Did you know that Henry VIII had an Oedipus complex? Nor did I, but according to J.C. Flugel, a psychologist with an interest in psychoanalysis, that was always Henry’s problem.
In a 1920 work entitled On the Character and Married Life of Henry VIII Flugel described how, in an attempt to “uncover a ‘common’ cause for the long series of Henry’s matrimonial experiences“, it occurred to him that:
“…Operating on the mind of the youthful Henry were not only the struggles of his father to maintain power, but also the realization that his parents’ marriage was not a happy one. Considered together we see that ‘the conditions were thus favorable….for the development of a powerful Oedipus complex—i.e. the desire to get rid of the father and possess the mother in his stead….”
Furthermore, “…Saddled with this powerful, yet unconscious, complex, Henry was therefore bound to experience an unhappy love life….”
Cripes. Of all the things I suspected of Henry VIII, this wasn’t one of them. We’re always persuaded that Henry VII and Elizabeth of York were happy together, eventually, if not at first, yet psychoanalysis says they weren’t, and their unhappiness affected their second son to the extent that he eventually had six wives and was unhappy with them all? Well, to me that’s what Flugel concluded.
Is he correct? I have no idea.
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