Yessir. From the Encyclopedia Brittanica:Yuki wrote:Er, I'm not quiiite sure I understand. Isn't an Electra Complex when you desire your parent sexually...?pj wrote:Yeah, its really hard to deny Cheryl's Electra Complex.
However, I do think its important that we make the distinction that having an Electra Complex is, in itself, not abnormal. Electra and Oedipus Complexes are considered normal stages of human development.
What makes Cheryl's Electra Complex abnormal and unhealthy is the fact that it persists into her young adulthood. These complexes are supposed to end fairly early, when the child identifies with and accepts their parent of the same sex.
So it seems (at least to me) that Cheryl's off-kilter Electra Complex is not only the result of her father's absence, but also of her strained relationship with her mother.
According to Freud and Jung, having an Oedipus or an Electra Complex is a normal part of growing up; the thing is, you're supposed to get over it pretty young, when you begin to identify with and accept your parent of the same sex.Encyclopedia Brittanica wrote:In psychoanalytic theory, a desire for sexual involvement with the parent of the opposite sex and a sense of rivalry with the parent of the same sex. The term was introduced by Sigmund Freud in his Interpretation of Dreams (1899) and is derived from the mythological Oedipus, who killed his father and married his mother; its female analogue is the Electra complex. Considered a normal stage in the development of children ages three to five, it ends when the child identifies with the parent of the same sex and represses its sexual instincts. Freud believed that the process of overcoming the Oedipus complex gave rise to the superego.
So I was just saying that this means having an Electra Complex in itself is not fucked up. What's fucked up is that Cheryl still had one at age 25. And since overcoming these complexes involves accepting your parent of the same sex--and Cheryl clearly had trouble accepting Dahlia--it seems to me that Cheryl's relationship with Dahlia is also to blame for her prolonged Electra Complex.
Now that I think about it, this could also shed more light on why Cheryl projects herself as Dahlia. Since overcoming these complexes involves "identifying" with your parent of the same sex, perhaps the way that Cheryl literally assumes Dahlia's identity--and eventually seduces Harry--is symbolic of her finally confronting and overcoming her Electra Complex...albeit 17 years late.