In Freud’s Interpretation of Dreams, he outlines the premise of the Oedipus complex. Freud states that the difference between those children who develop normally and those who do not is that psychoneurotic children display “on a magnified scale feelings of love and hatred to their parents which occur less obviously and less intensely in the minds of most children” (814). It makes sense that parents would be influential in a child’s development. For better or worse, our parents are among our first and most persistent relationships. Freud evidences his hypothesis by drawing on the well-known play Oedipus Rex by Sophocles. His relation of Oedipus Rex follows with his own analysis. He likens psychoanalysis to the unfolding of the plot. It unfolds in stops and starts and halting steps that approach a revelation (815). Freud defines psychoanalysis as the process of revealing parts of the unconscious (815). Alternately, this defines literature as embedded with secrets of the unconscious and therefore a fitting source to draw his evidence from.

He puts forth the traditional reading of Oedipus Rex as a “tragedy of destiny” where the major theme is the inescapable nature of one’s fate. He states, “the lesson which, it is said, the deeply moved spectator should learn from the tragedy is submission to the divine will and realization of his own impotence” (815). Freud questions this traditional reading of the text because of the failure of other tragedies of destiny (816). He supposes that the primary factor in the continued reception of these texts is a recognition in ourselves of the same “sexual impulses” and desires. Freud states that Oedipus “merely shows us the fulfillment of our own childhood wishes” (816). His theory of sexual desire towards a parent doesn’t seem so far-fetched because of the significance of our relationships with our parents but that the jealousy against the father should be so pervasive that “our first hatred and our first murderous wish [is] against our father” seems too extreme to be a typical case (816). If I understand correctly, it would seem to cast our most basic inner nature as something very dark.  Although I may not fully embrace the idea of all human beings coming into the world as “blank slates”, I also can’t embrace what seems to me to be an extreme alternative. This excerpt, providing only a partial explanation of Freud’s theories, I have to wonder if there are no shades of grey for Freud.

Freud further evidences the universality of Oedipus’s repressed sexual impulses through an excerpt of Oedipus Rex in which Jocasta, Oedipus’s unwitting mother and wife, assuages his fears by telling him that many men have dreamt of lying with their mothers but that it means nothing (817). This point to the importance of dreams in addition to literature as a source for the revelation of the unconscious. Freud notes that the same dreams Jocasta speaks of are present today.

Hamlet is analyzed under the same Oedipus theory. He states that the difference between Oedipus and Hamlet resides in their “mental life” which demonstrates “the secular advance of repression in the emotional life of mankind” (817). He portrays Hamlet’s story as the modern treatment of the same sexual impulses present in Oedipus Rex in which Hamlet’s desires are repressed and manifest in “its inhibiting consequences” (817). He again relates the traditional interpretation of the text through Hamlet’s character as an over thinker whose actions are “paralyzed” by thought. However, in order to negate this traditional reading, he highlights instances of both Hamlet’s impulsive and “premeditated” action in the text. He surmises that the “paralyzing” effect on Hamlet must therefore be inherent in the “nature” of the particular undertaking of exacting revenge against his uncle for killing his father and marrying his mother. He identifies with his uncle in much the same way that Freud states the audience identifies with Oedipus. His uncle is “the man who shows him the repressed wishes of his own childhood realized” (818). He uses Hamlet’s conversations with Ophelia to support this through his expression of “distaste for sexuality” (818). Freud also parallels this through what he sees as Shakespeare’s increasing distaste of sexuality apparent in some of his later works. He states, “for it can only be the poet’s own mind which confronts us in Hamlet” (818). Instead of divorcing the author from their work, Freud intertwines the author and his/her writings and effectively makes the author’s work a reflection of their own psyche.

Some thoughts on the Oedipus complex as outlined in the excerpt:

The usage of the binary of “normal” and “psychoneurotic” stands out. This might be nitpicky but “normal” is a relative term in my mind and these two terms appear to be extremes that leave little room for variation.

Is this theory only applicable to a “normative” family with a present mother and father as opposed to a family considered to be non-traditional such as one with one or both parents being absent? Did Freud delve into different family structures?

The revision of Freud’s Oedipus complex is perhaps a way of diluting the extreme nature of his hypothesis by deeming the incest symbolic. This might very well be our own way of dealing with the unconscious desires that Freud names. Transforming the nature of the incest is potentially the use of repression by adding degrees of separation between us and a very taboo subject… something similar to the displacement in dreams? However, I like some of the insights other classmates had in seeing the Oedipus Complex in action… in our choices of romantic partners. It’s a widely held belief that women with absent or damaging fathers look for men like their fathers and I’ve heard men say they are interested in a woman because she reminds them of their mothers so perhaps there’s some merit in these observations.

                In Michel Foucault’s The History of Sexuality, Foucault comprises a history of the treatment of sex in society. Foucault begins with the 17^th century which is commonly seen as an “age of repression” marked by the censorship of sex. He states that “in order to gain mastery over [sex] in reality, it had first been necessary to subjugate it at the level of language, […], and extinguish the words that rendered it too visibly present” (1502). This speaks to the social construction of language and language’s power to help construct the world around us. In order to master a concept, you must control it figuratively through its representation in language. Though there was seemingly more censorship in the 17^th century, Foucault asserts that there was also a “multiplication if discourses concerning sex in the field of exercise of power itself: an institutional incitement to speak about it…” (1503). The increase of discourses surrounding sex on the institutional level which has a dual function of gathering knowledge and exercising power. The accumulation of knowledge engaged in by an institution on the subject of sex specifies its categories.

                Foucault zeroes in on the effects of confession and the influence of the Catholic Pastoral on sexuality. Sex was mostly about the physical details of the sexual act such as the places touched and positions held. As discretion became favored the “scope” of the confession began to expand and encompass not just the “flesh” but the “thoughts, desires, voluptuous imaginings, delectations, combined movements of the body and soul” that might accompany a sin of the flesh (1505).  Sexual acts became more significant as they were merely an extension of inward processes -specifically desire. Sex is successfully re-constructed as belonging to the “whole man”. It was a unification of the external (actions) with the internal (thoughts and desires) (1504). An increased emphasis on self-reflection and examination caused not only the subject to be vigilant but others as well. He states that “under the authority of a language that had been carefully expurgated so that it was no longer directly named, […], by a discourse that aimed to allow it no obscurity, no respite” (1504). This emphasizes power of language as a tool to construct and re-construct the concept of sex. By transforming desire into discourse but prohibiting the use of the word sex it increases the associations which in turn makes the concept a more concrete construction and more present in reality – an expanding web of associations.

                My understanding of the “mill of speech” from its mention in the text is that language is transformative. Discourse transformed the external into the internal and sought “ways of rendering [sex] morally acceptable and technically useful” (1504). Foucault uses the figure of Marquis de Sade as an example of “transforming sex into discourse” (1504). Scandalous literature is put forth as a type of case study in how the passions related (sex and desire) are present in reality through human actions and/or the inward workings of human beings. Sade states, “Your narrations must be decorated with the most numerous and searching details; the precise way and extent to which we may judge how the passion you describe relates to human manners…” (1504-1505). This connotes a probe into human nature and is in keeping with the previously established tradition of confession.

      I really enjoyed reading Freud as he explains the concepts of dreams and their underlying meaning. This semester I am taking psychology and we went over Freud and his theories. We took things literally as dreams having an underlying meaning. An example that has occurred frequently in my dreams is the dream of my teeth cracking and falling out. According to my psychology class Freud saw this dream as a result of my priorities falling apart and not being able to speak my mind. 

        However reading this article also brought other topics to my attention. The concept of our dreams being filtered when we wake up. The concept of our dreams being filtered demonstrates that our conscious mind suppresses some of our desires. Freud brings up the concept of our ideas being suppressed and our desires being halted by our own mind. 

       When we wake up from a dream I believe we forget 90% of our dreams in the first 10 minutes being awake. Now at this time we lose a lot of information and can recall certain points in our dreams, at this point we condense our dreams into a form we can remember. 

      In class we discussed how our childhood creates certain primal urges as we grow up. An example that everyone is somewhat recognizable is the concept of a cougar. If a boy lost his mother at a very young age it is very common for him to date older women that would fit the “mother” role in his life. This goes into the concept of the Oedipus story, where he goes and becomes attached to his mother in a sexual way. Some people will never publicly express that they would want to have sexual intentions with their mothers, however I think everyone in some way do follow this.  There is a very famous saying that I actually believe to be true which is a man grows up to marry his own mother in a metaphorical way. I think men are drawn to girlfriend’s that have characteristics of their mother. They may not see it at first, but for example Eminem in some of his songs demonstrate that he has dated women that resemble his own mother. Freud’s concept can be found in a number of places. I really enjoyed reading this because I can still find topics that can relate it to today.