SIGMUND FREUD – 1856-1939
“The mind is like an iceberg, it floats with one-seventh of its bulk above water” (S. Freud)
Sigmund Freud theory on Oedipus from the Boy’s Perspective
This theory derives from the ancient Greek story of King Oedipus; he accidentally murdered his father and married his mother. It is about childhood for both male and female. Both sexes look at the father as the enemy or rival and compete for the mother’s love. When we are born both boy and girl form a natural love bond with our mother first. Dad is seen as competition. AS young boys and girls grow they begin to discover the physical differences between them, specifically the genitalia. At some point the boy recognizes where he is on the Arche level, usually around the same time of discovery of the penis that all boys have and vagina that all girls have. As the boy grows he believes that he is superior to girls because he has a penis and girls have nothing. Boys are usually embarrassed with their privates and begin to understand how the penis relates to a vagina. This is when the boy realizes the father is a greater man. He idolizes him and wants to be like him.