In literature, authors have long been fascinated by the mother-son relationship, often using it as a lens through which to examine themes of identity, family, trauma, and socialization. Works such as James Joyce's Ulysses , where the protagonist Stephen Dedalus grapples with his mother's influence on his life, and Tennessee Williams' A Streetcar Named Desire , which explores the destructive dynamics between Blanche DuBois and her son Stanley, showcase the powerful impact of this relationship on individual development and well-being.

This figure cannot tolerate her son’s independence. Her love is a cage. In literature, Mrs. Morel in D.H. Lawrence’s Sons and Lovers is the prototype. She pours all her frustrated marital passion into her son Paul, ensuring he can never fully commit to another woman. In cinema, this reaches a grotesque zenith in Norman Bates’s mother in Psycho (1960)—where the mother’s controlling will literally survives her death, turning her son into a homicidal surrogate. More recently, Mommie Dearest (1981) and the monstrous matriarch in We Need to Talk About Kevin (2011) explore the opposite extreme: maternal rejection and cruelty, which forge a son into a sociopath.