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This paper was read before the 17th International Psycho- Analytical Congress, Amsterdam, 1951, as part of the symposium on ‘The Reevaluation of the Oedipus Complex’. The second part of the paper, ‘The polymorphous stage of instinctual development’, was read before the British Psycho-Analytical Society in January 1952, as an appendix to the Congress paper. It was included in the publication of the Congress paper in a special issue of the International Journal of Psycho- Analysis33 (2) which was dedicated to Melanie Klein on the occasion of her seventieth birthday. A revised version appeared in M.Klein. P.Heimann, and R.Money- Kyrle (eds) New Directions in Psycho-Analysis, London: Tavistock (1955).
For the purpose of this paper I have decided to concentrate on the early stages of the Oedipus complex which Melanie Klein has discovered in her analyses of young children. Her contributions naturally influence also the assessment of the later stages, but I think that the most useful way of approaching divergences of opinion lies in discussing the field in which they originate.
Although my presentation seems to emphasize the controversial points in our views on the Oedipus complex, this does not mean that we underrate the amount or the significance of the ground which we share.
Before dealing with my subject-matter I wish to define our position with regard to some basic concepts and to outline briefly the period preceding the Oedipus complex.