Fondements du complexe d’Œdipe au travers du Seigneur des anneaux : une illustration à visée pédagogique

Context

As part of a teaching of the foundations of the Oedipus complex according to Lacanian structural psychopathology, an illustration in the form of an analogy was proposed with certain aspects of The Lord of the Rings, the masterpiece by J.R.R. Tolkien.

Objectives

Our article aims to share this illustration for pedagogical purposes.

Method

While presenting certain key elements of the theory of the Oedipus complex as reviewed by Lacan, we propose term-to-term equivalents by making this general situation incarnate through the destiny of Tolkien's characters, in particular the Oedipal triangulation between the Hobbit Frodo, bearer of a magic ring coveted by the sorcerer Sauron.

Results

While the analogy only covers part of the theory from selected pieces of the fantasy work, it provides a playful medium for conveying an abstract theoretical conception through an embodied imaginary conception.

Interpretations

Interesting students without clinical experience in complex psychopathological conceptions can be achieved through such pedagogical efforts, which also question our own representations, through my themes having a certain proximity with the culture in which psychoanalysis was born.