Critically evaluate the oedipal relationship in Desire under the elms.

The Oedipus Complex can be seen in the 'mother/lover' relationship of Eban and Abbie. While sex and desire fuel Abbie and Eben, however, they are not necessarily depicted as immoral impulses. They are purer than the crass greed and materialism that define Cabot and his other sons' lives. It is only the negotiation of those impulses that requires effort. Sex is what brings these unhappy people meaning in their lives, and allows them to subvert their misleading Apollonian strictures. Once Eben and Abbie fully embrace themselves as sexual beings and remove obstacles in their way can they understand the ecstasies of the spiritual.