In this paper I suggest that the way in which the Oedipal situation is negotiated is fundamentally determined by the internal orientation of the patient towards the issue of knowledge — in particular, knowledge of the existence of the parental couple. Material is brought from two female patients — one 4 and the other 44 — to illustrate this point, and the parallells that exist despite the difference of age and the consequent different form that the material takes. I also illustrate the particular use made of the defences of omniscience and disavowal in both cases, and the changes that took place in this regard through the therapeutic process.