Oedipus Complex an Example of the Topic Psychology Essays by

Oedipus Complex Oedipus complex is a term defined as a state wherein a child, specifically a boy, develops a lustful desire towards her mother and sees his father as a rival. The child feels the urge to compete with his father for his mothers love and attention. Sometimes they even develop evil thoughts of killing him. The counterpart of Oedipus complex, which involves girls developing desires for their fathers, is known as Electra complex. This theory is closely related to castration complex which is the early childhood fear of castration that Freud and Lacan both saw as an integral part of our psychosexual development (Felluga 2002). Oedipus complex was coined by a psychoanalyst, Sigmund Freud, based on the story of King Oedipus by Sophocles. Need essay sample on "Oedipus Complex" topic? We will write a custom essay sample specifically for you Proceed The story revolves on the life of Oedipus, a man destined to kill his father and marry his mother because of a prophecy. Because of this prophecy, his parents pierced his feet and sent him away to perish shortly after birth. He was adopted by the King and Queen of Corinth. Years after, he had suspicions about his true identity and left home to seek the truth. True to the oracles words, the prophecy came true. On his journey he unknowingly killed his father, the King of Thebes, and the Sphinx who terrorizes the kingdom. With an empty throne, the grateful people of Thebes offered Oedipus the position because he saved them from the Sphinx. Our Customers Usually Tell EssayLab support: I'm don't want to write my essay. Because I don't have the time Essay writer professionals suggest: Custom Essay Writing Company Writers For Hire Collage Papers For Sale Buy Papers Online He readily agreed and married the widowed queen who happens to be his real mother. He fathered four children by her. The truth about Oedipus unfolded because of a deadly plague. It is said that the plague would leave Thebes alone if the person who murdered the king would be punished. Oedipus soon learned that the old man he killed in the crossroad was King Laius, his father. Realizing what he had done, he blinded and exiled himself to death. Much of these Oedipus complex is said to be evident in one of William Shakespeares famous plays Hamlet. Hamlet is a story full of anger, revenge and deception. King Hamlet, the young Hamlets father, just died and shortly after his death his mother married his brother, newly crowned King Claudius. At the beginning of the play Hamlet saw the ghost of his father and revealed a horrible truth about his own death. The king was not bitten by a serpent. He was murdered. He was poisoned by his brother, King Claudius. Hamlet was fuming mad and swore to kill his uncle for revenge. He was more determined than ever to break his mothers marriage to the king. He decided to act insane so as to avoid suspicion while planning his revenge. He went to Ophelia, his love interest, and convinced her that he had gone mad. Ophelias father spread his theory that Hamlet had gone insane because Ophelia refuses to accept his love. The king and queen were disturbed by the news that Hamlet might be going insane. Then, Hamlet arranged actors to sort of re-enact the death of the king with the hopes of getting his uncle upset and guilty. As expected, King Claudius was angered and he ordered to stop the play. Having confirmed his suspicions, Hamlet went to see and warn his mother about this shortly after the play. Unknown to Hamlet, Polonius, Ophelias father and the kings friend, was hiding behind the curtains and eavesdropping on them. He killed him through the curtains thinking that he was King Claudius. The king soon realized that Hamlet was becoming a threat to him. He planned ways to kill Hamlet but to no avail. He sent him to England with two English men who were tasked to kill him. Hamlet was able to escape and went home. Then he tried to poison his wine but it was the queen who drank it. Finally, he sought the help of Laertes, Polonius son. He was to wound Hamlet with a poisoned sword. He readily agreed because he wants to avenge the death of his father and sister who committed suicide. He succeeded but he, too, was scratched with the same sword. On the verge of death, Leartes confessed that King Claudius was behind all this. Though wounded and weak, Hamlet still managed to stab his uncle with the poisoned sword. Moments later, he died. The play ended with Horatio, Hamlets dear friend, bidding him farewell. Although there is no direct reference that Hamlet has Oedipus complex, some parts of the play show some indications that he has a thing for his mother. He happens to be close to his mother. Thats probably one of the reasons why he seemed upset about his mothers marriage to his uncle right after the death of his father. She married. O, most wicked speed says Hamlet in Act I Scene 2 of the play. It is evident that he does not approve of his mothers early marriage to his uncle. But break, my heart; for I must hold my tongue, in this line we can feel Hamlets pain and frustration. It could be that he expects his mother to be fonder of him now that his father is gone. But then, Claudius came into the picture. He may be extremely jealous of his uncle and its heartbreaking for him to see the two of them together, especially now that he knows that Claudius killed his father. Though he disapproves of the queens decisions he cannot voice out his views as much as he wanted to. He knew that there would be grave consequences if he will give in to his forbidden feelings. When his father was still alive, Hamlet seems to be jealous of him too. "Must I remember? Why, she would hang on him, as if increase of appetite had grown" this line describes how his mother hungers for his fathers love and affection. There may be a tinge of bitterness in this statement. Now that his father is dead, he expected his mother to mourn longer considering the fact that she loved him dearly. In spite of the suspicions about Hamlet having Oedipus complex, his story revealed that he once fell in love and courted a lady named Ophelia. The sad part is that her father and brother does not approve of Hamlet. Even though she was beginning to let Hamlet sweep her off her feet, she chose to obey her familys advice rather reluctantly. Soon, she convinced herself that Hamlet is not the man for her when he appeared before her acting very strange. She lost hope on the promise of his love in later parts of the play when Hamlet said that he never really loved her. In fact, he told her many times to go to a nunnery. Maybe Hamlet really has Oedipus complex. He never showed Ophelia deep concern unlike his mother. There was never a scene in the play where he professed much attention and affection to her. He even denied giving her the gifts she was returning in one part of the play. He never talks about her the way he talks about his mother. In Act III Scene 4 of Hamlet, entitled The Queens Closet, Hamlet showed his disgust to his mother. He let all his suppressed emotions out. Hamlet was angry because his mother married his fathers murderer but for some reason instead of confronting her about this, he focused on his mothers sexuality (Anonymous 2002). He kept on stressing that she had sinned greatly being married to her husbands brother no sooner after his death, which clearly shows jealousy. He also said something about his mothers bed being all sweaty and stained with semen because of their love-making. He talked to her rudely and warned her to stay away from the king. Some of the lines goes like this; Good night: but go not to mine uncle's bed, Not this, by no means, that I bid you do: Let the bloat king tempt you again to bed; Pinch wanton on your cheek; call you his mouse; And let him, for a pair of reechy kisses, Or paddling in your neck with his damn'd fingers (Hylton 2000). Obviously, Hamlet does not want her mother to go to bed with his uncle or to even show him affection. Hamlets sexual thoughts and choice of words suggest that he has been thinking of his mother in a lustful way. He could even be fantasizing about her all this time. It is quite amazing that William Shakespeare was able to think of very controversial angles to his play. Who would have thought that long before psychoanalysts and psychologists formulated theories such as Oedipus complex, one of our greatest writers of all times already incorporated it in one of his master pieces. Work Cites: Anonymous (2006), 'Hamlet and the Oedipal Complex', , accessed November 21. Felluga, Dino (2006), 'Castration Complex', http://www.cla.purdue.edu/english/theory/psychoanalysis/definitions/castration.html>, accessed November 21. Hylton, Jeremy (2006), 'The Tragedy of Hamlet, Prince of Denmark', , accessed November 22.

All About Speciation

All About Speciation Evolution is most usually defined as a change in a population of a species over time through the accumulation of adaptations that are acted upon by natural selection. That may be a mouth full and nearly impossible to truly understand if there is not a full grasp on what a species actually is or how one changes over time. Sure, things change, but what makes them change? How does that affect other species? How long does it all take? Here we will shed some light on these questions and others like them about how evolution and speciation works. Definition of Species Perhaps the most important thing to be understood before truly grasping the idea of speciation and evolution is correctly defining the word species. Most books and reference materials will define the word species as a group of individual organisms that can interbreed in nature and produce viable offspring. While this definition is a good starting place, lets examine why it may not be quite  as accurate as it should be. First of all, there are many species out there that are asexual. This means there is no real interbreeding happening within those species. Any unicellular organism would be asexual. Some other types of fungi also produce their own spores for asexual reproduction. Some plants can also self-pollinate meaning they also do not interbreed. Do these species undergo speciation and ultimately evolution? The short answer to this question is yes, they do. However, while evolution is usually driven by natural selection, natural selection cannot work on a gene pool that does not have any variation. Offspring of an asexual organism are essentially clones and have no traits that are different within the entire population. However, some changes at the microevolutionary level may occur. Spontaneous DNA mutations are one way new genes can enter the picture and natural selection then has diversity to work on within that species. Eventually, those mutations and adaptations add up if they are favorable and the species changes. Another problem with the basic definition of a species is the existence of what are known as hybrids. Hybrids are offspring of two different species, like how mating a horse with a donkey gives a mule. Some hybrids are sterile, which is sort of taken care of with the viable offspring part of the original species definition. However, many other hybrids are capable of producing their own offspring. This is especially true in plants. Biologists do not agree on a single definition of the term species. Depending on the context, the word species may be defined in more than a dozen different ways. Scientists often choose a definition that fits their needs or combines several to take care of that problem. For the majority of evolution biologists, the general definition above usually suits their purposes, although alternate definitions may be used to explain various parts of the Theory of Evolution. Definition of Speciation Now that a basic definition of species has been decided, it is possible to define the term speciation. Much like a family tree, the tree of life has several branches that show where species change and become new species. The point on the tree where a species change is called speciation. Using the definition of species above, it is when the new organisms can no longer interbreed with the original organisms in nature and produce viable offspring. At that point, they are now a new species and speciation has occurred. On a phylogenetic tree, speciation is the point on the tree where the branches diverge from one another. The farther back on the tree the branches diverge, the less closely they are related to one another. Points, where the branches are closer together, means those species recently diverged from each other. How Does Speciation Occur? Most of the time, speciation occurs through divergent evolution. Divergent evolution is when a species becomes less similar and changes into new species. The original species that branches off is then known as the most recent common ancestor of the new species. That is the process that causes speciation, but what triggers divergent evolution? Charles Darwin described the mechanism of evolution which he called natural selection. The basic idea behind natural selection is that species undergo changes and accumulate adaptations that are favorable for their environments. After enough adaptations have built up, the species is no longer the same as it was and speciation has occurred. Where do these changes come from? Microevolution is the changing of the species on a molecular level like with DNA mutations. If they are significant mutations, they will cause adaptations that may or may not be favorable for their environment. Natural selection will work on these individuals and the ones with the most favorable adaptations survive to create the new species. Changes in species can also happen on a larger scale. Macroevolution examines those changes. One of the most common causes of speciation is called geographic isolation. This is when a population of a species is separated from the original population and over time, the two populations accumulate different adaptations and undergo speciation. If they were brought back together after the speciation has happened, they will no longer be able to interbreed and are therefore not the same species anymore. Sometimes speciation happens because of reproductive isolation. Unlike geographic isolation, the population is still together in the same area, but something causes some of the individuals to no longer be able to mate and produce offspring with the original species. This could be something along the lines of a change in mating season or a different mating ritual. In some cases, males and females of the species have special colors or distinct markings. If these mating indicators were to change, the original species may no longer recognize the new individuals as potential mates. There are four types of speciation. Allopatric speciation and peripatric speciation are caused by geographic isolation. Parapatric speciation and sympatic speciation are the other two types and are generally due to reproductive isolation. How Speciation Affects Other Species Speciation of one species can affect the evolution of other species if they have a close relationship in an ecosystem. When populations of different species come together to form a community, they often depend on each other in some way for survival or to make life easier. This is especially apparent in food webs and food chains and in particular predator and prey relationships. If one of these species were to change, other species may also need to change. An example of this coevolution or cospeciation could be the speed of a prey species. The prey may accumulate adaptations that create larger leg muscles to help them run faster. If the predator does not adapt, it may starve. Therefore, only faster predators, or perhaps stealthier predators, will survive to pass down their favorable adaptations to their offspring. That means since the prey evolved or became a new species, the predator had to also evolve or change.