Hans Loewald - Oedipus Complex

Oedipus Complex

Loewald made a hierarchical developmental structure by integrating the pre-oedipal and oedipal phases. His debt to the Melanie Klein School of psychoanalysis of London was and is eclipsed by the American bias toward unreserved acceptance of Anna Freud's ideas. Loewald's under-appreciated work on aesthetics and symbolism reflects this Kleinian orientation of bridging the pre-oedipal (paranoid-schizoid) with the oedipal (depressive position) developmental era. In the Oedipus Complex the wish to murder or harm the same-sex parent leads to feelings of guilt. Both Loewald and Freud considered guilt to be one of the driving forces behind the organization of the self. Freud saw guilt as something that should be evaded, Loewald regarded it as something that had to be worked through to complete the individuation process. In Loewald's view the resolution of the Oedipus Complex involved symbolic destruction of the parents as libidinal objects . Loewald, contrary to Freud, saw the parents as complementary with both advantages and disadvantages of their own. The mother fulfills all the wishes of the child but in doing so she leaves no room for the child’s autonomy. The father presents autonomy to the child and thus protects the child from engulfment by the mother, which could lead to ego loss. The task of ego development is to integrate both parts .