My Left Foot 4

The Influence of the Myth
This myth has been the
inspiration behind many
works of literature down
through the ages, the
earliest being the tragedies
of Greek dramatist
Sophocles in 
Oedipus Rex
,
Antigone
, and 
Oedipus at
Colonus
. The story of a
young man who is
simultaneously close to his
mother while having an
ambivalent relationship
with his father has been
taken up by many writers in
a wide variety of contexts. The universality of the theme has been
explained by psychoanalyst Sigmund Freud as being as a result of
the infant boy’s desire to assume the role of the father – head of
the household and, by implication, society. As part of this drive,
the impulse towards power and control, the infant also wishes to
possess the mother, partner to the father. Freud named this stage
of development – which occurs between the ages of 4 and 6 –the
‘Oedipus Complex.’ Although Freud’s theories have, in recent
years, been called into question by many critics, the ‘Oedipal
dilemma’ is nonetheless a theme found across a range of
literature and cultures.
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M Y L E F T F O O T
Appendices

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Appendices
Useful for background information
to study of: Hero, Cultural Context,
Social Setting, Themes: Family,
Gender, Love. 
APPENDIX IV 
INTERVIEWS 
Suggested Use: Photocopy for students and discuss in relation to key
moments. (see pp 5, 6, 10-11)
1 Brenda Fricker (Christy’s Mother)
fii
Can you tell me how you got the part of Christy’s mother?
B Jim Sheridan just phoned me up and said he was