ABSTRACT
For Freud the central human drama, the ‘kernel of the neuroses’, was the Oedipal situation (Freud 1916-17). He was aware of the part played by the siblings, but in his writings they are given few lines. When they do appear it is usually as an understudy for one of the parental roles: as a substitute for the longed-for parent, or as another rival for their love.
