The Oedipus complex and the Electra complex are theories that Freud and Jung derived. The names of mythical heroes of the complexes were obtained in order to better explain the behavior of patients. It should be noted that the Electra complex, like the Oedipus complex, is considered insolvent by many modern psychiatrists. Nevertheless, it makes sense to consider these phenomena.
What is the Electra complex ?
The concept was first introduced by CG Jung in order to explain the experiences of a growing girl and her craving for her father. On the one hand, this complex is opposed to the Oedipus complex (the boy's craving for the mother), which Z. Freud once formulated. On the other hand, both the Oedipus complex and the Electra complex (according to Freud) characterize the child's craving for the parent of the opposite sex.
Freud himself believed that it is the Oedipus complex that is peculiar to children of both sexes. A girl, tied up in her early childhood to the mother, growing up, begins to become more attached to her father. Over time, she begins to see the rival in her mother and, of course, begins to feel jealous, and later the desire to eliminate the opponent. Hatred is constantly growing and aggravated by the fact (according to Freud) that over time the girl discovers that she is not built as a father, but as a mother, she does not have a penis. This "discovery" further strengthens the Electra complex. The girl is assured of her physiological inferiority and begins to blame the mother, who gave birth to her with such a noticeable defect. At the same time, she needs the male attention of the father even more and tries to get pregnant from him. Freudians believe that this "envy of the penis" can be so strong that the girl begins to even dream of having a baby, and not just about a contemplative pregnancy.
The next complex is developing - castration. It is this feeling of inferiority and the complex of castration that leads to the fact that the girl, from the point of view of Freud, finally develops the Oedipus complex. According to Jung, this condition is called "Electra Complex". The desire for castration in boys usually leads to the fact that his desire and craving for the mother eventually subside. One of the reasons for this repression is the fear of the father. In girls, on the contrary, the Electra complex develops, having a noticeable effect on the formation of a female character. In the state of Electra (Oedipus), the girl is longer than the boys. If the complex is not completely eradicated, the adult woman will necessarily suffer from various mental disorders.
What's next?
Followers of Freud are sure that from a girl suffering from the complex Electra, in due course an extraordinary specialist turns out. Such a woman easily learns and teaches, but ... not women. She is fine with getting along with men, but only. Her personal life either does not add up, or the girl marries late and for a man many years older than herself. In the "adult" husband, she sees her father, thereby, as it were, reaching a goal that involuntarily arises before all who suffer from the complex Electra. This goal is not to be like a mother and always stay with your father.