The dissolution [Untergang] of the Oedipus complex in women

This chapter focuses on the German term Untergang, which Freud uses to designate what the English translation calls "dissolution". The German word is used in connection with a boat, a ship, or a person who is sinking. Literally, it means "going down". It is also used to designate sunset. The combination of these words in the attempt to translate the dissolution of the Oedipus complex brings the true sense of the term Untergang. From the beginning the Oedipus complex represented a crucial idea in psychoanalysis, a psychic space where phantasies, identifications, and libidinal desires meet. It indicates a psychic time with a regulating character. The dissolution of the Oedipus complex precipitates a sediment that is the results of the completed psychic work. The chapter describe four phases in woman's life. The positive intrasubjectivity of being at peace with oneself expands in the interchange with other women in a sublimated homosexual bond, free from phallic rivalry.