Oedipus Rex, a play by Sophocles, tells the tragic tale of Oedipus, who unwittingly fulfilled a prophecy that foretold he would kill his father and marry his mother. Sigmund Freud coined the term the Oedipus complex in a clever reference to the famous play, suggesting that during the psychosexual stages of development, boys become jealous of their fathers and sexually attached to their mothers.
Carl Jung, a contemporary of Freud, later developed the term Electra complex. Both the Oedipus and Electra complex refers to the stages of development a child goes through and the potential sexual jealousy that occurs with parents of the opposite sex.
- First, we will present the Oedipus Complex and the Electra Complex.
- Then, we will review Sigmund Freud's ideas on Oedipus Complex and Electra Complex.
- We will present the difference between Oedipus Complex and Electra Complex.
- Then, we will discuss the developmental stage in which the Oedipus Complex and Electra Complex occur.
- Finally, we will provide an example of the Oedipus Complex and Electra Complex.
Oedipus Complex vs Electra Complex
Sigmund Freud introduced the term Oedipus complex in his book The Interpretation of Dreams in 1889, which he described in his psychoanalytic theory of sexual drive. The term concerns children's sexual development. The term was created as a reference to the protagonist of Sophocles' Oedipus Rex, a famous tale that depicted the actualisation of a destiny Oedipus Rex attempted to avoid – the killing of his father and marrying his mother.
Oedipus Rex was unaware of this, as his father sent him away as a baby when the prophecy was first foretold.
Freud highlighted the importance of the unconscious mind and applied it to understanding our behaviour. Conflicts arise due to psychic deterministic, meaning that stored childhood experiences will determine someone's behaviour in the future.
In 1913, Carl Jung introduced the concept of the Electra complex in his book Theory of psychoanalysis. Freud did not accept Jung's theory, as he believed the Oedipus complex applied to both boys and girls, exploring different experiences related to their gender.
Sigmund Freud: The Oedipus Complex and Electa Complex
Whilst Freud disagreed with the need to separate the terms to the applied gender, the Oedipus and Electra complex explored similar concepts applied to the opposite sexes.
Oedipus Complex
The Oedipus complex occurs during the phallic stage (ages three to six) of psychosexual development and is traditionally used to represent boys' unconscious processes. The theory states that boys' sexual awareness begins with their desire for their mothers. Boys realise the father stands in the way of him satisfying his desire.
Dealing with such challenging and complex feelings leads them to frustration, manifesting aggressive feelings toward their father. However, when the boy thinks about competing with his father, he realises how powerful his father is compared to him. At this stage, the boy begins to fear the consequences that might occur if his father learns of his secret desire for his mother.
For example, boys are afraid of being castrated, which is known as castration anxiety.
To resolve this inner conflict, the boy begins to identify with his father. This helps the child cope with the conflict. The child internalises aspects of his father and incorporates his father into his psyche. This then develops into his superego or moral 'persona'.
When the child accepts his father as part of himself, the boy automatically adopts the male identity. He deals with his desire for the mother by transferring it to other women.
Fig. 1 - Sigmund Freud.
Electra complex
Carl Jung proposed the Electra complex as an extension of Freud's theory of sexual development, specifically addressing the process in girls (during the phallic stage, aged three to six). Girls go through this process simultaneously as boys go through the Oedipus complex. However, girls experience a phenomenon known as penis envy, which relates to the idea of castration.
During the phallic stage, the difference in genitalia is thought to be due to the belief that women have been castrated. Since girls do not have a penis, they desire one. This desire transfers to their father figure, who represents power. He has a penis, and the girls desire this, leading to feelings of hatred and hostility towards their mother.
The girls blame their mother for not having a penis and hold her partially responsible for castration. Nevertheless, the girls are afraid of losing their mother's love, which is their inner conflict.
Similar to the Oedipus complex, the Electra complex leads to identification with the mother and internalisation of her behaviour and mannerisms and does so by repressing her feelings for her father.
The mother is internalised as the girl's superego (and gender identity), so we can see how this theory mirrors the one Freud first proposed. Thus, the inner conflict resolves itself. Finally, the desire for a baby replaces the desire for a penis.
Difference between the Oedipus complex and the Electra complex
The Oedipus and Electra complexes in psychology are notorious terms describing the stages of sexual jealousy and development boys and girls go through as they age. How boys and girls develop has been the subject of intense research in psychology.
Many psychologists have put forth various theories to understand these critical stages and explain what each stage entails. These theories have been hotly debated and are still under intense scrutiny.
The Oedipus and Electra complexes refer to the psychosexual stages of development. The terms concerning the sexual desire children direct toward their parents of the opposite sex.
There are a few differences between the Oedipus complex and the Electra complex. As stated previously, Freud is the precursor of the Oedipus complex, and Carl Jung is the precursor of the Electra complex.
Sex
While the Oedipus complex concerns the conflicts between a mother and a male child during phallic development, the Electra complex relates to the relationship between the female child and her father. Both deal with the awareness of their sexuality, transferring their parents' desires to the opposite sex.
Related anxiety
During the Oedipus complex, the boy fears castration while the girls feel penis envy. Examples of behaviours that relate to the Oedipus and Electra complexes include:
A male child acts possessively toward his mother, preventing his father from touching her. A child that wants to sleep between their parents. A female child claims she will marry her father when she grows up.
Adulthood
When the conflicts around the Electra complex are not addressed, the conflicts will become a traumatic experience, and these problems can develop into adult life. They can develop into unhealthy fixations. According to Freud, these can be harmful when establishing a romantic relationship and can also affect the development of mood disorders.
As you already know, boys feel attracted to their mothers during the Oedipus complex. During puberty, the desire may fade away, and the boys may develop an aversion when thinking about their mother sexually. However, they may seek out a female partner who resembles their mother.
Electra and Oedipus Complex: Stage
According to both Freud and Jung, the Oedipus and Electra complexes occur during the phallic stage of psychosexual development. In psychology, these terms were introduced by Freud to describe the stages of development boys and girls go through as they age.
Gender development, according to Freud, occurs precisely at the phallic stage when the libido moves to the genitals, focusing on children between three and six years old. During this time, awareness of different genders occurs, and boys and girls know the difference between their genitals.
Oedipus Complex Examples
According to Freud, the case of Little Hans supports the concept of the Oedipus complex. He was a five-year-old boy who developed a fear of horses, and Freud did a case study, relying on conversations Little Hans' father had with the boy. The fear came from trauma from a past incident where he saw a horse collapsing in the street.
Hans had mentioned fear of castration before and also had a habit of touching his genitals. His mother often threatened to cut his penis off.
This may have heavily influenced the fear of castration, but Freud suggested his fear was a fear of his father, displaced onto the horses.
The fear Hans expressed of white horses, particularly those with blinkers and black mouths, supported this hypothesis. These horses were more similar to Hans' father, particularly the black mouth relating to his fathers moustache.
Fig. 2 - Little Hans was a case study used by Freud to establish his theories.
The horse, according to Freud, was only a symbolic representation of the process he was going through: the Oedipus complex. Hans dreamt he was married to his mother and had the typical behaviours Freud believed to coincide with the psychosexual stages.
However, the theory has also faced criticism.
Freud developed this theory and based it heavily on a subjective interpretation of various behaviours.
- As we mentioned above, Freud ignored the threat of castration from the mother specifically, which may have caused this fear rather than it being innate.
- He also relied on retellings from Hans' father. His theories were heavily biased in favour of his musings.
- Freud neglected to properly address girls in his theory, making the Oedipus complex heavily androcentric. While girls in the time frame of Freud's research had little power, the theory does not translate well into modern times, where they have more power.
- The theories also do not translate well into non-typical family dynamics. What happens if a girl is adopted into a family of two mothers or two fathers adopt a boy? What happens in the case of single parents?
- Freud's theory relies on a heterosexual relationship and fails to acknowledge children's 'normal' gender development who do not fit into this paradigm.
Kirkpatrick et al. (1981) divided 40 children aged five to 12 into groups representing their mother's sexual orientation. This would identify if differences existed between heterosexual and homosexual parental upbringing.
They found the gender development of children in either group (lesbian or straight) was no different, showing that gender development is not dependent on the requirement of a typical nuclear family. This finding directly conflicts with Freud's theory of gender development.
In this study, the children are missing the 'father' figure and should develop abnormally and suffer gender development issues, which wasn't the case.
Oedipus and Electra Complex - Key takeaways
- Oedipus Rex, a play by Sophocles, tells the tragic tale of Oedipus, who unwittingly fulfilled a prophecy that foretold he would kill his father and marry his mother.
- Freud introduced the concept of the Oedipus Complex, while Carl Jung introduced the concept of the Electra complex.
In the Oedipus Complex, boys desire their mothers and fear competition from their fathers. They are aggressive and jealous towards their father and experience castration anxiety. Sons emulate their father's behaviour to correct the conflict.
The Electra complex mirrors this process. Girls envy and desire the father's penis (penis envy) and blame the mother for castration. They emulate the mother's behaviour to correct the conflict.
Freud's case study of Little Hans supports his theory. Still, it faces harsh criticism for its lack of scientific validity, modern relevance, and evidence opposing the need for a nuclear family in healthy childhood development.
Explanations 
Exams 
Magazine 
