In a play that's definitely got its fair share of strangeness, the title itself might also

seem more than slightly odd. Mourning Becomes Electra. Who's Electra? There's not
even a character named Electra in the play. Just what is O'Neill doing here?

We know that Electra's the name of the sister of Orestes in Aeschylus's tear-your-
heart-out tragedy The Oresteia, and that the play was all about the destruction of a
particular family (members of the House of Atreus). So we can bet that we're going to
see a play dealing with the same kind of theme, albeit with some important
differences. One of these changesand this is the second signalis that this play is
going to revolve around the story of a strong-willed daughter instead of a son. The
name Oresteiabasically means that Aeschylus's trilogy is all about Orestes. Using
Electra's name tells us that we're going to be following an Electra-type figure. That
figure is Lavinia Mannon. So "Electra" in the title of the play actually refers to Lavinia
in the play.

Then there's the rest of the title. It's hard to think of mourning "becoming" someone.
That turn of phrase "X becomes a person" is a way of saying that something suits
them, seems to be doing them good, or looks good on them, as in "that dress really
becomes her." While guilt and grief may consume Orin, Lavinia seems to morph into
the picture of health and beauty after her parents' deaths, as if the act of mourning
has turned her into a beautiful woman. Like she's found a new shade of lipstick that
does wonders for her eyes. And yes, that should creep you out.

There's also another way of reading the title. Mourning Becomes Electra can mean
that mourning literally becomes Electra (or, in this case, Lavinia, because Lavinia =
Electra). It can mean that mourning completely takes her over. But don't just take
Shmoop's word for it; let's get it from the horse's mouth. O'Neill said that by using the
title Mourning Becomes Electra, he sought to convey that mourning befits Electra; it
becomes Electra to mourn; it is her fate; black is becoming to her and it is the color
that becomes her destiny.

TheElectracomplexisapsychoanalytictermusedtodescribeagirl'ssenseofcompetitionwith
hermotherfortheaffectionsofherfather.ItiscomparabletothemaleOedipus
complex.ResolvingtheElectracomplexultimatelyleadstoidentificationwiththesamesex
parent.

How Does the Electra Complex Work?

AccordingtoSigmundFreud,duringfemalepsychosexualdevelopment,ayounggirlisinitially
attachedtohermother.

Whenshediscoversthatshedoesnothaveapenis,shebecomesattachedtoherfatherandbegins
toresenthermotherwhosheblamesforher"castration."Asaresult,Freudbelievedthatthegirl
thenbeginstoidentifywithandemulatehermotheroutoffearoflosingherlove.
WhilethetermElectracomplexisfrequentlyassociatedwithFreud,itwasactuallyCarl
Jungwhocoinedthetermin1913.Freudrejectedthetermanddescribeditasanattempt"to
emphasizetheanalogybetweentheattitudeofthetwosexes."Freudhimselfusedthe
termfeminineOedipusattitudetodescribewhatwenowrefertoastheElectracomplex.

When Does the Electra Complex Take Place?

AccordingtoFreudiantheory,animportantpartofthedevelopmentalprocessislearningto
identifywiththesamesexparent.DuringthestagesofFreud'stheoryofpsychosexual
development,thelibidinalenergyisfocusedondifferenterogenouszonesofthechild'sbody.

Ifsomethinggoeswrongduringanyofthesestages,afixationatthatpointindevelopmentmight
occur.Suchfixations,Freudbelieved,oftenledtoanxietyandplayedaroleinneurosisand
maladaptivebehaviorsinadulthood.

FreuddescribedtheOedipalcomplexasaboy'slongingforhismotherandcompetitionwithhis
father.

Theboypossessesanunconsciousdesiretoreplacehisfatherashismother'ssexualpartner,thus
leadingtoarivalrybetweensonandfather.

Atthesametime,however,theboyalsohasafearthathisfatherwilldiscoverthesedesiresand
castratehimoutofpunishment.Toresolvethisanxiety,theboyinsteadbeginstoidentifywith
hisfatheranddevelopadesiretobemorelikehisfather.Freudbelievedthatitwasthisprocess
thatleadschildrentoaccepttheirgenderroles,developandunderstandingoftheirownsexuality
andevenformasenseofmorality.

A Brief Background of the Electra Complex

ThetermitselfisderivedfromtheGreekmythofElectraandherbrotherOrestes,whoplottedthe
deathoftheirmotherforrevengeoftheirfather'smurder.Freuddevelopedtheunderlyingideas
oftheElectracomplex,althoughhedidnottermitassuch.Freudinsteadreferredtoagirl's
tendencytocompletewithhermotherforpossessionofherfatherasthefeminineOedipus
attitudeorthenegativeOedipuscomplex.

FreudandJungwereoriginallyclosefriendsandcolleagues,butJungincreasinglygrew
dissatisfiedwithcertainaspectsofFreud'stheories.HefeltthatFreudemphasizedtherole
sexualityplayedinmotivatinghumanbehavior.

Eventually,Jungresignedfromhispsychoanalyticaffiliationsandacrimonygrewbetweenthe
twomen.ItwasJungwhowentontodubFreud'sfeminineOedipusattitudeastheElectra
complex.

Defence Mechanisms and the Electra Complex

Anumberofdefensemechanisms
playaroleintheresolvingtheElectracomplex.Itistheprimal
idthatdemandsthechildtopossesshermotherandcompetewithherfather.Toresolvethe
conflict,theseurgesanddesiresmustfirstberepressedfromconsciousmemory.Duringthenext
partoftheprocess,identificationoccurs.Thegirlbeginstoidentifywithhermotherand
incorporatemanyofthesamepersonalitycharacteristicsintoherego.

Thisprocessalsoallowsthegirltointernalizehermother'smoralityintohersuperego,which
ultimatelydirectshertofollowtherulesofherparentsandsociety.

MorePsychologyDefinitions:ThePsychologyDictionary

Description

In the Oedipus complex, a boy is fixated on his mother and competes with his father for
maternal attention.

The opposite, the attraction of a girl to her father and rivalry with her mother, is sometimes
called the Electra complex.

Sexual awakening

At some point, the child realizes that there is a difference between their mother and their
father. Around the same time they realize that they are more alike to one than the other.
Thus the child acquires gender.

The child may also form some kind of erotic attachment to the parent of the opposite sex.
Whilst their understanding of the full sexual act may be questioned, some kind of primitive
physical sensations are felt when they regard and think about the parent in question.

Jealousies

The primitive desire for the one parent may also awaken in the child a jealous motivation
to exclude the other parent.

Transferring of affections may also occur as the child seeks to become independent and
escape a perceived 'engulfing mother'.

A critical point of awakening is where the child realizes that the mother has affections for
others besides itself.

Primitive jealousies are not necessarily constrained to the child and and both parents may
join in the game, both in terms of competing with each other for the child's affections and
also competing with the child for the affection of the other parent.

Note that opposition to parents may not necessarily be sexually based -- this can also be a
part of the struggle to assert one's identity and rebellion against parental control.
The process of transitioning

A critical aspect of the Oedipal stage is loosening of the ties to the mother of vulnerability,
dependence and intimacy. This is a natural part of the child becoming more independent
and is facilitated by the realization that the mother desires more than just the child.

The Oedipal move blocks the routes of sexual and identification love back to the mother.
She becomes a separate object, removed from his ideal self. Thus she can be the subject of
object love.

This separation and externalization of love allows a transition away from narcissism of
earlier stages.

The father's role in this is much debated. In a number of accounts, such

as Lacan's symbolic register, the child transitions their attentions from mother to father.

The father effectively says 'You must be like me -- you may not be like the mother -- you
must wait to love her, as I do.' The child thus also learns to wait and share attention.

Separation

The boy thus returns to the mother as a separate individual. That separation may be
emphasized with scorn and a sense of mastery over women. that can also be seen in the
long separation of boys and girls in play and social relationships. This is a source of male
denigration of women.

Women become separated reminders of lost and forbidden unity. Their unique attributes,
from softness to general femininity are, in consequence, also lost and must be given up as a
part of the distancing process. Women become thus both desired and feared. The
symbolic phallus becomes a means of protection for the boy and the rituals of mastery used
to cover up feelings of loss.

Separation leads to unavailability and hence the scarcity principle takes effect,
increasing desire. Women thus create a tension in boys between a lost paradise and
dangerous sirens.

Excessive separation leads to a sense of helplessness that can in turn lead to patterns of
idealized control and self-sufficiency.

Whilst the boy becomes separated from the mother, it is a long time before he can be
independent of her and hence must develop a working relationship that may reflect the
tension of love and difference he feels.
The relationship thus may return to a closer mother-son tie, where the point of healthy
distance is a dynamically negotiated position, such that comforting is available but is
required only upon occasion.

What about the girls?

Most writings about the Oedipal stage focus largely or exclusively on boys, who are seen to
have a particular problem as they start with an attachment to the Mother that they have to
relinquish both from the point of view of individual independence and especially as a result
of the social incest taboo which forbids excessively-close in-family relationships.

The Electra complex, identified by Carl Jung, occurs where a triangle of mother-father-
daughter plays out is not a part of traditional psychoanalysis. It is neither a direct mirror
image of Oedipus, as the start position is female-female connection.

Jung suggested that when the girl discovers she lacks penis that her father possesses, she
imagines she will gain one if he makes her pregnant, and so moves emotionally closer to
him. She thus resents her mother who she believe castrated her.

The father symbolizes attractive power and a potentially hazardous male-female

relationship is formed, with predictable jealousies and envy as the mother completes the
triangle. The dangers of incestuous abuse add, and perhaps develop, the female position of
siren temptation.

Girls, as well as boys, need to find independence and their separation from the mother is a
matter of creating a separate femininity. This is not as strong a separation as boys and girls
can sustain a closer female-female relationships with the mothers. This perhaps explains
something of why relationships with others is a more important part of a female life than it
is for a male.

The father does provide a haven from female-female jealousies, and so a healthy father-
daughter relationship may be built, that also includes appropriate distance. As with mother-
son, once the incest taboos are established, a uniquely satisfying opposite-sex relationship
can be built, although secret desires for the father can result in the girl feeling some guilt
about the relationship.

Discussion

There are three common threads in the Oedipus complex: The primacy of the desire for
one-ness, the maternal embodiment of this and the necessity of paternal intervention.

Historical Oedipus
In the Greek play by Sophocles, Laius, king of Thebes, is told by an oracle that he would
be killed by his son and so leaves Oedipus out on the mountainside to die. Oedipus is
rescued by a shepherd and taken to the king of Corinth who raises him as a son.

Oedipus, in turn, is told by the Delphic oracle that he will kill his father and marry his
mother. Horrified by this, he flees Corinth. At a crossroads he meets Laius, quarrels and
kills him. At Thebes, he correctly answers the sphinx's question and hence wins the hand of
Jocasta, his real mother, with whom he had two sons and two daughters. When at last the
truth comes out, Jocasta hangs herself and Oedipus, finding her, blinds himself with her
golden brooch.

Electra was the daughter of Agamemnon who helped plan the murder of her mother.

Freud

Freud puts the Oedipal stage as occurring between 3-5 years. He considers it a stage where
the child experiences an erotic attachment to one parent and hostility toward the other
parent. The ensuing triangular tension is seen as being the root of most mental disorders.

Freud cites the incest taboo as as at the root of many other prohibitions. He sees the
struggle against this as a core part of this development period with transgressions in
practice and phantasy.

'We cannot get away from the assumption that man's sense of guilt springs from
the Oedipus complex and was acquired at the killing of the father by the brothers
banned together'. (Freud, 1930)

Freud links the Oedipus complex with development the superego, which uses guilt to
prevent continuation of incestuously oriented relationships.

Failure to get past this trigger point and into the symbolic order is considered to be a classic
cause of lasting neurosis.

Lacan

For Lacan, the mother is characterized by 'lack' of a phallus. The pre-Oedipal child tries to
make good the lack. But the mother desires the phallus that will cover over her division in
language. The child then realizes its own lack, or 'castration' and seeks to speak or use
words such that it can stand in for that which is missing.

The child can hence either speak itself from the position of 'having the phallus' or lacking
it. Having a penis, boys are more likely to take the former position. However, taking this
position requires living up to the god-like status of having the phallus.
Note that Lacan considered that the Oedipal stage can be successfully navigated without
the father, as long as cultural norms and prohibitions can be met, as it is these, rather than
the father himself which facilitates the way through

Rose

Jacqueline Rose uses Lacan to show how sexual identity is acquired through the Oedipus
crisis, rather than being something innate.

Klein

Melanie Klein, through her work with young children, saw Oedipal conflict occurring
much earlier than Freud and involving part-objects rather than whole parent-figures, and
including infantile sadism. How early this starts has been questioned including a
consideration that some version of the Oedipal stage occurring almost from the very
beginning, at least in phantasy. She see emotional and sexual development occurring:

'...from early infancy onwards includes genital sensations and trends, which
constitute the first stages of the inverted [desire toward the same-sex parent and
aggression toward opposite sex one] and positive Oedipus complex.' (Klein, 1945)

She places the Oedipal complex as occurring in the paranoid-schizoid position, where the
infant's world is largely split and relations are mainly to part-objects. Thus the Oedipal
stage involves working through the paranoid-schizoid position to the depressive position.

As well as the classic early Oedipus complex, Klein also identifies the Oedipal
situation which occurs throughout life.

She saw how children realizes a sexual link between parents at an early age, but perceives
it through the infantile experience, thus conceiving of feeding one another, devouring one
another, or even exchanging bodily excretions.

Bion

Wilfred Bion placed the Oedipus complex even earlier than Klein, hypothesizing an innate
oedipal preconception.

He related pairing to the Oedipal stage and the importance of the family group. Early group
setting are familial or kinship and these are used as later templates for group activity, and
early anxieties may reappear.

Other notes
 A common experience in families is that the opposite gender relationships of mother-son
and father-daughter are stronger than same-sex relationships, where there may be intra-
gender rivalries, for example where the daughter continues to compete with the mother for
the father's attention. In most cases, the incest taboo holds and this is a relatively harmless
attachment.

Oedipus represents responsibility and guilt, in contrast to Narcissus, who represents self-
involvement and denial of reality. Oedipus is an escape from early fantasy of omnipotence.

The gender polarity that Oedipus creates is echoed in modern feminist concerns and male
confusion as rights issues erode instinctive positions.

Moving away from the mother, for the boy, is also a part of instilling the incest
taboo.