Freud's Dora: Analysis of a Case of Hysteria

This assertion may seem outlandish at first, but if we examine the case of Dora and Freud's interpretation (and manipulation) of it and her, we will see that it is not so outlandish at all. And even if the reader still maintains at the end that it is outlandish, the question must be asked, Is it any more outlandish than some of the claims made by Freud himself, who appears to see himself not as a psychoanalyst, but as a god, or God?

Consider, for example, Freud's claim that

I showed that dreams in general can be interpreted, and that after the work of interpretation has been completed they can be replaced by perfectly correctly constructed thoughts which find a recognizable position in the texture of the mind (Freud 8).

To this reader, Freud's words above appear to coincide with th

. . .
er" to the psychoanalyst by her father just as her father turned her over to Herr K. in exchange for her father's being tacitly allowed to continue his affair with Frau K. When we consider the utter insanity of Dora's parents and the K.'s, it is a miracle that Dora found within her the strength, wisdom and independence to break away from the dominating Freud when she did. In any case, Freud writes that Dora's father "handed her over to me for psychotherapeutic treatment" (13). Freud sees Dora as an exotic animal of some sort who is to be turned into a woman by Freud---a heterosexual woman with none of her Lesbian traits, to be sure. In fact, Freud's analysis of her dreams and his conclusion that it is in reality Frau K. rather than Herr K. whom Dora desires sexually are actually manifestations of his own desire for Dora. The key to this fact is Freud's explanation of male daydreams, which focus on "pleasing a woman, of being preferred by her to other men. These phantasies are wish-fulfillments, products of frustration and desire" (114). Freud's conclusion that it was Frau K. who was the true love of her life (or, at least, or her life before her father "handed her over" to Freud for fixing and recreating) rather than Herr K. ac
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Some common words found in the essay are:
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Approximate Word count = 1647
Approximate Pages = 7 (250 words per page)

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