OEDIPUS REX
Freud Analysis
REVIEW
Oedipus Rex – Prophecy reveals he will kill father and sleep with mother,
leaves, killed the sphinx, murdered a man (his father), becomes king of foreign
land, married, slept with, and had kids with mother, discovered through the
prophecy teller who told his parents the same which caused them to have their
child murdered, the man who was to murder the child couldn’t and delivered
the baby to another kingdom to be raised, baby is Oedipus Rex, also revealed
Oedipus murdered the previous king
FREUDIAN REVIEW
Psychosexual Development, ID, Ego, Superego, Dreams, Defense,
Unconscious self, Neurosis, Trauma
PSYCHOSEXUAL DEVELOPMENT
Occurs at early ages in a child’s life, affects adult personality
5 main stages – Oral, Anal, Phallic, Latency, and Genital
Oral and Phallic can be seen in Oedipus Rex
THE ORAL STAGE
At this stage a baby will find that the mouth can be a site for pleasure and will
enjoy putting things in its mouth, having to little or to much in its mouth can
cause adverse effects on its personality as an adult
During the oral stage of development, Oedipus was denied the pleasure of
putting things in his mouth which led him to being suspicious/envious in his
adult life
THE PHALLIC STAGE
Oedipus also suffers from the Oedipus complex which more then likely stems
from the fact his father separated him from his mother at an early age,
because of this he was stuck lusting for his mother and never went through
castration anxiety which would override his desire for his mother, later on the
boy would begin to want to be like the father since he cannot possess his
mother, this is the resolution of the Phallic stage
Fixation at the Phallic stage will cause the adult form of the person to be selfassured, vain, and reckless
ID, EGO, SUPEREGO REVIEW
ID is the basic drive, it’s selfish and will always try to get what it wants
The Ego realizes reality and consequences of actions, it’s job is to satisfy the
ID without being self-centered
The Superego is the morals of a person, it is the conscience of the person
ID, EGO, AND SUPEREGO OF REX
ID – Want for power
Ego- Justify how he got the power, realizes people need an answer
Superego- Finds the truth, consequences result in self
EGO DEFENSE MECHANISMS
If the ego cannot satisfy the ID and the Superego it will deploy defense
mechanisms to dilute one or the other
Denial*, Displacement (hitting an object, Intellectualization*, Projection
(someone else did it)*, Rationalization*, Reaction Formation, Regression,
Repression*, Sublimation (i.e. boxer), Suppression*
DENIAL
Rex doesn’t accept his fate
Can’t accept he murdered the king
Can’t accept sleeping with mother
Oh wait, it’s
mother.
PROJECTION
Puts the murder on bandits, one man could never do such a thing
INTELLECTUALIZATION
Avoiding the truth when it’s right in front of him, he focuses solely on the
investigation until there is simply no other conclusion
RATIONALIZATION
Oedipus comes up with rational explanations to avoid the truth (such as with
the bandits killing the king)
REPRESSION
As proof is shown it is repressed into his unconscious, when it is completely
revealed it is far to much for him to handle.
SUPPRESSION
Forcing yourself to refuse what happens
Oedipus either does this or Repression, or a combination of the two, when
neither can be used anymore because of undeniable proof, it is a primal out
lash that occurs and he blinds himself.
OEDIPUS
Oedipus Rex suffers from multiple afflictions of the mind, which later on
cause his psychological collapse, leading to the fall of the man and the mind.
WORKS CITED
AllPsych. "Psychology 101." AllPsych.com. AllPsych, 2003. Web. 16 May 2011.
<http://allpsych.com/
psychology101/ego.html>.
AROPA. "Sigmund Freud - Theory." FreudFile.org/theory. AROPA, 1998. Web. 13 May
2011.
<http://www.freudfile.org/theory.html>.
Meme Generator. MemeGenerator.net. Meme Generator, 2011. Web. 17 May 2011.
<http://memegenerator.net/create/caption-top-bottom>.
Stevenson, David B. "Freud's Psychosexual Stages of Development."
www.VictorianWeb.org/science/
freud/develop.html. Victorian Web, 27 Mar. 2001. Web.
16 May 2011.
New York Times Company. "Oedipus Rex, by Sophocles."
AncientHistory.About.com. New York Times Company, 2011. Web. 18 May
2011. <http://ancienthistory.about.com/od/sophocles/a/
OedipusRex.htm>.