ABSTRACT
Sigmund Freud described the Oedipus complex as occurring between three to five years of age, when the child copes with a multitude of confusing feelings in association with his parents. The chapter focuses on the girl who has ostensibly won her Oedipal struggle. This is the girl who feels she is preferred over her mother by her father; the girl who feels she is given greater adoration than the mother: the girl who is seduced and betrayed. As Bella’s story unfolded it became clear that she had been a creative, bright little girl who figured out that the only way to be close to her depressed, ineffectual mother was to join her in slumber. For Bella, winning an “Oedipal victory” was a great disadvantage as her father’s special treatment of her was both misunderstood by her and not genuine, given its base in his narcissism, leaving her with a sense of betrayal.
