Historical Context
Freud’s Austria
Vienna, Freud's hometown, is the capital of Austria. From the thirteenth to the twentieth century, Austria was part of the Austro-Hungarian Empire, which was governed by the Habsburg Dynasty. This empire encompassed regions that are now Poland, Hungary, Czechoslovakia, and Austria.
The Eighteenth Century: Maria Theresa and Joseph II
Between 1740 and 1780, Empress Maria Theresa ruled the Habsburg Empire as the first woman to hold this position. In 1737, her husband, Francis Stephen of Lorraine, became Holy Roman Emperor Francis I. Consequently, the Habsburg lineage was renamed Habsburg-Lorraine. Maria Theresa's claim to the throne was contested in the War of the Austrian Succession, which spanned from 1740 to 1748. After emerging victorious, she enacted significant reforms in the military, financial, and administrative sectors, thereby consolidating her authority. Additionally, she established a public school system aimed at educating the lower classes.
Freud references Empress Maria Theresa in a dream, which includes an image from a woodcut reproduction found in a book on Austrian history. In this dream, Freud's father takes the place of the empress, surrounded by a crowd. Freud interprets this dream as a wish-fulfillment, reflecting his own desire "to be a pure and great presence to one’s children after one’s death."
Following her husband's death, Maria Theresa's son, Joseph II, assisted her in ruling the empire until she passed away in 1780. Joseph then ascended to the throne and continued his mother's reformist agenda until his death in 1790. One of his notable achievements was the 1781 Edict of Toleration, which granted religious freedom to Jews and Protestants. This edict was particularly transformative for Austrian Jews, allowing them to attend universities and pursue professions previously denied to them. In the same year, Joseph II also extended significant legal rights to peasants.
In another dream, Freud references an inscription on the pedestal of an equestrian statue of Emperor Joseph II. He interprets this dream as expressing his desire "to raise a monument to my friend," who had recently passed away and was also named Josef.
The Nineteenth Century: The Revolutions of 1848
In February 1848, a revolution centered in Paris ignited uprisings across major European cities, many within the Habsburg Empire. By March, a revolt in Vienna demanding liberal reforms led to violent clashes between protesters and authorities. In response, the emperor dismissed Klemens Fürst von Metternich, the foreign affairs minister, who was widely seen as an oppressor and adversary of the people. Despite this concession, unrest and violence persisted in Vienna throughout the year. Concurrently, revolts erupted across the empire, with varying levels of success, in Hungary, Italy, and among the Slavic and German populations. In May, fearing for their safety, the emperor and his government fled Vienna. They returned in August, and by October, the Habsburg army had reclaimed the city, executing many revolutionary leaders. The government made some efforts to draft a constitution, but the emperor ultimately thwarted this initiative. A significant concession was the full emancipation of peasants and serfs.
Freud recounts a dream where the overall atmosphere "makes something of the impression of a fantasy transporting the dreamer to the revolutionary year of 1848." He explains that this aspect of the dream was triggered by the national celebration in 1898 marking the revolution's fiftieth anniversary. In part of the dream, Freud identifies with one of the student leaders from the 1848 rebellion.
Count Thun
Count Franz Anton Thun served as the governor of Freud’s homeland, Bohemia, from 1889 to 1895 before resigning. He later became Austria's prime minister from 1898 to 1899. In 1911, he was made a prince and reinstated as...
(This entire section contains 879 words.)
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governor of Bohemia until 1915. He passed away in 1916. Count Thun's turbulent political career was shaped by opposition from both Czech and German nationalists challenging Habsburg rule.
Count Thun is mentioned in Freud’s "revolutionary" dream described earlier. In his "preamble" explaining the day's actual events that influenced the dream, Freud recounts seeing Count Thun at a train station on his way to meet the emperor. Freud recalls a popular joke in the press, referring to Count Thun as Count Nichtsthun, meaning Count "do-nothing" in German. Freud notes that while Count Thun was on a "difficult visit to the Emperor," he himself was the real Count "do-nothing," as he was on vacation, relaxing. Freud concludes that the "spirit of rebellion" in this dream partly reflects a wish to rebel against his father's authority, whom he associates with Count Thun.
The Twentieth Century
Starting in 1848, the Habsburg Empire was governed by Francis Joseph, who remained in power until his death in 1916. He was followed by Charles, whose reign lasted a mere two years. The empire officially disbanded in 1918 after World War I, leading to the emergence of Poland, Czechoslovakia, and Austria as independent nations.
In 1938, Hitler invaded Austria and incorporated it into "Greater" Germany. Freud’s works were among the first to be burned in Nazi Germany, and the Freud family was placed under house arrest for several months until they were allowed to leave the country. At eighty-two, Freud was coerced into signing a statement declaring he had not been mistreated by the Nazis; with bitter irony, he added in his own handwriting, "I can most warmly recommend the Gestapo to anyone" (as quoted in the Encyclopedia of World Biography). The family sought refuge in London, where Freud passed away a year later.
Literary Style
Narrative Voice
Freud made a daring choice by writing The Interpretation of Dreams, a “scientific” treatise, in the first-person perspective. This means he includes himself in the text as an individual, using the pronoun “I.” The theoretical insights Freud presents in The Interpretation of Dreams stem from years of intensive self-analysis. He uses his own dreams as examples to validate his theory of dream interpretation. Freud explains that his own dreams provided “an abundant and convenient fund of material coming from a more or less normal person and relating to a variety of occasions in daily life,” partly because “the conditions for self-observation are more favorable than the conditions for the observation of others.” Throughout the book, he acknowledges the personal risk and embarrassment of publicly exploring his psyche, revealing many personal feelings about his friends, family, and colleagues:
Reporting my own dreams, however, turned out to be inextricably tied to revealing more of the intimacies of my psychical life than I could wish or than usually falls to the task of an author who is not a poet, but a scientist. This was painful and embarrassing, but unavoidable; I have bowed to it then, so that I should not entirely do without presenting the evidence for my psychological conclusions.
Freud’s sense of embarrassment at exposing himself so openly was so strong that he delayed the book’s publication for a year after completing it.
Nonfiction Genres: Scientific Treatise and Autobiography
Many critics have noted the tension in The Interpretation of Dreams between Freud’s effort to present his revolutionary theory in an objective manner acceptable to the scientific community and his choice to include personal material based on his own experiences. Ritchie Robertson, in an introduction to the 1999 translation, observes that the book is partly a “semi-disguised autobiography” of Freud, revealing much about his childhood, family background, social environment, and adult relationships. Simultaneously, Freud made efforts to meet the scientific community’s standards by beginning the book with an overview of the “Scientific Literature on the Problems of Dreams,” even though he was not particularly interested in this material. Translator Joyce Crick refers to this blend of scientific and personal narrative in The Interpretation of Dreams as a “treatise-cum-autobiography.” Crick identifies several different “registers” in which the book is written. The “theoretical,” or scientific, mode is characterized by “discursive, formal language of the argued treatise, presenting evidence, argument, rebuttal, qualification, inference.” Another significant “register” in the book, according to Crick, is the “narrative” mode, used in the “preambles” and descriptions of Freud’s dreams.
Literary References and Allusions
Freud is renowned for his extensive use of literary references in his writings. His pivotal theoretical concept, the Oedipus Complex, is derived from the Greek myth of Oedipus and the plays Oedipus the King and Oedipus at Colonus by the ancient Greek playwright Sophocles (496–406 B.C.). In his extensive psychoanalytic theories, Freud frequently cites examples from Shakespeare's plays, especially Hamlet. In The Interpretation of Dreams, he references around twenty different literary figures from French, English, Greek, and German literature. Freud’s extensive use of global literary examples partly accounts for the enduring influence of Freudian theory on literary theory and criticism in the late twentieth century, where his impact is as significant and lasting as it is in psychology. Freud's dream analysis can be viewed as similar to literary analysis, as he often employs wordplay and verbal allusions to dissect the narrative content of dreams. Some critics have even considered Freud a poet of the mind, interpreting everyday experiences, dreams, and memories as literary creations filled with literary allusions, symbolism, and allegorical or mythological meanings. Jonathan Lear noted in a 1995 article in the New Republic that one of Freud’s greatest contributions is the recognition that ‘‘creativity is no longer the exclusive preserve of the divinely inspired, or the few great poets,’’ adding that ‘‘from a psychoanalytic point of view, everyone is poetic; everyone dreams in metaphor and generates symbolic meaning in the process of living.’’
Compare and Contrast
1278: The Habsburg Empire gains control of Austria and designates Vienna as its capital.
1860: Sigmund Freud's family relocates to Vienna.
1867: The Habsburg Empire consolidates its authority over Hungary in Vienna, leading to the formation of the Austro-Hungarian Empire.
1914: The assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand, heir to the Austro-Hungarian Empire, by a Serbian nationalist sparks the beginning of World War I.
1916–1918: Following the death of Emperor Francis Joseph, Charles ascends to the throne of the Austro-Hungarian Empire.
1918: After World War I ends, Emperor Charles is compelled to abdicate, resulting in the dissolution of the Habsburg Empire into several independent nations, including a newly established Austrian republic with Vienna as its capital.
1938–1945: German forces under Hitler occupy Austria, declaring it part of "Greater" Germany and renaming Vienna as "Greater" Vienna.
1945–1955: Post-World War II, Austria is partitioned into four zones, each controlled by one of the Allied powers. Vienna is similarly divided into four separate occupation zones.
1955: The Austrian State Treaty restores Austria as a sovereign nation with Vienna as its capital and declares it a permanently neutral country.
1990s: Austria joins the European Union in 1995. Together with Switzerland, Austria is seen as the "neutral core" of Europe. Vienna, as a neutral city, becomes a hub for international conferences and hosts numerous global organizations.
1781: Emperor Joseph II of the Habsburg Empire issues the Edict of Toleration, granting religious freedoms to Protestants and Jews.
1873: A stock market crash in Austria incites widespread anti-Semitism, with many blaming Jews for the economic downturn.
1895: Karl Lueger, a prominent anti-Semitic politician, is elected to the Austrian Parliament.
1897: Lueger assumes the office of mayor of Vienna.
1938–1945: During the German occupation of Austria, about two-thirds of Vienna's Jewish population flee to escape Nazi persecution. Freud and his immediate family are among those who escape to England. Tragically, most Jews who remain in Vienna, including four of Freud’s sisters, are murdered in the Holocaust.
1972–1981: Kurt Waldheim, a suspected Nazi war criminal, serves as the Secretary-General of the United Nations representing Austria.
1986–1992: The election of Waldheim as President of Austria in 1986 ignites international controversy. A 1987 report by the United States Justice Department, previously suppressed, identifies Waldheim as "a key member of Nazi units responsible for executing prisoners, killing civilians, identifying Jews for deportation, and shipping prisoners to slave labour camps," according to Encyclopaedia Britannica. Despite this, Waldheim remains in office until 1992.
1994: For the first time, the Austrian government publicly acknowledges its role in the Nazi persecution of Jews. Vienna hosts the largest-ever United Nations World Conference on Human Rights.
Media Adaptations
The 1962 Hollywood film Freud, directed by John Huston and featuring Montgomery Clift in the lead role, offers a dramatized portrayal of Freud's life.
In 1990, Audio Scholar released an audiocassette recording of Sigmund Freud's Introductory Lectures on Psychoanalysis, narrated by Sydney Walker.
Sigmund Freud is a biographical video detailing Freud's life. It was initially aired as part of a television series and was produced by A&E Home Video, with distribution handled by the New Video Group in 1997.
Bibliography and Further Reading
Sources
Crick, Joyce, ‘‘Note on the Translation,’’ in The Interpretation of Dreams, by Sigmund Freud, Oxford University Press, 1999, p. xlii.
Freud, Sigmund, The Interpretation of Dreams, translated and edited by James Strachey, Avon Books, 1965, p. xxxii.
———, The Interpretation of Dreams, translated by Joyce Crick, with notes and an introduction by Ritchie Robertson, Oxford University Press, 1999.
Gay, Peter, ‘‘Psychoanalyst: Sigmund Freud,’’ in Time, Vol. 153, No. 12, March 29, 1999, p. 66.
Lear, Jonathan, ‘‘The Shrink Is In: A Counterblast in the War on Freud,’’ in New Republic, Vol. 213, No. 26, December 25, 1995, p. 18.
‘‘Re-examining Freud,’’ in Psychology Today, Vol. 23, No. 9, September, 1989, p. 48.
‘‘Sigmund Freud,’’ in Encyclopedia of World Biography, 2nd ed., Vol. 6, Gale Research, 1998, pp. 103–06.
‘‘Year in Review 1994,’’ in Encyclopaedia Britannica Online, Encyclopaedia Britannica, Inc., 1994–2000 (February 3, 2001).
Further Reading
Beller, Steven, Vienna and the Jews, 1867–1938: A Cultural History,
Cambridge University Press, 1989.
Beller offers a historical account of the status and culture of Jews in Vienna
during a period roughly aligning with Freud’s lifetime, including discussions
on anti-Semitism, the intellectual environment of Jews in Vienna, and the
impact of Jewish culture on Viennese society and history.
Buhle, Mari Jo, Feminism and Its Discontents: A Century of Struggle with
Psychoanalysis, Harvard University Press, 1998.
Buhle presents a historical overview of the feminist reaction to Freudian
theory as it evolved throughout the twentieth century.
Crews, Frederick C., Unauthorized Freud: Doubters Confront a Legend,
Viking, 1998.
Crews tackles the controversial aspects of Freudian theory, aiming to address
the numerous criticisms it has faced.
Ferris, Paul, Dr. Freud: A Life, Counterpoint, 1998.
Ferris’ biography of Freud is among the most recent of several published since
Freud’s death.
Forrester, John, Dispatches from the Freud Wars: Psychoanalysis and Its
Passions, Harvard University Press, 1997.
Forrester provides a historical analysis of the various critical responses to
Freudian theory throughout the twentieth century.
Freud, Sigmund, Dora: Analysis of a Case of Hysteria, edited by
Philip Rieff, Collier Books, 1993 (originally published in 1905).
One of Freud’s most notable case histories, Dora is the narrative of his
analysis of a young woman experiencing symptoms of hysteria.
Hale, Nathan G., The Rise and Crisis of Psychoanalysis in the United
States: Freud and the Americans, Oxford University Press, 1995.
Hale offers a historical account of the influence of Freudian theory on
American psychological thought during the twentieth century.
Mitchell, Stephen A., and Margaret J. Black, Freud and Beyond: A History
of Modern Psychoanalytic Thought, Basic Books, 1995.
Mitchell and Black provide a historical account of the evolution of
psychoanalytic theory throughout the twentieth century.
Roazen, Paul, Freud and His Followers, Da Capo Press, 1992.
Roazen provides a historical account of Freud’s friends, associates,
colleagues, and disciples and their impact on the development of psychoanalytic
theory.
Robinson, Paul A., Freud and His Critics, University of California
Press, 1993.
Robinson offers an overview of critical responses to Freudian theory in the
late twentieth century.