ENGLISH LITERATURE (CBSE/UGC NET)

Detailed explanation-1: -The idea is based on the Greek myth of Oedipus. Freud used the Oedipus complex to explain the formation of the super-ego. In a child’s coming-of-age, a male child selects the mother as the object of sexual investment. However, this is believe to anger the father, and the infant is therefore castrated.

Detailed explanation-2: -The Oedipus complex is a theory of Sigmund Freud, and occurs during the Phallic stage of psychosexual development. It involves a boy, aged between 3 and 6, becoming unconsciously sexually attached to his mother, and hostile towards his father (who he views as a rival).

Detailed explanation-3: -Oedipus pierces his eyes out after finding his mother dead and banishes himself from Thebes for the murder (Sophocles). Freud based his theory of the Oedipal Complex off of this play, but Oedipus did not suffer from the Oedipal Complex.

Detailed explanation-4: -Freud used the phrase to describe the experience of children feeling a possessive fixation or desire toward the parent of their opposite sex, along with rival feelings toward the parent of their same sex. According to the theory, all children go through an Oedipus phase as a part of natural sexual development.