Listen to Me and Learn from Me: On Complexes, the Mother Figure, and Her Role in the Perpetuation of Female Villainy 

An interesting topic of discussion within the realm of the son’s relationship with his mother is the concept of the sexualisation of the mother role. The love of a mother is commonly seen as the purest connection a human can have – referring again to ideas such as the Virgin Mary, and myths surrounding the instantaneous and unconditional nature of these loving relationships. By sexualising the mother figure, the writer corrupts this assumed purity, tainting an image which is generally seen as secure, and turning it into something more devious. This is not unlike the discussion held previously regarding Lilith – the idea of an overtly sexual anti-mother figure, whose main role revolves around illicit seduction. The conflation of the idea of depraved sexuality with the widely upheld ideal of the sanctity of the mother provides a strong argument for the existence of the perpetuation of the female villain role; the ultimate act of perversion in regards to the ‘purity’ of the mother being corrupted and sexualised. This is explored in some depth within Aldous Huxley’s A Brave New World in which words describing a classic family dynamic – including the word ‘Mother’ – are considered to be obscene, if not pornographic in an attempt to distance society from the ‘powerful’ concept of the family. This idea both affirms that the concept of a Mother is powerful and sanctified – and that it is all the more an act of perversion when this connection is bound to sexualised ideologies. 

             In Homer’s Odyssey, a character is discussed by the name of Oedipus, who married his mother (unbeknownst to her) after killing his father.

             From this tale, comes a now infamous psychoanalytical theory from famed neurologist Sigmund Freud, known as the ‘Oedipus complex’. Much like the aforementioned Jungian Mother complex, the Oedipus complex arises when there is conflict regarding a man’s identity in relation to his mother. In this scenario, Freud states that men are born with inherent and subconscious sexual desires towards their mothers, which can result in aggression or resentment towards the father. This appears to work in tandem with Jung’s mother complex, especially regarding the Don Juanian aspects of a male’s behaviour. Both of these theories suggest that, on a subconscious level, the idea of the mother is inherently sexual, even if no active effort is made to put her in this role; suggesting that the perversion of the ‘pure’ mother role does not lie on the author or narrative, but rather, that this corruption is ultimately wrought throughout the mother concept. This perpetuates my previous discussion concerning whether or not the individual mother can be seen as villainous due to her specific actions, or if the mother is villainous simply because she is. 

             The idea of the mother figure being sexualised in literature, therefore, is unsurprisingly prominent. It is important to note at this stage that within this chapter, the mother figure does not necessarily pertain to the biological ‘mother’, but rather the important maternal influences in a person’s life.  

             One of the key and most heavily referenced occasions of mother-sexualisation is that of Norman Bates in Robert Bloch’s 1959 novel Psycho. While often heralded as a text whose basis resides largely in the idea of the Oedipus complex, I also hold the belief that Norman’s behaviour is indicative of being affected, too, by Jung’s mother complex. Within the novel, middle aged Norman is thought to live alone with his overbearing and oppressive mother, who maintains control over him by implying that he is weak and unable to take care of himself. Throughout the initial segment of the novel, Norman’s mother is inferred as be overbearing, jealous, and hateful – especially regarding the women Norman interacts with. Due to this oppressive dynamic, Norman himself feels a blend of resentment and duty towards her, even becoming aggressive when it is suggested to him that he put her in an asylum: an idea which, given her negative impact on his life, it is assumed he would be in favour of, rather than vehemently and almost violently in opposition to. 

             At a pivotal moment in the plot of the novel, Norman murders Mary Crane while she showers, and immediately blames his Mother for it. The reader is, at this point, unaware that it is Norman himself who is the true perpetrator of the crime, and must rely on the narrative - which centers around him - to distinguish the order of events. Having previously seen Norman’s mother as being insulting and aggressive, the reader accepts Norman’s suggestion that she is the murderer in question. This is also correlative with her supposed comments regarding Crane herself, such as the outright “If you bring [Crane] here I’ll kill her! I’ll kill the bitch!” The role of the domineering, overbearing and aggressive mother figure presented by Bloch is initially a convincing one: without the context of the rest of the novel, it appears that Norman’s mother truly is the villain and murderer of the story, and that Norman is under her control completely, without autonomy or hope of escaping her. Regardless of the validity of this concept in the context of the rest of the plot, the idea presents an interesting nuance: even if Norman is the physical the killer of Mary, his mother is still to blame for it; if she did not physically kill her herself, the narrative suggests that she is still the one who instilled a hatred for women within Norman – thus still allowing the root for the violent crime to be found within the Mother. 

             As mentioned earlier in this chapter, the Oedipus and mother complexes both are prevalent within this novel – one of the main elements in which this is revealed, is Norman’s jealousy surrounding his mother. As mentioned earlier, Freud suggested that the Oedipal complex creates feelings akin to desire for the mother, whilst prompting rivalry with the father. This is specifically interesting in the context of Norman having murdered his mother and her fiancé over twenty years prior to the events that take place in the novel, after having found them in bed together. It is suggested that Norman is filled with “hatred so great” regarding his prospective step-father, that he “can’t talk about the man without flying into a rage.” True to Freud’s theory, the idea of a man monopolising the affection of his mother appears to have pushed Norman to act upon the resulting aggressive thoughts, ending with the death of them both, thus killing both the source of Norman’s desire, and the person who would take her away from him. 

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