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THE STANDARD EDITION COMPLETE PSYCHOLOGICAL WORKS OF • SIGMUND FREUD
Translated from the German under the General Editorship of JAMES STRACHEY
In Collaboration with ANNA FREUD
Assisted by ALIX STRACHEY and ALAN TYSON
VOLUME XX! (1927-1931)
The Future of an Illusion Civilization and its Discontents and Other Works
LONDON THE HOGARTH PRESS AND THE INSTITUTE OF PSYCHO-ANALYSIS 'L (1924), which incidentally takes all is into account. Study of this work that by no means every case of conver DOSTOEVSKY AND PARRICIDE ittuasily as this one. In no respect, how- ~ct the views arrived at on the (1928 [1927]) :h. The point which our present relief is the manner in which the con . in a particular determining event, which "''""IClepticism to flare up for a last time before Jluished.
•
- EDITOR'S NOTE
DOSTOJEWSKI UND DIE VATERTOTUNG
(a) GERMAN EDITIONS: 1928 In Die Urgestalt der Bruder Karamasojf, ed. R. Fiilop- Miller and F. Eckstein, Munich. Pp. xi-xxxvi. 1929 Almanach 1930, 9-31. 1934 G.S., 12, 7-26. 1948 G. W., 14, 399-418.
(b) ENGLISH TRANSLATIONS: 'Dostoevski and Parricide' 1929 The Realist, 1 (4), 18-33. (Tr. D. F. Tait.) 'Dostoevsky and Parricide' 1945 Int. J. Psycho-Anal., 26 (1 & 2), 1-8. (The above very considerably revised and with a slightly modified title.) 1945 Partisan Review, 12 (4), 530-44. (Reprint of above.) 194 7 In F. M. Dostoevsky, Stavro gin's Confession, trans. V. Woolf and Koteliansky, New York: Lear Publications., 87-114. (Reprint of above.) 1950 C.P., 5, 222-42. (Further revision of above.)
The present translation is a very slightly corrected reprint of that of 1950.
From 1925 onwards, Fulop-Miller and Eckstein began issuing a series of volumes supplementary to the great complete German edition of Dostoevsky which, edited by Moeller van den Bruck, had been completed a few years earlier. The new volumes, uniform with the complete edition, contained post humous writings, unfinished drafts and material from various sou't"ces throwing light on Dostoevsky's character and works. One of these volumes was to contain a collection of preliminary drafts and sketches relating to The Brothers Karamatov and a discussion of the book's sources; and the editors were anxious to 175 176 DOSTOEVSKY AND PARRICIDE persuade Freud to contribute an introduction dealing with the psychology both of the book and of its author. They seem to have approached him early in 1926 and he had begun writing DOSTOEVSKY AND PARRJ his essay by the end ofJune of that year. He was deflected from it, however, by the urgent necessity for producing his pamphlet FouR facets may be distinguished in the rie, on lay analysis (1926e) in view of the proceedings which had Dostoevsky: the creative artist, the neurotic, t: been begun against Theodor Reik (Standard Ed., 20, 180). the sinner. How is one to find one's way in 1 Thereafter he seems to have lost interest in the Dostoevsky complexity? essay, particularly, as Ernest Jones tells us '(1957, 152), after he The creative artist is the least doubtful: D< ha~ come across a book on the same subject by Neufeld (1923), is not far behind Shakespeare. The Brothers J which, as he says in a footnote (p. 194)-with considerable most magnificent novel ever written; the episo modesty, it must be remarked-, contained most of the ideas Inquisitor, one of the peaks in the literature o that he himself was putting forward. It is not clear when he took hardly be valued too highly. Before the problei the essay up again. Jones (loc. cit.) suggests that it was finished artist analysis must, alas, lay down its arms. early in 1927; but this seems scarcely likely, since Stefan The moralist in Dostoevsky is the most reacl Zweig's story with which the later part of the essay is concerned we seek to rank him high as a moralist on the only appeared in 1927. The volume to which Freud's essay man who has gone through the depths of ail served as an introduction ( The Original Version of the Brothers highest summit of morality, we are neglectil Kar~o'O) was not published until the autumn of 1928. arises. A moral man is one who reacts to temp The essay falls into two distinct parts. The first deals with he feels it in his heart, without yielding to. Dostoevsky's character in general, with his masochism, his alternately sins and then in his remorse ~ sense of guilt, his 'epileptoid' attacks and his double attitude in standards lays himself open to the reproach ti the Oedipus complex. The second discusses the special point of things too easy for himself. He has not achi~ his passion for gambling and leads to an account of a short morality, renunciation, for the moral cowl story by Stefan Zweig which throws light on the genesis of that practical human interest. He reminds one oft addiction. As will be seen from a subsequent letter of Freud's to the great migrations, who murdered and did p Theodor Reik which we print as an appendix (p. 195), the penance became an actual technique for enabli two parts of the essay are more closely related than appears on done. Ivan the Terrible behaved in exactly 1 the surface. this compromise with morality is a characteris: The present essay may show signs of being an 'occasional' Nor was the final outcome of Dostoevsky's DlOl piece, but it contains much that is of interest-for instance thing very glorious. After the most violent stnJJ Freud's first discussion of hysterical attacks since his earl; the instinctual demands of the individual widl paper on the subject written twenty years before (1909a), a community, he landed in the retrograde positi restatement of his later views on the Oedipus complex and the both to temporal and spiritual authority, of"'I sense of guilt, and a sidelight on the problem of masturbation the Tsar and for the God of the Christiamtij which is not to be found in his earlier account of the question Russian nationalism-a position which lesser ~191?[) •. But above 3:11, he had an opportunity here for express with smaller effort. This is the weak point • mg his VIews on a wnter whom he placed in the very front rank ality. Dostoevsky threw away the chance o( of all. and liberator of humanity and made · gaolers. The future of human ci"11'1 ,· ..,11n thank him for. It seems probable that he 177 an introduction dealing with the· and of its author. They seem to ··hi 1926 and he had begun writing DOSTOEVSKY AND PARRICIDE of that year. He was deflected from · . ity for producing his pamphlet FouR facets may be distinguished in the rich personality of :wew of the proceedings which had Dostoevsky: the creative artist, the neurotic, the moralist and dor Reik (Standard Ed., 20, 180). the sinner. How is one to find one's way in this bewildering Ji.ave lost interest in the Dostoevsky complexity? . Jones tells us (1957, 152), after he The creative artist is the least doubtful: Dostoevsky's place >ffll the same subject by Neufeld (1923), is not far behind Shakespeare. The Brothers Karamazov is the a footnote (p. 194)-with considerable most magnificent novel ever written; the episode of the Grand remarked-, contained most of the ideas Inquisitor, one of the peaks in the literature of the world, can 1tting forward. It is not clear when he took hardly be valued too highly. Before the problem of the creative .~Jones (loc. cit.) suggests that it was finished artist analysis must, alas, lay down its arms. ht this seems scarcely likely, since Stefan The moralist in Dostoevsky is the most readily assailable. If fwhich the later part of the essay is concerned we seek to rank him high as a moralist on the plea that only a i 1927. The volume to which Freud's essay man who has gone through the depths of sin can reach the roduction ( Tke Original Version of the Brothers highest summit of morality, we are neglecting a doubt that IIOt published until the autumn of 1928. arises. A moral man is one who reacts to temptation as soon as t• into two distinct parts. The first deals with he feels it in his heart, without yielding to it. A man who ncter in general, with his masochism, his alternately sins and then in his remorse erects high moral &f4:pileptoid' attacks and his double attitude in standards lays himself open to the reproach that he has made plex.. The second discusses the special point of things too easy for himself. He has not achieved the essence of _.bling and leads to an account of a short morality, renunciation, for the moral conduct of life is a (wag which throws light on the genesis of that practical human interest. He reminds one of the barbarians of ~be seen from a subsequent letter of Freud's to the great migrations, who murdered and did penance for it, till ladt we print as an appendix (p. 195), the penance became an actual technique for enabling murder to be '8yare more closely related than appears on done. Ivan the Terrible behaved in exactly this way; indeed this compromise with morality is a characteristic Russian trait. lay may show signs of being an 'occasional' Nor was the final outcome of Dostoevsky's moral strivings any :.. '~tll much that is of interest-for instance, thing very glorious. After the most violent struggles to reconcile "-n of hysterical attacks since his early the instinctual demands of the individual with the claims of the written twenty years before ( I 909a), a community, he landed in the retrograde position of submission views on the Oedipus complex and the both to temporal and spiritual authority, of veneration both for d4ofight on the problem of masturbation the Tsar and for the God of the Christians, and of a narrow NI in his earlier account of the question Russian nationalism-a position which lesser minds have reached Jae had an opportunity here for express with smaller effort. This is the weak point in that great person whom he placed in the very front rank ality. Dostoevsky threw away the chance of becoming a teacher and liberator of humanity and made himself one with their gaolers. The future of human civilization will have little to thank him for. It seems probable that he was condemned to this 177 i ! . 178 DOSTOEVSKY AND PARRICIDE DOSTOEVSKY AND PARRiftl failure by his neurosis. The greatness of his intelligence and the an author, he treats his readers. Thus in liqle'~ strength of his love for humanity might have opened to him sadist towards others, and in bigger things ~ another, an apostolic, way of life. himself, in fact a masochist-that is to say the QI To consider Dostoevsky as a sinner or a criminal rouses most helpful person possible. ! violent opposition, which need not be based upon a philistine We have selected three factors from DO$toc assessment of criminals. The real motive for this opposition soon personality, one quantitative and two qu~ta becomes apparent. Two traits are essential in a criminal: ordinary intensity of his emotional life, his : boundless egoism and a strong destructive urge. Common to instinctual disposition, which inevitably mar~ed both of these, and a necessary condition for their expression, is sado-masochist or a criminal, and his unanail~ absence of love, lack of an emotional appreciation of (human) This combination might very well exist withou1 objects. One at once recalls the contrast to this presented by are people who are complete masochists wi~ou1 Dostoevsky-his great need of love and his enormous capacity Nevertheless, the balance of forces between for love, which is to be seen in manifestations of exaggerated demands and the inhibitions opposing them (pl kindness and caused him to love and to help where he had a methods of sublimation) would even so m~ right to hate and to be revengeful, as, for example, in his classify Dostoevsky as what is known as ~ 'ii relations with his first wife and her lover. That being so, it must acter'. But the position is obscured by the ,sim be asked why there is any temptation to reckon Dostoevsky ence of neurosis, which, as we have said, was no1 among the criminals. The answer is that it comes from his choice stances inevitable, but which comes into be~g d of material, which singles out from all others violent, murderous the richer the complication which has to be mas1 and egoistic characters, thus pointing to the existence of similar For neurosis is after all only a sign that the ego hi tendencies within himself, and also from certain facts in his life, in making a synthesis, that in attempting to ~ like his passion for gambling and his possible confession to a feited its unity. sexual assault upon a young girl.1 The contradiction is resolved How then, strictly speaking, does his neu~ by the realization that Dostoevsky's very strong destructive Dostoevsky called himself an epileptic, and ~ instinct, which might easily have made him a criminal, was in such by other people, on account of his severe his actual life directed mainly against his own person (inward were accompanied by loss of consciousness, instead of outward} and thus found expression as masochism vulsions and subsequent depression. Now it.is I and a sense of guilt. Nevertheless, his personality retained that this so-called epilepsy was only a sympton sadistic traits in plenty, which show themselves in his irrita and must accordingly be classified as hystero-epil bility, his love of tormenting and his intolerance even towards severe hysteria. We cannot be completely c¢rta people he loved, and which appear also in the way in which, as for two reasons-firstly, because the anamnestlic d sky's alleged epilepsy are defective and ~ntr 1 See the discussion of this in Fulop-Miller and Eckstein (1926). secondly, because our understanding of patl Stefan Zweig (1920) writes: 'He was not halted by the barriers of bourgeois morality; and no one can say exactly how far he transgressed combined with epileptiform attacks is impeitfec: the bounds oflaw in his own life or how much of the criminal instincts of To take the second point first. It is u,nc his heroes was realized in himself.' For the intimate connection between reproduce the whole pathology of epilepsy, ror Dostoevsky's characters and his own experiences, see Rene Fillop no decisive light on the problem. But this m=:yI, Miller's remarks in the introductory section of Fulop-Miller and Eck , morbus sacer.is still i~ e~de1;ce as an ostensibl stein (1925), which are based upon N. Strakhov [1921].-[The topic ofa d!. sexual assault on an immature girl appears several times in Dostoevsky's ·. uncanny disease with its mcalculable, app . writings-especially in the posthumous Stavrogin' s Confession and The Life <:onvulsive a!tacks, its cha~ging of the ~h~.·.•.h .. ·.• of a Great Sinner.] . and aggressiveness, and Its progressive r I . DOSTOEVSKY AND PARRICIDE 179 mess of his intelligence and the an author, he treats his readers. Thus in little things he was a might have opened to him sadist towards others, and in bigger things a sadist towards himself, in fact a masochist-that is to say the mildest, kindliest, '~ .a sinner or a criminal rouses most helpful person possible. not be based upon a philistine We have selected three factors from Dostoevsky's complex ·tuJ motive for this opposition soon personality, one quantitative and two qualitative: the extra .ti are essential in a criminal: ordinary intensity of his emotional life, his perverse innate destructive urge. Common to instinctual disposition, which inevitably marked him out to be a condition for their expression, is sado-masochist or a criminal, and his unanalysable artistic gift. emotional appreciation of (human) This combination might very well exist without neurosis; there the contrast to this presented by are people who are complete masochists without being neurotic. of love and his enormous capacity Nevertheless, the balance of forces between his instinctual in manifestations of exaggerated demands and the inhibitions opposing them (plus the available to love and to help where he had a methods of sublimation) would even so make it necessary to !!:l revengeful, as, for ex~mple, . in his classify Dostoevsky as what is known as an 'instinctual char ·· and her lover. That bemg so, 1t must acter'. But the position is obscured by the simultaneous pres temptation to reckon Dostoevsky ence of neurosis, which, as we have said, was not in the circum er is that it comes from his choice stances inevitable, but which comes into being the more readily, Jes ~ut from all others violent, murderous the richer the complication which has to be mastered by the ego. ;. tlius pointing to the existence of similar For neurosis is after all only a sign that the ego has not succeeded ~ and also from certain facts in his life, in making a synthesis, that in attempting to do so it has for m.~g and his possible confession to a feited its unity. girl.1 The contradiction is resolved How then, strictly speaking, does his neurosis show itself? toevsky's very strong destructive Dostoevsky called himself an epileptic, and was regarded as have made him a criminal, was in such by other people, on account of his severe attacks, which y against his own person (inward were accompanied by loss of consciousness, muscular con iJltf~us found expression as masochism vulsions and subsequent depression. Now it is highly probable cf · ertheless, his personality retained that this so-called epilepsy was only a symptom of his neurosis r, . hich show themselves in his irrita- and must accordingly be classified as hystero-epilepsy-that is, as 1 • · • · · and his intolerance even towards severe hysteria. We cannot be completely certain on this point appear also in the way in which, as for two reasons-firstly, because the anamnestic data on Dostoev sky's alleged epilepsy are defective and untrustworthy, and •, in Fill.op-Miller and Eckstein (1926). secondly, because our understanding of pathological states 'He was not halted by the barriers of can say exactly how far he transgressed combined with epileptiform attacks is imperfect. ()I' how much of the criminal instincts of To take the second point first. It is unnecessary here to ll'I\INtf.• For the intimate connection between reproduce the whole pathology of epilepsy, for it would throw m own experiences, see Rene Fiilop no decisive light on the problem. But this may be said. The old aection of Fiilop-Miller and Eck- morbus sacer-is still in evidence as an ostensible clinical entity, the N. Strakhov [1921].-[Thetopicofa appears several times in Dostoevsky's uncanny disease with its incalculable, apparently unprovoked Staurogin' s Confession and The Life convulsive attacks, its changing of the character into irritability and aggressiveness, and its progressive lowering of all the 180 DOSTOEVSKY AND PARRICIDE DOSTOEVSKY AND mental faculties. But the outlines of this picture are quite act a mitigation and adaptation of the lacking in precision. The attacks, so savage in their onset, discharging stimuli.1 accompanied by biting of the tongue and incontinence of urine The 'epileptic reaction', as this comm t and working up to the dangerous status epilepticus with its risk of called, is also undoubtedly at the disposal o ·di severe self-injuries, may, nevertheless, be reduced to brief essence it is to get rid by somatic means of a .·· periods of absence, or rapidly passing fits of vertigo or may be which it cannot deal with psychically. 'jrh1 replaced by short spaces of time during which the patient does attack becomes a symptom of hysteria and isladl something out of character, as though he were under the co~trol fied by it just as it is ·by the normal sexual Woe of his unconscious. These attacks, though as a rule deterrmned, It is therefore quite right to distinguish be~ in a way we do not understand, by purely physical causes, may an 'affective' epilepsy. The practical signifi~ nevertheless owe their first appearance to some purely mental person who suffers from the first kind has a dis. cause (a fright, for instance) or may react in other respects to while a person who suffers from the secondl kiz mental excitations. However characteristic intellectual impair- In the first case his mental life is subjected to a . ment may be in the overwhelming majority of cases, at least one ance from without, in the second case the di 1 case is known to us (that of Helmholtz) in which the affliction expression of his mental life itself. · 1 did not interfere with the highest intellectual achievement. It is extremely probable that Dostoevsky'siepi (Other cases of which the same assertion has been made are second kind. This cannot, strictly speaking, ~ p either disputable or open to the same doubts as the case of we should have to be in a position to insert the j Dostoevsky himself.) People who are victims of epilepsy may of the attacks and their subsequent fluctuati~ give an impression of dullness and arrested development •· of his mental life; and for that we know too \littl just as the disease often accompanies the most palpable idiocy tions of the attacks themselves teach us nottµD(! and the grossest cerebral defects, even though not as a nec:ssary ( mation about the relations between themj u component of the clinical picture. But these atta~ks, with all experiences is defective and often contracilid their variations, also occur in other people who display com probable assumption is that the attacks welit b plete mental development and, if anything, an excessive and as a ehildhood, that their place was taken to ~ rule insufficiently controlled emotional life. It is no wonder in JYU1ptoms and that they did not assume an ctJ>iL these circumstances that it has been found impossible to main er the shattering experience of his ei~tc4 tain that 'epilepsy' is a single clinical entity. The similarity that urder of his father. 2 It would be very muqh ti we find in the manifest symptoms seems to call for a functional I . 1 [Cf. Freud's earlier paper on hysterical attacks f19€ view of them. It is as though a mechanism for abnormal 234.] . I instinctual discharge had been laid down organically, which I See Rene Fiilop-Miller ( 1924). (Cf. also the a~ could be made use of in quite different circumstances-both in vsky (1921) in her life of her father.] or . the case of disturbances of cerebral activity due to severe tion that in the novelist's childhood ' • ble and agonizing' happened, to which the histolytic or toxic affections, and also in the case of inadequate to be traced (from an ar.ticle by Suvorin in control over the mental economy and at times when the acti , 1881, quoted in the introduction to F" vity of the energy operating in the mind reaches crisis-pitch. ,xiv). See also Orest Miller (1921, 140):' Behind this dichotomy we have a glimpse of the identity of the _ • piece of evidence about Fyodor .,. ._. ... ._ __ underlying mechanism of instinctual discharge. Nor c~n that to his earliest youth and brings the illneat • event in the family life of his parents. But, mechanism stand remote from the sexual processes, which are cc was given to me orally by one who wu a fundamentally of toxic origin: the earliest physicians described · ' ovich, I cannot bring myself to · coition as a minor epilepsy, and thus recognized in the sexual , since I have had no confirmation of this PARRICIDE DOSTOEVSKY AND PARRICIDE 181 outlines of this picture are quite 3:ct a nntlgation and adaptation of the epileptic method of attacks, so savage in their onset, discharging stimuli.1 .~of the tongue and incontinence of urine The 'epileptic reaction', as this common element may be ~dangerous status epilepticus with its risk of called, is also undoubtedly at the disposal of the neurosis whose may, nevertheless, be reduced to brief essence it is to get rid by somatic means of amounts of excitation :rapidly passing fits of vertigo or may be which it cannot deal with psychically. Thus the epileptic of time during which the patient does attack becomes a symptom of hysteria and is adapted and modi :ter, as though he were under the control fied by it just as it is by the normal sexual process of discharge. These attacks, though as a rule determined, It is therefore quite right to distinguish between an organic and understand, by purely physical causes, may an 'affective' epilepsy. The practical significance of this is that a ir first appearance to some purely mental person who suffers from the first kind has a disease of the brain, instance) or may react in other respects to while a person who suffers from the second kind is a neurotic. However characteristic intellectual impair In the first case his mental life is subjected to an alien disturb :e overwhelming majority of cases, at least one ance from without, in the second case the disturbance is an to '5 (that of Helmholtz) in which the affliction expression of his mental life itself. ere1 with the highest intellectual achievement. It is extremely probable that Dostoevsky's epilepsy was of the f 1hich the same assertion has been made are second kind. This cannot, strictly speaking, be proved. To do so :tie 1or open to the same doubts as the cai;e of we should have to be in a position to insert the first appearance ~.) People who are victims of epilepsy may of the attacks and their subsequent fluctuations into the thread essipn of dullness and arrested development of his mental life; and for that we know too little. The descrip • often accompanies the most palpable idiocy tions of the attacks themselves teach us nothing and our infor t ~rebral defects, even though not as a necessary mation about the relations between them and Dostoevsky's th~ clinical picture. But these attacks, with all experiences is defective and often contradictory. The most St~ occur in other people who display com probable assumption is that the attacks went back far into his ,vdppment and, if anything, an excessive and as a childhood, that their place was taken to begin with by milder ntrolled emotional life. It is no wonder in symptoms and that they did not assume an epileptic form until that it has been found impossible to main- after the shattering experience of his eighteenth year-the ; 18 a single clinical entity. The similarity that murder of his father. 2 It would be very much to the point if it ~est symptoms seems to call for a functional 1 I~ is as though a mechanism for abnormal [Cf. Freud's earlier paper on hysterical attacks (1909a), Standard Ed., i 9, 234.] ~ had been laid down organically, which I See Rene FUiop-Miiler (1924). [Cf. also the account given by Aimee Dostoevsky (1921) in her life of her father.] Of especial interest is the i,·E.~.··.·-: .. · .• ~Ulances quite of cerebraldifferent circumstances-bothactivity due to severe in information that in the novelist's childhood 'something terrible, unfor l'lc aff'ections, and also in the case of inadequate gettable and agonizing' happened, to which the first signs of his illness ij, - ta.I economy and at: times when the acti were to be traced (from an ar.ticle by Suvorin in the newspaper Novo, Vremya, 1881, quoted in the introduction to Fiilop-Miller and Eckstein, , · ·. operating in the mind reaches crisis-pitch. 1925, xlv). See also Orest Miller (1921, 140): 'There is, however, another !fM)!mry we have a glimpse of the identity of the special piece of evidence about Fyodor Mikhailovich's illness, which re ..•. , ·• of instinctual discharge. Nor can that· lates to his earliest youth and brings the illness into connection with a II remote from the sexual processes, which are tragic event in the family life of his parents. But, although this piece of origin: the earliest physicians described evidence was given to me orally by one who was a close friend ofFyodor if:· • Mikhailovich, I cannot bring myself to reproduce it fully and pre ·,",'- epilepsy, and thus recognized in the sexual cisely since I have had no confirmation of this rumour from any other 182 DOSTOEVSKY AND PARRICIDE DOSTOEVSKY AND PAR.It could be established that they ceased completely during his either with someone who is really dead or • exile in Siberia, but other accounts contradict this. 1 still alive ~nd. whom the subject wishes de~.1. The unmistakable connection between the murder of the the more s1gruficant. The attack then has tJ+11 father in The Brothers Karamazov and the fate of Dostoevsky's ment. One has wished another person dead,!-. own father has struck more than one of his biographers, and has other person and is dead oneself. At this ~tp led them to refer to 'a certain modern school of psychology'. theory brings in the assertion that for a boyltbi :From the standpoint of psycho-analysis (for that is what is usually his father anTotem and Taboo, 1912-13.) 1t is in any quc language and theories of psycho-analysis. of the sense of guilt, though we do not know rif il We have one certain starting-point. We know the meaning of researches have not yet been able to estab~ w. the first attacks from which Dostoevsky suffered in his early mental 'origin of guilt and the need for expi,atL years, long before the incidence of the 'epilepsy'. These attacks necessary for it to be the only one. The p~olo had the significance of death: they were heralded by a fear of complicated and requires elucidation. 11.he teb death and consisted of lethargic, somnolent states. The illness his father is, as we say, an 'ambivalent' one~ In first came over him while he was still a boy, in the form of a hate which seeks to get rid of the father as aim sudden, groundless melancholy, a feeling, as he later told his tenderness for him is also habitually presen~ Tl friend Soloviev, as though he were going to die on the spot. And of mind combine to produce identificatiotJ, 11 there in fact followed a state exactly similar to real death. His the boy wants to be in his father's place because brother Andrey tells us that even when he was quite young and wants to be like him, and also because be 'fl Fyodor used to leave little notes about before he went to sleep, out .of the way. This whole development nowjCOI saying that he was afraid he might fall into this death-like · powerful obstacle. At a certain moment ~. sleep during the night and therefore begged that his burial understand that an attempt to remove his father should be postponed for five days. (Fulop-Miller and Eckstein, be punished by him with castration. So from ,e. 1925, Ix.) that is, in the interests of preserving his mascqlm We know the meaning and intention of such deathlike his wish to possess his mother and get rid ofliia: attacks.a They signify an identification with a dead person, as this wish remains in the unconscious it f• sense of guilt. We believe that what we havelhCI quarter.' Biographers and scientific research workers cannot feel grateful ing are normal processes, the normal ra., ·4 for this discretion. 'Oedipus complex'; nevertheless it requires Ian 1 Most of the accounts, including Dostoevsky's own, assert on the plification. I contrary that the illness only assumed its final, epileptic character during the Siberian exile. Unfortunately there is reason to distrust the auto A further complication arises when the ' biographical statements of neurotics. Experience shows that their we call bisexuality is comparatively s:tni.nllllll!Vii memories introduce falsifications which are designed to interrupt dis .. child. For then, under the threat to the agreeable causal connections. Nevertheless, it appears certain that castration, his inclination becomes stren Dostoevsky's detention in the Siberian prison markedly altered his Jhe direction offemininity, to put himself' pathological condition. Cf. Fillop-Miller (1924, 1186). • [The explanation was already given by Freud in a letter to Fliess of place and take over her role as object of February 8, 1897 (Freud, 1950a, Letter 58).] the fear of castration makes this solution . PARRICIDE DOSTOEVSKY AND PARRICIDE 183 ,... , they ceased completely during his either with someone who is really dead or with someone who is 'dacr accounts contradict this.1 still alive and whom the subject wishes dead. The latter case is ~tion between the murder of the the more significant. The attack then has the value of a punish ·.r~ov and the fate of Dostoevsky's ment. One has wished another person dead, and now one is this ·more than one of his biographers, and has other person and is dead oneself. At this point psycho-analytical . 'a certain modem school of psychology'. theory brings in the assertion that for a boy this other person is .t of psycho-analysis (for that is what is usually his father and that the attack (which is termed hysterical) to see in that event the severest trauma is thus a self-punishment for a death-wish against a hated lftoevsky's reaction to it as the turning-point father. if I undertake to substantiate this view Parricide, according to a well-known view, is the principal ··, I shall have to risk the danger of being and primal crime of humanity as well as of the individual. (See those readers who are unfamiliar with the my Totem and Taboo, 1912-13.)-it is in any case the main source ies of psycho-analysis. of the sense of guilt, though we do not know if it is the only one: .:='· · starting-point. We know the meaning of researches have· not yet been able to establish with certainty the ,. m which Dostoevsky suffered in his early mental origin of guilt and the need for expiation. But it is not !ire the incidence of the 'epilepsy'. These attacks necessary for it to be the only one. The psychological situation is ~ of death: they were heralded by a fear of complicated and requires elucidation. 'Tihe relation of a boy to ~ of lethargic, somnolent states. The illness his father is, as we say, an 'ambivalent' one. In addition to the \~ while he was still a boy, in the form of a hate which seeks to get rid of the father as a rival, a measure of ~ melancholy, a feeling, as he later told his tenderness for him is also habitually present. The two attitudes ~881 though he were going to die on the spot. And of mind combine to produce identification with the father; ed a state exactly similar to real death. His the boy wants to be in his father's place because he admires him ; · us that even when he was quite young and wants to be like him, and also because he wants to put him l• ,:ve little notes about before he went to sleep, out of the way. This whole development now comes up against a : ~ afraid he might fall into this death-like · powerful obstacle. At a certain moment the child comes to Ile jnight and therefore begged that his burial understand that an attempt to remove his father as a rival would ~ for five days. (Fulop-Miller and Eckstein, be punished by him with castration. So from fear of castration that is, in the interests of preserving his masculinity-he gives up =aning and intention of such deathlike his wish to possess his mother and get rid of his father. In so far : • · an identification with a dead person, as this wish remains in the unconscious it forms the basis of the ' ! sense of guilt. We believe that what we have here been describ and scientific research workers cannot feel grateful ing are normal processes, the normal fate of the so-called 'Oedipus complex'; nevertheless it requires an important am ~mts, including Dostoevsky's own, assert on the plification. 9ftly assumed its final, epileptic character during Unfortunately there is reason to distrust the auto A further complication arises when the constitutional factor ,, , of. neurotics. Experience shows that their we call bisexuality is comparatively strongly developed in a ~tions which are designed to interrupt dis child. For then, under the threat to the boy's masculinity by Ii~. Nevertheless, it appears certain that castration, his inclination becomes strengthened to diverge in in the Siberian prison markedly altered his the direction offemininity, to put himself instead in his mother's . a: Fti16p-Miller (1924, 1186). It1'111 adready given by Freud in a letter to Fliess of place and take over her role as object of his father's love. But ~ 1950«, Letter 58).] the fear of castration makes this solution impossible as well. ~\:i ' 1,;~J 184 DOSTOEVSKY AND PARRICIDE DOSTOEVSKY AND PAJUtW The boy understands that he must also submit to castration ifhe a~en~y in contrast to the rest of the content~ wants to be loved by his father as a woman. Thus both impulses, g1ve 1t the name of super-ego and ascribe ~,ifj hatred of the father and being in love with the father, undergo the parental influence, the most import8*. repression. There is a certain psychological distinction_ in the fat~er was hard, ~olent a~d cruel, the super~ fact that the hatred of the father is given up on account of fear attnbutes from him and, m the relations be~ of an external danger (castration), while the being in love with the passivity which was supposed to have b/eeJI the father is treated as an internal instinctual danger, though established. The super-ego has become sadist fundamentally it goes back to the same. external danger. becomes masochistic-that is to say, at ""ttCI What makes hatred of the father unacceptable is fear of the feminine way. A great need for punishmeint father; castration is terrible, whether as a punishment or as the ego, which in part offers itself as a victim to F: price of love. Of the two factors which repress hatred of the finds satisfa~tion in ill-treatment by the super-q father, the first, the direct fear of punishment and castration, sense of guilt). For every punishment is uJltim may be called the normal one; its pathogenic intensification and, as such, a fulfilment of the old passive aittit seems to come only with the addition of the second factor, the father. Even Fate is, in the last resort, only ~ la fear of the feminine attitude. Thus a strong innate bisexual the father. disposition becomes one of the preconditions or reinforcements The normal processes in the formation ofco11 of neurosis. Such a disposition must certainly be assumed in similar to the abnormal ones described he~. l Dostoevsky, and it shows itself in a viable form (as latent homo succeeded in fixing the boundary line betweien sexuality) in the important part played by male friendships in observed that here the largest share in the QUte his life, in his strangely tender attitude towards rivals in love to the passiv~ component of repressed femini¢q and in his remarkable understanding of situations which are must be of importance as an accidental factl explicable only by repressed homosexuality, as many examples father, who is feared in any case, is also • from his novels show. reality. This was true in Dostoevsky's case,I aQ I am sorry, though I cannot alter the facts, if this exposition back t~e .fact of his ex~raordinary sense cf g of the attitudes of hatred and love towards the father and their masochistic conduct of life to a specially sttj>na transformations under the influence of the threat of castration ponent. Thus the formula for Dostoevsky is ~ A seems to readers unfamiliar with psycho-analysis unsavoury and .with a specially strong innate bisex~u·' incredible. I should myself expect that it is precisely the castra fend himself with special intensity · di tion complex that would be bound to arouse the most general cially severe father. This characteristic bil repudiation. But I can only insist that psycho-analytic experi an addition to the components of his naltm, ence has put these matters in particular beyond the reach of eady recognized. His early symptoms ofj dei doubt and has taught us to recognize in them the key to every thus be. un~erstoo~ as a fath~r-identificajtim.. •.· neurosis. This key, then, we must apply to our author's so-called ego, which 1s permitted by his super-~ q epilepsy. So alien to our consciousness are the things by which . ou wanted to kill your father in order f'Oi) our unconscious mental life is governed! urself. Now you are your father, but a cW But what has been said so far does not exhaust the conse lar mechanism of hysterical symptoms. .· ., quences of the repression of the hatred of the father in the father is killingyou.' For the ego the Oedipus complex. There is something fresh to be added: · : tisfaction in phantasy of the masculine namely that in spite of everything the identification with the · · ea masochistic satisfaction; for the s father finally makes a permanent place for itself in the ego. It is ' • action-that is, a sadistic sa • • received into the ego, but establishes itself there as a separate : ego and the super-ego, carry on the DOSTOEVSKY AND PARRICIDE 185 Ile must also submit to castration if he agency in contrast to the rest of the content of the ego. We then lather as a woman. Thus both impulses, give it the name of super-ego and ascribe to it, the inheritor of i:heing in love with the father, undergo the parental influence, the most important functions. If the certain psychological distinction in the father was hard, violent and cruel, the super-ego takes over those . father is given up on account of fear attributes from him and, in the relations between the ego and it, (eutration), while the being in love with the passivity which was supposed to have been repressed is re u. an internal instinctual danger, though established. The super-ego has become sadistic, and the ego back to the same external danger. becomes masochistic-that is to say, at bottom passive in a of the father unacceptable is fear of the feminine way. A great need for punishment develops in the terrible, whether as a punishment or as the ego, which in part offers itself as a victim to Fate, and in part two factors which repress hatred of the finds satisfaction in ill-treatment by the super-ego (that is, in the ~' ~ direct fear of punishment and castration, sense of guilt). For every punishment is ultimately castration J•.;.·.·.... normal one; its pathogenic intensification and, as such, a fulfilment of the old passive attitude towards the ~ with the addition of the second factor, the father. Even Fate is, in the last resort, only a later projection of ~ attitude. Thus a strong innate bisexual the father. ~ one of the preconditions or reinforcements The normal processes in the formation of conscience must be 161 a disposition must certainly be assumed in similar to the abnormal ones described here. We have not yet di* shows itself in a viable form (as latent homo succeeded in fixing the boundary line between them. It will be ~ ilm.portant part played by male friendships in observed that here the largest share in the outcome is ascribed ~gely tender attitude towards rivals in love to the passive component ofrepressed femininity. In addition, it ~ble understanding of situations which are must be of importance as an accidental factor whether the ~by repressed homosexuality, as many examples father, who is feared in any case, is also especially violent in faiow: reality. This was true in Dostoevsky's case, and we can trace l'.hoµgh I cannot alter the facts, if this exposition back the fact of his extraordinary sense of guilt and of his t of hatred and love towards the father and their masochistic conduct of life to a specially strong feminine com lllfE.· · ' er the influence of the threat of castration ponent. Thus the formula for Dostoevsky is as follows: a person ft: · ·ar with psycho-analysis unsavoury and with a specially strong innate bisexual disposition, who can :' myself expect that it is precisely the castra- defend himself with special intensity against dependence on a [lat would be bound to arouse the most general specially severe father. This characteristic of bisexuality comes ift J can only insist that psycho-analytic experi as an addition to the components of his nature that we have ~ matters in particular beyond the reach of already recognized. His early symptoms of death-like attacks ~~t us to recognize in them the key to every can thus be understood as a father-identification on the part of ~ then, we must apply to our author's so-called his ego, which is permitted by his super-ego as a punishment. =,.,1 to our consciousness are the things by which 'You wanted to · kill your father in order to be your father ltal life is governed! · yourself. Now you are your father, but a dead father'-the said so far does not exhaust the conse regular mechanism of hysterical symptoms. And further: 'Now . d.on of the hatred of the father in the your father is killing you.' For the ego the death symptom is a There is something fresh to be added: satisfaction in phantasy of the masculine wish and at the same of everything the identification with the time a masochistic satisfaction; for the super-ego it is a punitive a permanent place for itself in the ego. It is satisfaction-that is, a sadistic satisfaction. Both of them, ~ but establishes itself there as a separate the ego and the super-ego, carry on the role of father. (~ 186 DOSTOEVSKY AND PARRICIDE DOSTOEVSKY AND PAQ~ To sum up, the relation between the subject and his father super-ego demands it and so saves itself ~J object, while retaining its content, has been transformed into a flicting the punishment itself. I • : relation between the ego and the super-ego-a new setting on a Everyone who is familiar with the comptid fresh stage. Infantile reactions from the Oedipus complex such tion of meaning undergone by hysterical ~ as these may disappear if reality gives them no further nourish stand that no attempt can be made h~ 11 ment. But the father's character remained the same, or rather, it meaning of Dostoevsky's attacks beyond ~1 deteriorated with the years, and thus Dostoevsky's hatred for his enough that we may assume that their 01lip father and his death-wish against that wicked father were mained unchanged behind all later accretiom maintained. Now it is a dangerous thing if reality fulfils such say that Dostoevsky never got free from the, repressed wishes. The phantasy has become reality and all arising from his intention of murdering his fi defensive measures are thereupon reinforced. Dostoevsky's at determined his attitude in the two other sphei tacks now assumed an epileptic character; they still undoubtedly father-relation is the decisive factor, his attin signified an identification with his father as a punishment, but authority of the State and towards belief in Go they had become terrible, like his father's frightful death itself. these he ended up with complete submission to) What further content they had absorbed, particularly what the Tsar, who had once performed with hii sexual content, escapes conjecture. comedy of killing whi~h..his attacks had so oftel One thing is remarkable: in the aura of the epileptic attack, p~ay. Here penitenc~' gained the upper hand. one moment of supreme bliss is experienced. This may very well sp!tere he retained more.-..freedom:. accontin• be a record of the triumph and sense of liberation felt on hearing trustworthy reports he wavered1 up_io the I~in the news of the death, to be followed immediately by an all the between faith and atheism._,His great intellect more cruel punishment. We have divined just such a sequence of sible for him to overlook any of the intellectd triumph and mourning, of festive joy and mourning, in the which faith leads. By an individual recapitulaa brothers of the primal horde who murdered their father, and ment in world-history he hoped to find a w~yci we find it repeated in the ceremony of the totem meal. I If it tion from guilt in the Christ ideal, and ev~ to proved to be the case that Dostoevsky was free from his attacks sufferings as a claim to be playing a Christ.;.)& in Siberia, that would merely substantiate the view that they whole he did· not achieve freedom and ~ were his punishment. He did not need them any longer when that was because the filial guilt, which is,prt he was being punished in another way. But that cannot be beings generally and on which religious feeUDI proved. Rather does this necessity for punishment on the part of him attained a super-individual intensity ,IID Dostoevsky's mental economy explain the fact that he passed surmountable even to his great intelligence~ ha unbroken through these years of misery and humiliation. Dostoevsky's condemnation as a political prisoner was unjust 1 [Cf. 'Criminals from a Sense of Guilt', the Chin and he must have known it, but he accepted the undeserved 'Some Character-Types Met with in Psycho-~ Standard Ed., 14, 332.] ' \:; punishment at the hands of the Little Father, the Tsar, as a I The best account of the meaning and ~ substitute for the punishment he deserved for his sin against his , given by Dostoevsky himself, when he told his • ·, real father. Instead of punishing himself, he got himself punished irritability and depression after an epileptic a • j by his father's deputy. Here we have a glimpse of the psycho that he seemed to himself a criminal and could ' ·, logical justification of the punishments inflicted by society. It is a. that he had a burden of unknown guilt upon ' some great misdeed, which oppressed him. fact that large groups of criminals want to be punished. Their In self-accusations like these psycho-analysis 1 See Totem and Taboo [(1912-13), Section 5 of Essay IV, Standard Ed., of 'psychical reality', and it endeavours to 13, 140]. known to consciousness. S.F. XXI-N DOSTOEVSKY AND PARRICIDE 187 ':between the subject and his father super-ego demands it and so saves itself the necessity for in .t, has been transformed into a flicting the punishment itself. 1 the super-ego--a new setting on a Everyone who is familiar with the complicated transforma from the Oedipus complex such tion of meaning undergone by hysterical symptoms will under 'nality gives them no further nourish stand that no attempt can be made here to follow out the :ter remained the same, or rather, it meaning of Dostoevsky's attacks beyond this beginning. 1 It is .,ears, and thus Dostoevsky's hatred for his enough that we may assume that their original meaning re ,wish against that wicked father were mained unchanged behind all later accretions. We can safely it a dangerous thing if reality fulfils such say that Dostoevsky never got free from the feelings of guilt . phantasy has become reality and all arising from his intention of murdering his father. They also are thereupon reinforced. Dostoevsky's at determined his attitude in the two other spheres in which the .-epileptic character; they still undoubtedly father-relation is the decisive factor, his attitude towards the ~tion with his father as a punishment, but authority of the State and towards belief in God. In the first of ".ble, like his father's frightful death itself. these he ended up with complete submission to his Little Father, ~nt the~ had absorbed, particularly what the Tsar, who had once performed with him in reality the ,~pes COnJecture. comedy of killing wptc;:.hJlis attacks had so oft~n represented in ~-,narkable: in the aura of the epileptic attack, play. Here penitence gained the upper hand. In the religious !tupreme bliss is experienced. This may very well sphere he retairted mor.e-.freedom~ .according J:a.. apparent.fy' a~umph and sense ofliberation felt on hearing triistworthy reports he wavered, upto the last moment of his life, i•th, to be followed immediately by an all the between faith and atheism~-His great intellect made it impos ~nt. We have divined just such a sequence of sible for him to overlook any of the intellectual difficulties to ~g, of festive joy and mourning, in the which faith leads. By an individual recapitulation of a develop ~ ptimal horde who murdered their father, and ment in world-history he hoped to find a way out and a libera ~ in the ceremony of the totem meal.1 If it tion from guilt in the Christ ideal, and even to make use of his ile ~ that Dostoevsky was free from his attacks sufferings as a claim to be playing a Christ-like role. If on the t would merely substantiate the view that they whole he did' not achieve freedom and became a reactionary, He did not need them any longer when that was because the filial guilt, which is present in human ed in another way. But that cannot be beings generally and on which religious feeling is built, had in ~. .. this necessity for punishment on the part of him attained a super-individual intensity and remained in ~ economy explain the fact that he passed surmountable even to his great intelligence. In writing this we years of misery and humiliation. F 1 '.'. .· · · n as a political prisoner was unjust [Cf. 'Criminals from a Sense of Guilt', the third essay in Freud's :· . · bown it, but he accepted the undeserved 'Some Character-Types Met with in Psycho-Analytic Work' (1916d), of the Little Father, the Tsar, as a Standard Ed., 14, 332.] _, hands I The best account o( the meaning and content of his attacks was ~rnent he deserved for his sin against his given by Dostoevsky himself, when he told his friend Strakhov that his :punishing himself, he got himself punished irritability and depression after an epileptic attack were due to the fact :ty. Here we have a glimpse of the psycho that he seemed to himself a criminal and could not get rid of the feeling ,dthe punishments inflicted by society. It is a that he had a burden of unknown guilt upon him, that he had committed some great misdeed, which oppressed him. (Fulop-Miller, 1924, 1188.) of criminals want to be punished.. Their In self-accusations like these psycho-analysis sees signs of a recognition [(1912-13), Section 5 of Essay IV, Standard Ed., of 'psychical reality', and it endeavours to make the unknown guilt known to consciousness. S.F. XXI-N - ·1 ;f~ . ''~j j::-<>~ 188 DOSTOEVSKY AND PARRICIDE DOSTOEVSKY AND PAR... '-f -,.'J are laying ourselves open to the charge of having abandoned as it were, in a reflected light, by learning Mi the impartiality of analysis and of subjecting Dostoevsky to of the other's crime. He ought to avenge *'' judgements that can only be justified from the partisan stand ~se~ strangely e~ough, ~ncapable. of d~tf point of a particular Weltanschauung. A conservative would take 1t 1s his sense of gmlt that 1s paralysmg hi~ Jj the side of the Grand Inquisitor and would judge Dostoevsky entirely in keeping with neurotic processes, th.I differently. The objection is just; and one can only say in displaced on to the perception of his inadequaq extenuation that Dostoevsky's decision has every appearance of task. There are signs that the hero feels tbia t having been determined by an intellect~al inhibition due to his individual one. He ·despises others no less :thi neuros1S. every man after his desert, and who should 'sc It can scarcely be owing to chance that three of the master The Russian novel goes a step further in t})e pieces of the literature of all time-the Oedipus Rex of Sophocles, There also the murder is committed by $ODl Shakespeare's Hamlet and Dostoevsky's The Brothers Karamazov other person, however, stands to the murden:d 1 should all deal with the same subject, parricide. In all three, filial relation as the hero, Dmitri; in this o~ l moreover, the motive for the deed, sexual rivalry for a woman, motive of sexual rivalry is openly admitted; h is laid bare. the hero's, and it is a remarkable fact that The most straightforward is certainly the representation in attributed to him his own illness, the ~ the drama derived from the Greek legend. In this it is still the though he were seeking to confess that the epilt hero himself who commits the crime. But poetic treatment is · tic, in himself was a parricide. Then, again, in ti impossible without softening and disguise. The naked admission defence at the trial, there is the famous mockery of an intention to commit parricide, as we arrive at it in analysis, Jit is a 'knife that cuts both ways': 1 a splendid I seems intolerable without analytic preparation. The Greek .· for we have only to reverse it in order to diSCl drama, while retaining the crime, introduces the indispensable meaning of Dostoevsky's view of things. It is not toning-down in a masterly fashion by projecting the hero's 1deserves the mockery, but the procedure ofjud unconscious motive into reality in the form of a compulsion by a is a matter of indifference who actually comui destiny which is alien to him. The hero commits the deed :psychology is only concerned to know who•
N_=play itself,' he writes in one of his letters. 'I complete that the demon at last retired from his soul and made W, bas nothing to do with it, although Heaven way for the creative genius.' (Fiilop-Miller and Eckstein, 1925, ,,faiaeed ,. I of money.' lxxxvi.) 192 DOSTOEVSKY AND PARRICIDE DOSTOEVSKY AND PAil it cannot be resisted. It is characteristic of the nature of artistic away in deep mortification and learns la. creation that the author, who is a personal friend of mine, was succeeded in saving him from suicide. I c,} abl~ to assure me, when I asked him, that the interpretation The brilliantly told, faultlessly motivate,1 j which I put to him had been oompletely strange to his know complete in itself and is certain to make a ~ ledge and intention, although some of the details woven into reader. But analysis shows us that its inventic;li the narrative seemed expressly designed to give a clue to the mentally upon a wishful phantasy belon~ hidden secret. puberty, which a number of people ~tually In this story, an elderly lady ofdistinction tells the author about sciously. The phantasy embodies a bois wish an experience she has had more than twenty years earlier. She has should herself initiate him into sexual life bi OJ been left a widow when still young and is the mother of two sons, from the dreaded injuries caused by masturli>ati who _no longer need. her. In her forty-second year, expecting ous creative works that deal with the them nothmg further of life, she happens, on one of her aimless have the same origin.) The 'vice' of masturbati1 journeyings, to visit the Rooms at Monte Carlo. There, among the addiction to gambling;1 and the emphas all the re~arkable impr~ssions which the place produces, she is passionate activity of the hands betrays this des soon fascmated by the sight of a pair of hands which seem to the passion for play is an equivalent of the oJ ~etra~ all th~ feeli!1gs of the unlucky gambler with terrifying masturbate; 'playing' is the actual word used i smcenty and mtens1ty. These hands belong to a handsome young describe the activity of the hands upon di man-the author, as though unintentionally, makes him of the irresistible nature of the temptation, the ·so)j sa?1e age as the narrator's _elder son-who, after losing every which are nevertheless invariably broken, nm ~ng, le:i,ves !he Rooms m the depth of despair, with the the stupefying pleasure and the bad conscienc eV1dent mtention of ending his hopeless life in the Casino subject that he is ruining himself (coIIlll)ittj gardens•. An inexplicable feeling of sympathy compels her to these elements remain unaltered in the proces follow him and make every effort to save him. He takes her for It is true that Zweig's story is told by the motlu: one of the importunate women so common there and tries to It must flatter the son to think: 'if my motbet shake her off; but she stays with him and finds herself obliged, in dangers masturbation involves me- in, she wou the most natural way possible, to join him in his apartment at me from them by allowing me to lavish all my t the hotel, and finally to share his bed. After this improvised own body'. The equation of the mother wi~ a J night oflove, she exacts a most solemn vow from the young man, is made by the young man in the story, is: lia wh~ has no~ app~rentlr calmed down, that he will never play same phantasy. It brings the unattainable WO agam, provides him with money for his journey home and reach. The bad conscience which accompaai pr~mises to meet him at the station before the departure of his brings about the unhappy ending of the stpry tram. Now, however, she begins to feel a great tenderness for esting to notice how the fa;ade given to tht q him, is ready to sacrifice all she has in order to keep him and seeks to disguise its analytic meaning. Fot ma~es up ~er mind to go with him instead of saying goodbye. questionable whether the erotic life of wo~ Vanous mischances delay her, so that she misses the train. In sudden and mysterious impulses. On ili4 • her longing for the lost one she returns once more to the Rooms reveals an adequate motivation for the s~ and there, to her horror, sees once more the hands which had this woman who had hitherto turned awa)l':1,1 fi:st excited her sympathy: the faithless youth had gone back to to the memory of her dead husband, ~·:JI his play. She reminds him of his promise' but obsessed by his 1 [In a letter to Fliess of December 22, 1897j{'~l passipn,. he c~ls her a spoil-sport, tells her to go,' and flings back masturbation is the 'primal addiction', for~r the money with which she has tried to rescue him. She hurries aumtitutes (Frcud1 1950a,. ~t.~ 79~.l j I'
r1, t-t DOSTOEVSKY AND PARRICIDE 193 llaracteriatic of the nature of artistic away in deep mortification and learns later that she has not is a personal friend of mine, was succeeded in saving him from suicide. :'asked him, that the interpretation The brilliantly told, faultlessly motivated story is of course oompletely strange to his know complete in itself and is certain to make a deep effect upon the some of the details woven into reader. But analysis shows us that its invention is based funda ~ designed to give a clue to the " mentally upon a wishful phantasy belonging to the period of puberty, which a number of people actually remember con Jadyofdistinction tells the author about sciously. The phantasy embodies a boy's wish that his mother more than twenty years earlier. She has should herself initiate him into sexual life in order to save him still young and is the mother of two sons, from the dreaded injuries caused by masturbation. (The numer ,- ·her. In her forty-second year, expecting ous creative works that deal with the theme of redemption Jue, she happens, on one of her aimless have the same origin.) The 'vice' of masturbation is replaced by ,,.. ,. __ the Rooms at Monte Carlo. There, among the addiction to gambling;1 and the emphasis laid upon the lftimprcssions which the place produces, she is passionate activity of the hands betrays this derivation. Indeed, l,the sight of a pair of hands which seem to the passion for play is an equivalent of the old compulsion to ~ of the unlucky gambler with terrifying masturbate; 'playing' is the actual word used in the nursery to ,mity. These hands belong to a handsome young describe the activity of the hands upon the genitals. The ,r, as though unintentionally, makes him of the irresistible nature of the temptation, the solemn resolutions, 1.aarrator's elder son-who, after losing every which are nevertheless invariably broken, never to do it again, II Rooms· in the depth of despair, with the the stupefying pleasure and the bad conscience which tells the "1 of ending his hopeless life in the Casino subject that he is ruining himself (committing suicide)-all atplicable feeling of sympathy compels her to these elements remain unaltered in the process of substitution. make every effort to save him. He takes her for It is true that Zweig's story is told by the mother, not by the son. rrtunate women so common there and tries to It must flatter the son to think: 'if my mother only knew what itahe stays with him and finds herself obliged, in . dangers masturbation involves m<> in, she would certainly save hvay possible, to join him in his apartment at me from them by allowing me to lavish all my tenderness on her "1tany to share his bed. After this improvised own body'. The equation of the mother with a prostitute, which t~ts a most solemn vow from the young man, is made by the young man in the story, is linked up with the ~dy calmed down, that he will never play same phantasy. It brings the unattainable woman within easy ~ with money for his journey home and reach. The bad conscience which accompanies the phantasy lium. at the station before the departure of his brings about the unhappy ending of the story. It is also inter ~, ahe begins to feel a great tenderness for esting to notice how thefa;ade given to the story by its author ~ all she has in order to keep him and seeks to disguise its analytic meaning. For it is extremely lit to go with him instead of saying goodbye. questionable whether. the erotic life of women is dominated by 1:11 4elay her, so that she· misses the train. In sudden and mysterious impulses. On the contrary, analysis li'kltt one she returns once more to the Rooms reveals an adequate motivation for the surprising behaviour of ,r, sees once more the hands which had this woman who had hitherto turned away from love. Faithful ,.thy: the faithless youth had gone back to to the memory of her dead husband, she had armed herself .tum of his promise, but, obsessed by his 1 [In a letter to Fliess of December 22, 1897, Freud suggested that ,spoil-sport, tells her to go, and flings back masturbation is the 'primal addiction', for which all later addictions are ahe has tried to rescue him. She hurries aubstitutes (Freud, 1950a,. Let."'r 79H 194 DOSTOEVSKY AND PARRICIDE against all similar attractions; but-and here the son's phantasy is right-she did not, as a mother, escape her quite unconscious transference oflove on to her son, and Fate was able to catch her APPENDIX at this undefended spot. A LETTER FROM FREUD TO THEODOl If the addiction to gambling, with the unsuccessful struggles to break the habit and the opportunities it affords for self punishment, is a repetition of the compulsion to masturbate, we [A few months after the publication of Fi shall not be surprised to find that it occupied such a large Dostoevsky, a discussion of it by Theodor~ space in Dostoevsky's life. After all, we find no cases of severe Imago (in the second issue for 1929, 15, 232-42); neurosis in which the auto-erotic satisfaction of early childhood comments were on the whole appreciative, he' and of puberty has not played a part; and the relation between :aderable length that Freud's judgement o efforts to suppress it and fear of the father are too well known to morals was unjustifiably severe and disagreed need more than a mention.1 Freud wrote about morality in the third paragn He also, incidentally, criticized the form of du 1 Most of the views which are here expressed are also contained in an apparently disconnected tail-end. After reading' excellent book by Jolan Neufeld (1923). reud sent Reik a letter in reply; and when, s, Reik reprinted his article in a book of~ 1930), Freud agreed that his letter should a1 English translation of the criticism and ofthe blished later in Reik's From Thirfy rears a ork, 1940 and London, 1942). It is with Dr. · d permission that we publish Freud's letti · ed translation.]
••. I have read your critical review of dy with great pleasure. All your objectiOJ deratibn and must be recognized as in a sense. ard a little in my defence. But of coune ; estion of who is right or who is wrong. I think you are applying too high a standard.1 was written as a favour to someone• and wril always write reluctantly nowadays. No doubti ut it. This is not meant, of course, to exqj gements, but merely the careless architec• le. I cannot dispute the unharmonious -fj addition of the Zweig analysis; but deq,er;j haps show some justification for it. If I Jutl by considerations of the place whefe,,j [See footnote 2 on p. 196 below.] . ''.{~ 7• [No doubt Eitingon, who had peraiatently rizt essay (Jones, 1957, 152).] ;c;.~ .· 195 :)