Autolycan

Sigmund Freud and his disciples have had a lot of fun with Shakespeare’s plays, especially the character of Hamlet. The Oedipus Complex has loomed large, but Oedipus himself did not have a complex…he actually did kill his father and sleep with mother—the scamp.

My Ph.D. is in Shakespeare and if Freudians can use my discipline, then I can use theirs. As such, I propose the Autolycus Complex. Autolycus is a character in “The Winter’s Tale,” who describes himself as “a snapper-up of unconsidered trifles.”