They tell about our childhood, our origins, our faults or low self-esteem. Sometimes hidden in details, they prove that we are different, unique. A useful reminder in a society which glorifies the image beyond reason, causing further suffering.
The dictate of the perfect self
The mechanism of the complex is not new, but it could well become a scourge of society in an era of triumphant social networks and the globalized cult of image. Using a digital – or real – scalpel, they create new standards and maintain the sneaky illusion that we could control our appearances.
Complexes… legendary
The term, which psychoanalysis is fond of, has little to do with the complexes of our case. However, these eminent characters also reveal interesting facets of our humanity.
For thinkers of the psyche, the complex is defined, since the 11th century, through memories with high emotional value, generally unconscious, which disrupt the functioning of the individual. Declined in different issues, it is often associated with borrowed figures to mythology, history or to tales, to better illustrate their scope.
THE OEDIPUS COMPLEX.
After defeating the Sphinx, Oedipus kills his father and marries his mother,
unaware that these are his biological parents. Sigmund Freud is inspired by this character from Greek mythology to describe a stage in the psychological development of the child who, around 4 or 5 years old, experiences ambivalent feelings, love and desire for one, hostility and hatred for others.
THE ELECTRA COMPLEX.
Daughter of Agamemnon, Electra helps her brother Orestes to kill their mother, Clytemnestra, who caused the death of their father. Theorized by Carl Gustav Jung, this complex is a sort of father-daughter version of Oedipus: when the latter discovers that she does not have a penis, she turns to her father, symbolically hoping to be as strong as him.
THE CAIN COMPLEX.
In Genesis, Cain, first son of Adam and Eve, kills Abel, his youngest, to remain the one, the only one. The complex of the same name is used by the psychoanalyst Léopold Szondi to evoke excessive jealousy, sometimes the hatred of a child for his brother or sister, and, beyond that, those of any adult caught in the torments of rivalry.
THE CINDERELLA COMPLEX.
Heroine of Charles Perrault and great Disney studio classic, the young woman, condemned to serve her unbearable sisters-in-law, dreams of prince charming and true love. The psychotherapist Colette Dowling thus calls the unconscious desire to be taken care of by someone on whom we make our fate and our happiness depend.
THE PETER PAN COMPLEX.
Character created by J.M.Barrie, “the boy who didn’t want to grow up” convinces Wendy and her brothers to follow her to Neverland. Psychoanalyst Dan Kiley popularizes this concept to better understand immature men.
THE NAPOLEON COMPLEX.
Legend says that the emperor compensated for his small size with a thirst for power, wars and conquests. Study by Alfred Adler, this inferiority complex evokes the aggressiveness of people who suffer from not being good enough.
DIANE’S COMPLEX.
Goddess of hunting among the Romans, Diana possessed all the trappings of virility. Her complex, which we owe to the psychoanalyst Charles Baudouin, represents the refusal of femininity and intimacy, a certain contempt for the so-called weaker sex, as well as a jealousy towards men, superior judges.
THETIS COMPLEX.
Wife of Pelee, Thetis gives birth to Achilles, whom she plunges into the waters of the Styx in order to make him immortal – she will hold him by the heel, which will be his weakness. According to psychologist Didier Pleux, this complex is linked to the desire to avoid any annoyance to one’s child, which prevents him from dealing with reality to find satisfaction.