The Feminine and the Maternal in the Face of Helplessness

This book aims to point out the historical place of emergence of the psychoanalytic discourse on the feminine, as well as its impact on this history and the subversion of this place attributed to women. The psychoanalytical focus is on the feminine construction of women, with an emphasis on mother/daughter relationships - pre-edipal and devastation, female sexuality, bisexuality, femininity and original helplessness, problematising what motherhood is and how it is situated in this theoretical construction of the feminine and maternal love. The main focus is on reflecting on the feelings that arise in women when a love relationship breaks down, in their relationship with helplessness and devastation, modelled on Euripides’ tragic character Medea. The effects of this loss of love on the woman have been emphasised, especially in her role as mother, in the face of the demands made on her partner. This thesis relaunches the debate on the feminine and the woman in psychoanalysis, articulating Freudian and Lacanian foundations on the subject, in search of its fundamental elements and apparent contradictions.