A Case of Hysteria: (Dora) (Oxford World's Classics)

Had to read this for school. Total nonfiction of course, and it is of course by one of the more famous psychoanalysts of our time, who invented the field even. Interesting stories he recounts here, but I believe many will agree today that he had his head up you-know-where in many instances.

Regardless of how you feel about Freud's psychoanalytical theories about hysteria, you cannot deny the sheer imagination of his writing. His chronicle of the patient "Dora" and the interpretations he makes of her dreams offer up a strange mix of fact and fiction. This is an actual case study about a young girl who was treated by Freud for hysteria. The story that unfolds about her father, his lover and his lover's husband is quite compelling in and of itself, but when you add the dimensions of Freud's analysis it opens up so many possibilities about the motives driving each of the characters. Freud's insistence that every symptom experienced, phrase used or symbol dreamt is mere sexual euphemism can be distracting, but at the same time it leaves the reader open to discovering the interpretations Freud ignores. The more Freud attempts to analyse Dora the more obvious it becomes that there could be any number of interpretations made, depending on how far a leap you wish to make (and Freud certainly makes a few interesting ones).The introduction included in this edition is very useful at providing some more context to the case study and the people mentioned in it. What is particularly insightful is the context it gives to Freud himself who, as narrator, is perhaps the most interesting character of all.

Freud is an acquired taste.

The preface to this edition is gives a good ground work and sets the stage for the contextualization of the case study and the individuals therein. For me what came to the fore are Freud's' nature and the methodology he pursues, by way of his narrative, which shows another most interesting character, apart from Dora, which is Freud himself. Whether like him or loath him, this work should not be dismissed out hand, this is both an interesting and at times disturbing read.For as Freud endeavours to evaluate Dora's `condition' it becomes more evident that there could be any number of explanations made, for the symptoms displayed, contingent upon how far that you wish to take your analysis and Freud was not one hold back in his presumptions.

From Wikipedia one gets the impression that the case is about Ida Bauer. In the full text one realizes that "Dora" is not really a case study so much as a vehicle to showcase Freud's methods and theories. In a real sense it is a defense of those theories using Ida Bauer as corraborating evidence.Freud admits in the Forward that he supplemented a shortened, incomplete case analysis "with the most likely behaviour patterns known to me from other analyses . . ."In the Afterword he says: "While I have called this record the fragment of an analysis, the reader will have discovered that it is incomplete to a much wider extent than might be expected from that title."In other words, he filled in the gaps with his own assumptions. These assumptions are predictable since, after a full century, we are all familiar with his Oedipus obsession. In "Dora" he pours it into every empty gap and churns it around and around. The other thing he churns is his dream analyses. He uses "Dora" to showcase his dream theories from other publications.There was one surprise however. He says that it was abnormal for the fourteen year-old Ida not to feel sexually aroused when the middle-aged family friend made advances to her:"instead of going through the open door he suddenly held the girl close and pressed a kiss on her lips. That was exactly the situation likely to give a virginal girl of fourteen a clear sensation of sexual arousal. However, at that moment Dora was overcome by violent revulsion; she tore herself away, hurried past the man to the stairs, and from there to the door of the building."Freud assumes that the reader will obviously agree that the girl's reaction was abnormal. He says:"After she had understood what Herr K.’s intentions were, she did not let him explain himself but slapped his face and ran away. Her conduct probably appeared to Herr K. at the time, when he was left behind, as inexplicable as it does to us, for he must long ago have concluded, from innumerable little signs, that he could be sure of the girl’s feeling for him."Ida's response seems perfectly normal, and not "inexplicable" as Herr Doktor says. This, together with his assertion that children's bed-wetting is likely due to masterbation, makes one wonder what world Freud was living in. Additionally, Dora's little purse and an old lady patient's sweets box are both representations of female genitals, according to Freud.In one instance, her father asked her to fetch a bottle of brandy from the larder. Her mother had the key but didn't respond when Ida repeatedly asked for it. Ida got angry and spoke harshly to her mother. A fragment of this episode appeared in her dream that same night. Freud's take on the dream is:"Where is the key? sounds to me like the male counterpart to the question: Where is the box? (see the first dream, p. 56). These are questions about the genitals." . . . OMG!

Edition reads well, complete and important contextual information about the times and life of Dora, but the introduction is as biased as the same text she accuses. It has been written to portray psychoanalysis as a mere work of fiction and male brutality without any further recognition of its inventions, relevance or transendence.

This case study was presented by Freud, with a generous introduction.The details are maddening, especially from a female perspective. However, I would recommend this as a vital read to any student reading Psychology. It is a piece that can demonstrate how far the world of psychology has evolved and can also demonstrate how far the gender gap has decreased since this paper was published.

I love these Oxford World Classic editions, with their fantastic notes, footnotes, appendices and introductions, they are the complete package surrounding the classic text. I found that this edition made the text even more accessible with notes to aid the understanding and study of this text.

Along with the Wolf Man and the Rat Man this was Freud's most detailed published Case Study and one which has been claimed as providing much needed emprical evidence for Psychanalysis. The introduction by Ritche Robertson, Professor of German at Oxford claims that it does the opposite and that Freud's theoretical assumotions determined his empirical observations.Psychoanalysis is now taught mainly in Literature departments and valued for Freud's many profound and searching observations on human nature rather than as a therapeutic method. The long introducion, notes and new translation provide the reader with an opportunity to make up his own mind.Rating 5 out of 5.

I read this text on my unit at university, it is a short read but felt I had to re-read because it's kind of technical. Don't really agree with Freud's opinions but every body is entitled to them.