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The theory of complexes, according to Carl Jung’s scientific formulation in his work on the experiment of verbal association, proved to be an effective explanatory instrument for psychoanalysis. Jung’s formulation is based on the concept of a “complex of emotionally charged representations,” the imago, the difference between representation and reproduction, the correlation between constellation and reaction modes, and repetition. In this article, I will analyze Jung’s hypothesis, and then Lacan’s perspective. In doing so, I will demonstrate that many elements of Jungian theory are presented in Lacan’s text Les complexes familiaux even though he replaces Jung’s phenomenological explanation with a structural approach, not a structuralist one, but one that is fundamental to the psychoanalytic idea of individual development. Lastly, I will highlight the influences that Jung’s work undoubtedly had on Lacan’s.