Freud, Incest, Murder, and Oedipus the King Essay -- Oedipus Rex

Freud, Incest, Murder, and Oedipus Rex (the King) A Freudian analysis of Sophocles Oedipus Rex (the King) would tape that Oedipus truly contained an incestuous nature. This was revealed not only by Oedipus marriage to his have mother, by whom he had children, but also by his irrational choice for his daughters, Antigone and Ismene. While the attention he showered to his daughters was profound and sexually tinged, he ignore his sons as creatures able to take care of themselves. Although he was unconsciously attracted to his daughters, he also feared that his daughters will become social outcasts and will be ineffective to marry. When Freud in his Interpretation of Dreams made his now famous observations about Oedipus the King, he naturally focused on the main out that Oedipus killed his father and marry his mother.(1) A further Freudian analysis of the play reveals another issue that came to dominate psychoanalysis the preference of Oedipus for his daughters. Oedipuss prefer ence for Antigone and Ismene appears only at the in truth end of the play, but it completes the picture of incest and murder in the family. Although mentioned at intervals in the play, the children of Oedipus do not appear until the last few pages. After he discovers his real parents and blinds himself, Oedipus turns his attention to his children, who are innocent victims of events beyond their control. But his answer is incredibly biased in favor of the daughters Oedipus. Now, for my sons, Be not concerned for them they can, being men, Fend for themselves, wherever they may be But my hard-pressed daughters, my two girls, whose chairs were always set beside my own At table - they who divided in every dish T... .... D. F. Kitto (Oxford Oxford UP, 1962) 95. 3 Sophocles, Three Tragedies, 96. Works Consulted Abrams, M. H. A Glossary of Literary Terms, 7th ed. New York Harcourt Brace College Publishers, 1999. Ehrenberg, Victor. Sophoclean Rulers Oedipus. In ordinal Century I nterpretations of Oedipus Rex, edited by Michael J. OBrien. Englewood Cliffs, NJ Prentice-Hall, Inc., 1968. Fagles, Robert. Introduction to Oedipus the King. In Sophocles The Three Theban Plays Antigone, Oedipus the King, Oedipus at Colonus. Trans. Robert Fagles. NY Penguin, 1984. 131-53. Sophocles. The Three Theban Plays Antigone, Oedipus the King, Oedipus at Colonus. Trans. Robert Fagles. NY Penguin, 1984. 157-25 wagon train Nortwick, Thomas. Oedipus The Meaning of a Masculine Life. Norman, OK University of Oklahoma Press, 1998.