly than their parents suggest. Based on what they see on TV, on some of the phrases of parents or on the explanations of other children, they draw a 'primary' scene. nine0003

The dominant conflict in the phallic stage is what Freud called the Oedipus complex (an analogous conflict in girls is called the Electra complex). Freud borrowed the description of this complex from the tragedy Oedipus Rex by Sophocles, in which Oedipus, the king of Thebes, unintentionally killed his father and entered into an incestuous relationship with his mother. When Oedipus realized what a monstrous sin he had committed, he blinded himself. Freud saw tragedy as a symbolic description of the greatest of human conflicts. From his point of view, this myth symbolizes the unconscious desire of the child to possess the parent of the opposite sex and at the same time eliminate the parent of the same sex with him. Moreover, Freud found confirmation of the complex in kinship and clan relationships that take place in various primitive societies. nine0003

Normally, the oedipal complex develops somewhat differently in boys and girls. Consider how it manifests itself in boys. Initially, the object of love for the boy is the mother or a figure replacing her. From the moment of birth, she is for him the main source of satisfaction. He wants to express his feelings towards her in the same way that, according to his observations, older people do. This suggests that the boy seeks to play the role of his father and at the same time he perceives his father as a competitor. But the boy guesses about his lower position, he understands that his father does not intend to tolerate his romantic feelings for his mother. Freud called the fear of imaginary retribution from his father the fear of castration and, in his opinion, this makes the boy give up his desire. nine0003

Between the ages of about five and seven, the oedipal complex develops: the boy suppresses (forces out of consciousness) his desires for his mother and begins to identify himself with his father (takes on his traits). This process performs several functions: firstly, the boy acquires a conglomerate of values, moral norms, attitudes, models of gender-role behavior that outline for him what it means to be a man. Second, by identifying with the father, the boy can retain the mother as an object of love through substitution, since he now has the same attributes that the mother sees in the father. An even more important aspect of the resolution of the Oedipus complex is that the child adopts parental prohibitions and basic moral norms. This sets the stage for the development of the child's superego or conscience. those. the superego is a consequence of the resolution of the oedipal complex. Adult males with fixation in the phallic stage are brash, boastful and reckless. Phallic types strive to achieve success (success for them symbolizes victory over a representative of the opposite sex) and constantly try to prove their masculinity and puberty. They convince others that they are 'real men'. It can also be Don Juan-like behavior. nine0003

The girl's version of the Oedipus complex is called the Electra complex. The prototype in this case is the character of Greek mythology Electra, who persuades her brother Orestes to kill their mother and her lover and thus avenge the death of her father. As with boys, the first object of love for girls is the mother. However, when the girl enters the phallic stage, she realizes that she does not have a penis, which may symbolize a lack of strength. She blames her mother for being born 'defective'. At the same time, the girl seeks to possess her father, envious that he has the power and love of his mother. nine0003

Over time, the girl gets rid of the Electra complex by suppressing the attraction to her father and identifying with her mother. In other words, by becoming more like her mother, a girl gains symbolic access to her father, thus increasing her chances of ever marrying a man like her father.

In women, phallic fixation, as noted by Freud, leads to a tendency to flirt, seduce, and also to promiscuity, although they may sometimes appear sexually naive and innocent. The unresolved problems of the Oedipus complex were regarded by Freud as the main source of subsequent neurotic behaviors, especially those related to impotence and frigidity. In the next article we will talk about the latent stage of the psychosexual development of the personality. nine0003

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    What can I do if I log in? Psychology. Stages of psychosexual development. Stage 3 - Hobbies, sports, psychology

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    Stage 3 - Phallic stage. Oedipus complex. Electra Complex
    Between the ages of three and six, a child's interests shift to a new area, the genital area. During the phallic stage, children can look at and explore their genitals, show interest in matters related to sexual relations. Although their ideas about adult sexuality are usually vague, erroneous, and highly inaccurate, Freud believed that most children understand the essence of sexual relations more clearly than their parents suggest. Based on what they saw on TV, on some phrases of their parents or on the explanations of other children, they draw a “primary” scene. nine0078 Real life example: I saw with my own eyes how in the kindergarten, in the summer, a kid showed his "relay baton" to a couple of girls, the kid did not experience any emotions at all, but 2 girls sat and discussed something and were surprised, oil painting : the upbringing runs towards this performance, the boy has his pants down, holding his T-shirt, the girls are sitting holding their cheeks ...


    The dominant conflict in the phallic stage is what Freud called the Oedipus complex (an analogous conflict in girls is called the Electra complex). Freud borrowed the description of this complex from the tragedy Oedipus Rex by Sophocles, in which Oedipus, the king of Thebes, (further taken from Wikipedia) unintentionally killed his father and entered into an incestuous relationship with his mother. When Oedipus realized what a monstrous sin he had committed, he blinded himself. Freud saw tragedy as a symbolic description of the greatest of human conflicts. From his point of view, this myth symbolizes the unconscious desire of the child to possess the parent of the opposite sex and at the same time eliminate the parent of the same sex with him. Moreover, Freud found confirmation of the complex in kinship and clan relationships that take place in various primitive societies. nine0078 An example from life : a would-be mother came to me with such a request - The child hates me, although I do everything for her. Further, in detail, I find out that the girl is 3.5 years old, and there was a case that one day, “over TV,” the daughter said to her dad: And when I grow up, will you marry me? But then mommy intervened and tried to rationally explain to her daughter that her husband is hers, and nothing shines for you, supposedly you will find another, your husband cannot marry you, and something like that . .. fool ...

    nine0078 Normally, the oedipal complex develops somewhat differently in boys and girls.
    Initially, the boy's object of love is his mother or a figure replacing her. From the moment of birth, she is for him the main source of satisfaction. He wants to express his feelings towards her in the same way that, according to his observations, older people do. This suggests that the boy seeks to play the role of his father and at the same time he perceives his father as a competitor. But the boy guesses about his lower position, he understands that his father does not intend to tolerate his romantic feelings for his mother. Freud called the fear of imaginary retribution from his father the fear of castration and, in his opinion, this makes the boy give up his desire. nine0078 Between the ages of about five and seven, the oedipal complex develops: the boy suppresses (forces out of consciousness) his desires for his mother and begins to identify himself with his father (adopts his traits). This process performs several functions: firstly, the boy acquires a conglomeration of values, moral norms, attitudes, models of gender-role behavior that outline for him what it means to be a man. Second, by identifying with the father, the boy can retain the mother as an object of love through substitution, since he now has the same attributes that the mother sees in the father. An even more important aspect of the resolution of the Oedipus complex is that the child adopts parental prohibitions and basic moral norms. This sets the stage for the development of the child's superego or conscience. Those. the superego is a consequence of the resolution of the oedipal complex. nine0003

    Adult males with fixation in the phallic stage are defiant, boastful and reckless. Phallic types strive to achieve success (success for them symbolizes victory over a representative of the opposite sex) and constantly try to prove their masculinity and puberty. They convince others that they are "real men". It can also be Don Juan-like behavior.

    More about Elektra wiki to help. The prototype in this case is the character of Greek mythology Electra, who persuades her brother Orestes to kill their mother and her lover and thus avenge the death of her father. As with boys, the first object of love for girls is the mother. However, when the girl enters the phallic stage, she realizes that she does not have a penis, which may symbolize a lack of strength. She blames her mother for being born "defective". At the same time, the girl seeks to possess her father, envious that he has the power and love of his mother. nine0003

    Over time, the girl gets rid of the Electra complex by suppressing the attraction to her father and identifying with her mother. In general, a girl, by becoming more like her mother, gains symbolic access to her father, thus increasing the chances of one day marrying a man like her father.
    In women, phallic fixation, as noted by Freud, leads to a tendency to flirt, seduce, and also to promiscuity, although they may sometimes appear sexually naive and innocent.

    Learn more