The Oedipus complex is one of Freud’s most renowned and shocking ideas. In this episode, we dive into the origins of the theory and whether anything really remains once its gendered assumptions and controversial sexual claims are stripped away.
We explore:
- How the Greek tragedy of Oedipus inspired Freud’s theory
- What Freud meant by unconscious childhood desire and parental rivalry
- The importance of the phallic stage
- How Freud believed it was resolved - and what fixation was thought to mean for adulthood
- His problematic gendered ideas
- The scientific and ethical problems surrounding the theory
- How modern psychoanalysis has reinterpreted Oedipal ideas
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Our favourite sources:
https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1002/j.2167-4086.2004.tb00151.x
https://psycnet.apa.org/doiLanding?doi=10.1037%2F0033-3204.32.4.535
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