New studies of old villains

by Paul Verhaeghe

"Freud's discovery of the Oedipus complex has had a tumultuous fate in the field of psychology in the United States. At first considered the kernel of psychoanalysis, it progressively lost its luster because of its patriarchal underpinnings. Freud's theory that the child represses his love for his mother for fear of incurring his father's wrath is now obsolete and replaced by various theories focused mainly on the mother-child relationship, where the burning question of the child's sexual development is conveniently set aside. In this revolutionary book Paul Verhaeghe explains why the Oedipus complex is not what it appears to be, revisiting the history of psychoanalysis to reveal connections with recent discoveries in attachment theory."--Jacket.