Oedipal complex
1
9.9
- noun
- /ˈɛdɪpəl ˈkɒmplɛks/
- NSFW
:
complejo de Edipo
- In her analysis, she highlighted the implications of the Oedipal complex in understanding the child's family dynamics.
Examples
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The therapist explained how the boy's behavior indicated signs of an Oedipal complex with his mother.
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It's like an Oedipal complex except it's for girls.
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Lacan has formulated the notion of the Name-of-the-Father to expand upon Freud's Oedipal complex and to identify the linguistic nature of the complex.
Academic text (1997) -
When the Oedipal complex is seen as a form of mimetic rivalry, a shared object of desire necessarily links "desire and violence" (Girard 175).
Academic text (1996) -
Freud believed such fantasies occur as girls undergo the process of abandoning the Oedipal complex and adopting the "masculinity complex" whereby girls wish to be boys.
Academic text (1995) -
Many psychologists believe that the Oedipal complex plays a significant role in the development of male identity.
Synonyms
1
9.9
A hidden wish in a boy to be loved by his mother and to replace his father
Surface Forms
Morphology
Although the noun 'complex' (a cluster of repressed emotions) is interpretable, the adjective 'Oedipal' refers to the Oedipus myth and Freudian theory and does not transparently indicate a child's unconscious sexual desire for the opposite‑sex parent. This is a technical, culture‑specific psychoanalytic term whose full meaning is not derivable from its parts by a B1 learner, making it essentially idiomatic and specialized.
Etymology
Oedipal complex comes from the old Greek story of Oedipus, who unknowingly killed his father and married his mother. That shocking picture of a child wanting the opposite-sex parent and feeling anger toward the same-sex parent is why the phrase means 'hidden romantic feelings for one parent and rivalry with the other'.