Carl Jung acclaimed the mother archetype as a critical foundation of the so called mother-complex. Of whether it can develop without the mother having taken part in it’s formation as a demonstrable causal factor was a question he left to us.
His own experience however led him to believe that the mother always plays an active part in the origin of the disturbance (mother complex)
Thus for instance; if the children of an overanxious mother regularly dream that she is a terrifying animal or a witch, these experiences point to a split in the child’s psyche that predisposes it to a neurosis.
Mother Complex in Sons
According to jung, the effects of the complex differ whether they appear in sons or daughters. On the son they might appear as homosexuality and Don Juanism, and sometimes also impotence.
The homosexual son has his entire heterosexuality tied to the mother in an unconscious form; whereas in Don Juanism, he unconsciously seeks his mother in every woman he meets.
Because of the difference in sex between the mother and son according to jung, a son’s mother complex does not appear in pure form. A reason why in every masculine mother-complex, side by side with the mother archetype, a significant role is played by the image of the man’s sexual counterpart, the anima.
The mother is the first feminine being with whom the man-to-be comes in contact, and hence cannot help playing, overtly or covertly, consciously or unconsciously, upon the son’s masculinity, just as the son in his turn grows increasingly aware of his mother’s femininity, or unconsciously responds to it by instinct.
On the positive , Jung claimed that the son with a mother complex might have a finely differentiated Eros instead of, or in addition to, homosexuality hence giving him a great capacity for friendship that creates ties of astonishing tenderness between men and may even rescue friendship between the sexes from the limbo of the impossible.
The Don-juanism might also appear positively as bold and resolute manliness; ambitious striving after the highest goals; opposition to all stupidity, narrow-mindedness, injustice, and laziness; willingness t o make sacrifices for what is right
      Mother Complex in Daughters.
Unlike in sons where it does not appear in pure form, in daughters it’s more clear and uncomplicated. The mother complex might either lead to overdevelopment of feminine instincts (Hypertrophy) or complete extinction of them (Atrophy) .
•The HypertroPhy of the Maternal Element might lead to intensification of all female instincts above all the maternal instinct. On the negative, it is seen in the woman who are mainly focused on childbirth and motherhood that the husband only appear as a secondary household figure.
• The Mother complex might also lead to an Overdevelopment of Eros instead pf the hypertrophy of maternal instincts leading to an unconscious incestuous relationship with the father. This intensified Eros makes a daughter to place an abnormal emphasis on the personality of others leading to the jealousy of the mother and the desire to outdo her (competitive). This might be carried out to adulthood leading to romantic and sensational episodes for their own sake and extreme interest in married men not for their own sake but due to the fact that they’re married hence presenting an opportunity to wreck a marriage. If attained, Carl Jung states that the interest evaporates for lack of any maternal instincts that she seek another victim.
• Identity with the Mother
If an overdeveloped Eros is not produced by the Mother Complex, it might lead to an identification with the mother and paralysis of the daughter’s feminine initiative. This makes the daughter project her personality on to the mother due to the fact that she is unconscious both of her maternal instinct and of her Eros. Everything which reminds her of motherhood, responsibility, personal relationships, and erotic demands arouses feelings of inferiority and compels her to run away-to her mother, naturally, who lives to perfection everything that seems unattainable to her daughter. The mother is the hero and the daughter is content to live in selfless devotion. She’s leading a shadow-existence, often visibly sucked dry by her mother, and she prolongs her mother’s life by a sort of continuous blood transfusion. She’s sacrificing her own life to maintain the mother’s persona.
The mother complex might also neither lead to an overdevelopment or an inhibition of the feminine instincts but an overwhelming resistance to maternal supremacy, often to the exclusion of all else. A type of a negative mother-complex. The motto of this type is: Anything, so long as it is not like Mother! The daughter in this case rejects all traditional feminine roles
If marriage has to be adopted by her then it should be used for the sole purpose of escaping from her m other, or else a diabolical fate will present her with a husband who shares all the essential traits of her mother’s character. The daughter meets difficulties in instinctive processes for instance; either sexuality does not function properly, or the children are unwanted, or maternal duties seem unbearable, or the demands of marital life are responded to with impatience and irritation. He most dominating force is the stubborn resistance to the power of the mother in every form. Resistance to the mother as uterus might manifest s itself as menstrual disturbances, failure of conception, abhorrence of pregnancy, hemorrhages and excessive ‘Vomiting during pregnancy, miscarriages, and so on. This type of mother complex according to jung might also lead to a spontaneous development of intellect for the purpose of creating a sphere of interest in which the mother has no place. She wants to break the mother’s power by intellectual criticism and superior knowledge, so as to enumerate to her all her stupidities, mistakes in logic, and educational shortcomings. This is often accompanied by the emergence of masculine traits in general.
Positive Mother ComplexÂ
The mother complex shouldn’t necessarily be viewed from a negative len owing to the fact that mothers play a significant role in our lives.
Jung alludes the image of the mother that has been glorified across all ages and cultures to the positive aspect of the first type of mother complex ie; Overdevelopment of maternal instincts (hypertrophy)
The Mother-love
In Jung’s words the most moving and unforgettable memories of our lives, the mysterious root of all growth and change; the love that means homecoming, shelter, and the long silence from which everything begins and in which everything ends.
“Mother is Mother-love, my experience and my secret. Why risk saying too much, too much that is false and inadequate and beside the point, about that human being who was our mother, the accidental carrier of that great experience which includes herself and myself and all mankind, and indeed the whole of created nature, the experience of life whose children we are? The attempt to say these things has always been made, and probably always will be; but a sensitive person cannot in all fairness load that enormous burden of meaning, responsibility, duty, heaven and hell, on to the shoulders of one frail and fallible human being-so deserving of love, indulgence, understanding, and forgiveness who was our mother… It is just this massive weight of meaning that ties us to the mother and chains her to her child, to the physical and mental.