Oedipus Complex Essay

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The brilliant Sigmund Freud, pioneer in Psychoanalysis, discovered a theory about human behavior through self-evaluation. Comparing his findings to “Oedipus the King” play by Sophocles, naming his theories after this play, the Oedipus Complex. Freud develops his masterful theory on the basis of his own life, thoroughly analyzing all events and stages that lead to what cause one to behave a certain way. Through Psychoanalysis Freud developed this theory, “ a system of psychological theory and therapy that aims to treat mental disorder by investigating the interaction of conscious and unconscious elements in the mind” analyzing his own behavior through the five stages of his complex; Oral, Anal, Phallic, Latent, and Genital. These stages in life …show more content…
These stages all have critical and lasting effects of an individual’s development. The First stage represents the Oral libido, the satisfaction of biting or chewing on things as an infant; such as breast feeding. “Freud claimed that an oral stimulation could lead to and oral fixation later in life.” (SimplyPsychology, Oral). These fixations usually include; smoking, finger chewing, nail biting, and thumb sucking. Oedipus the king did not show direct signs of this phases having a lasting effects of his Oral …show more content…
During this stage (Phallic Stage) the child starts to develop the characteristics of the same sex parent, however during this phase two stages arise, “The Oedipus Complex” and the “Electra Complex”. “The Oedipus complex” derives specifically from” Oedipus the king” Oedipus was destined to kill his father and marry his mother, he became in competition with his same sex parent instead of adopting his characteristics, and became attracted to his opposite sex parent. This desire to possess the opposite sex parent cause the child to want to eliminate the competition with the same sex parent, whether it be a conscious decision or an unconscious one. Oedipus, although never knowing Laius was his father, was destined to eliminate him from the situation. “This polluting stain I will remove, not for some distant friend, but for myself. For whoever killed this man may soon enough desire to turn his hand in the same way against me, too, and kill me. Thus, in avenging Laius, I serve myself.” (Oedipus the King, 165-170). The conflicted Oedipus desperately try’s to bring justice to the people of Thebes and identify Laius’s murder, when ironically Oedipus himself is the
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