The Oedipus complex in psychoanalysis: reflections on Freud’s clinical cases

The Oedipus complex represents a key concept of psychoanalytic theory and is one of Freud’s most significant ideas. It constitutes a basic conflict in all humans’ psyche and it defines the structure of individual’s sexual identity. Despite Freud fully recognizing its crucial role in the organization of mental life, he never dedicated to it an entire writing. The Oedipus complex was, in fact, developed in multiple steps and its development cannot be disentangled from events in Freud’s personal and professional life. The aim of this paper is to describe the development of Freud’s concept of the Oedipus complex throughout his writings. Objectives of the study were, first, to provide a description of the theoretical mechanisms and, second, to focus on the Oedipus complex on three of Freud’s clinical cases: Dora, Little Hans and the Wolf-Man.