Although psychoanalysis has a new social consciousness regarding issues of homosexuality, the ramifications of new ways of thinking about these issues have yet to affect the theory of the Oedipus complex. To date there has been no review of the literature concerning the revision of developmental theory to reflect societal change and clinical insights into homosexuality. This article explores the options that are open to psychoanalytic thought in moving forward, by critically reviewing three different approaches to issues of development. Two main avenues seem open to the profession: to recapture the essence of Freud and retain an elaborated version of the Oedipus complex, or to argue that oedipal theory is so bound up with the socio-political culture of the day in t too, like the patriarchal context, must be abandoned.