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Freud on Shakespeare

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  02 December 2020

Norman N. Holland
Norman N. Holland*
Affiliation:
Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge 39
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Extract

Freud's discovery of the unconscious at the end of the nineteenth century bids fair to be the defining factor in the intellectual life of the twentieth. Already, Freud's ideas seem to have touched everyone from the juvenile delinquent on the corner to the scholar in his study. Biography, history, literary criticism, and, not least, the study of Shakespeare, psychoanalysis has affected them all. Hamlet's Oedipus complex (thanks to Sir Laurence Olivier's film) has become as conspicuous a feature in the popular image of Shakespeare as the controversy about authorship. Freud was a psychologist, however, not a critic, and his remarks about Shakespeare, like all his literary comments, were only incidental to his main study, the mind of man. As a result, his Shakespearian insights are scattered through his works. No one, so far as I know, has clearly established just exactly what Freud said about Shakespeare or where he said it. The purpose of this article is to answer those two questions, that is, to set out in systematic form Freud's comments on, references to, and quotations from Shakespeare, and second, to provide via the footnotes a bibliography for them. I have summarized Freud's remarks in the following order: first, his remarks on Shakespeare generally; second, his views on authorship; third, the points he makes about particular plays and poems (arranged alphabetically). Within these large divisions, references are arranged in order of generality, larger topics first. Topics of equal generality within a given work are put in the order in which they appear in the work. Where Freud made more than one reference to a topic (e.g., a particular character or quotation), the references are arranged chronologically according to the time Freud made them (which may or may not coincide with the order of publication).

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Type
Research Article
Information
PMLA , Volume 75 , Issue 3 , June 1960 , pp. 163 - 173
Copyright
Copyright © Modern Language Association of America, 1960

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References

* The notes to this article constitute, seriatim, a bibliography of Freud's references to Shakespeare in his published psychological works. They are keyed, obviously, to the topical plan given in the first paragraph. I have also included references to memoirs and biographies (particularly Dr. Jones's) which quote from otherwise unpublished materials.

In each entry, I have referred to the standard German text and to one English text, the Standard Edition which is appearing volume by volume, and, for volumes that had not appeared at the time of writing, to the Collected Papers or some other accessible source. I have given the English titles of Freud's works as they appear in Alexander Grinstein, The Index of Psychoanalytic Writings (New York: International Universities Press, 1956—), i, Appendix iv. The following abbreviations are used: GW: Sigmund Freud, Gesammelte Werke, 18 vols. (London: Imago Publishing Co., 1940—41). SE: The Standard Edition of the Complete Psychological orks of Sigmund Freud, trans. James Strachey, Anna Freud, Alix Strachey, and Alan Tyson, 24 vols. (London: Hogarth Press, 1953— ). CP: Sigmund Freud, Collected Papers, trans, and ed. Joan Riviere, 5 vols. (London: The Hogarth Press, 1924—50). BW: The Basic Writings of Sigmund Freud, trans. A. A. Brill (New York: Modern Library, 1938). Origins: Sigmund Freud, The Origins of Psychoanalysis: Letters, Drafts and Notes to Wilhelm Fliess, 1887—1902, eds. Marie Bonaparte, Anna Freud, Ernst Kris, trans. Eric Mosbacher and James Strachey (New York: Basic Books, 1954). Jones: Ernest Jones, The Life and Work of Sigmund Freud, 3 vols. (New York: Basic Books, 1953—57).

1 “Some Character-Types Met with in Psycho-Analytic Work” (1916), Part i; GW, x, 368; SE, xiv, 313; CP, iv, 321.

2 “Dostoevsky and Parricide” (1928); GW, xrv, 399; SE, xxi; CP, v, 222.

3 Civilization and its Discontents; GW, xiv, 452; SE, xxi; trans. Joan Riviere (London: Hogarth Press, 1930), pp. 54—55.

4 Moses and Monotheism (1939 [1937—39]); GW, xvi, 168; SE, XXIII; trans. Katherine A. Jones (New York: Knopf, 1939), p. 101.

5 Jones, I, 21, quoting a letter to Martha Bernays, 14 January 1884.

6 Joan Riviere, “ An Intimate Impression,” The Lancet, 20 September 1939, p. 765; quoted, Jones, ii, 405.

7 Hanns Sachs, Freud: Master and Friend (Cambridge, Mass., Harvard Univ. Press, 1944), p. 108.

8 Ludwig Binswanger, Sigmund Freud: Reminiscences of a Friendship (New York and London: Grune & Stratton. 1957), p. 5.

9 Jones, iii, 428.

10 Jones, I, 21.

11 Jones, I, 21 and in, 429.

12 Jones, iii, 429.

13 Letter to Theodore Reik, 23 March 1930, published in Theodore Reik, The Search Within (New York: Grove Press, 1956).

14 “Address Delivered in the Goethe House at Frankfort” (1930); GW, xiv, 549; SE, xxi.

15 Footnote added in 1930 to The Interpretation of Dreams (1900); GW, II/III, 271—272; SE, iv, 266.

16 Letter to Dr. Richard Flatter, 20 September 1932; quoted, Jones, iii, 455; publ. in Shakespeare Quarterly, II, 369.

17 Letter to James S. H. Bransom, 25 March 1934; quoted, Jones, iii, 457—458.

18 An Autobiographical Study, (1925 [1924], 1935), GW, xiv, 89,96; SE, xx, 63—64.

19 Jones, ii, 428.

20 Letter to J. Thomas Looney, June 1938; quoted in A. Bronson Feldman, “ The Confessions of William Shakespeare,” American Imago, x (1953, No. 2), 165.

21 An Outline of Psychoanalysis (1940 [1938]), Ch. vii; GW, xvii, 119; SE, xxiii; trans. James Strachey (New York: Norton [1949]), p. 96.

22 Letter to Hugo Heller quoted, Jones, in, 422; published in International Journal of Psycho-Analysis, xxxiii (1951), 319.

23 “The 'Uncanny'” (1919); GW, xn, 242; SE, xvii, 230.

24 “The 'Uncanny' “ ; GW, xii, 265; SE, xvii, 250.

25 Letter to Wilhelm Fliess, 15 October 1897; Origins, pp. 223—224.

26 GW, ii/iii, 271—273; SE, iv, 264—266.

27 “Psychopathic Characters on the Stage” (1942 [1905 or 1906)); SE, vii, 309—310.

28 Ludwig Binswanger, Sigmund Freud: Reminiscences of a Friendship (New York and London: Grune & Stratton, 1957), p. 5.

29 “Five Lectures on Psycho-Analysis” (1909—10), Fourth Lecture; GW, viii, 50; SE, xi, 47.

30 “The Moses of Michelangelo” (1914); GW, x, 174; SE, xiii, 212—213; CP, iv, 259.

31 A General Introduction lo Psychoanalysis (1916—17), Lecture xxi; GW, xi, 348; SE, xv—xvi; trans. Joan Riviere (New York: Garden City Publ. Co., 1943), p. 294.

32 GW, xiv, 89—90; SE, xx, 63—64.

33 “Dostoevsky and Parricide” (1928); GW, xiv, 399; SE, xxi; CP, v, 235—236.

34 Letter to James S. H. Bransom, 25 March 1934; quoted Jones, iii, 457.

35 Ch. vii; GW, xvii, 119; SE, xxiii; trans. James Strachey (New York: Norton, 1949), p. 96.

36 The Interpretation of Dreams, Ch. i, sec. E; GW, ii/iii, 63; SE, iv, 60.

37 The Interpretation of Dreams, Ch. vi, sec. G; GW, ii/iii, 446; SE, v, 444.

38 (i. ii. 180). Jokes and Their Relation to the Unconscious (1905), sec. n; GW, vi, 43, 44; SE, viii; BW, pp. 653,654.

39 (I. v. 125). The Interpretation of Dreams, Ch. v, sec. A; GW, II/III, 181; SE, iv, 175.

40 (I. v. 165). Theodore Reik, From Thirty Years with Freud, trans. Richard Winston (New York: Farrar & Rine-hart, 1940), pp. 12—13.

41 (I. v. 166—167). Jones, iii, 381.

42 Jokes and Their Relation lo the Unconscious (1905), sec. II; GW, vi, 77; SE, viii; BW, p. 674.

43 Delusion and Dream in Jensen's Gradiva (1907); GW, vn, 33; SE, ix, 8.

44 Leonardo da Vinci and a Memory of his Childhood (1910); GW, viii, 210—211; SE, XI, 137.

45 “From the History of an Infantile Neurosis” (1918 [1914]), sec. i; GW, xii, 34—35; SE, xvii, 12.

46 New Introductory Lectures on Psycho-Analysis (1933), No. 30; GW, xv, 32; SE, XXII; trans. W. J. H. Sprott and James Strachey (New York: Norton, 1933), p. 47.

47 (ii. i. 63). “ Constructions in Analysis” (1937); GW, xvi, 48; SE, xxiii; CP, v, 363.

48 (ii. ii. 90—92). Jokes and Their Relation to the Unconscious, sec. i; GW, vi, 10; SE, viii; BW, p. 636.

49 (ii. ii. 116ff.) “ Observations upon a Case of Obsessional Neurosis'' (1909), Part ii (c); GW, vii, 457; SE, x, 241; CP, iii, 376.

50 (ii. ii. 194). The Question of Lay Analysis (1926); GW, xiv, 214; SE, xx, 187.

51 (ii. ii. 553). “ Mourning and Melancholia” (1917 [1915]); GW, x, 432; SE, xiv, 246; CP, iv, 156.

52 Letter to Arnold Zweig, 31 May 1936; quoted Jones, in, 208.

53 Hanns Sachs, Freud: Master and Friend (Cambridge, Mass.: Harvard Univ. Press, 1944), p. 108.

54 Civilization and its Discontents (1930), Ch. viii; GW, xiv, 494n.; SE, xxi; trans. Joan Riviere (London: Hogarth Press, 1930), p. 123n.

55 Jokes and Their Relation to the Unconscious, sec. ii; GW, vi, 36; SE, viii; BW, p. 650.

56 (iii. ii. 380ff.) “ On Psychotherapy” (1905 [1904]); GW, v, 18—19; SE, vii, 261—262; CP, i, 255—256.

57 (iii. hi. 97—98). Totem and Taboo (1913), sec. m; GW, ix, 105n.;SE, xiii, 84n.

58 (v. ii. 233). Letter to Wilhelm Fliess, 21 Sept. 1897; Origins, p. 217. See Freud, Aus den Anfdngen der Psychoanalyse (London: Imago Publ. Co., 1950).

59 Jokes and Their Relation to the Unconscious, sec. viii; GW, vi, 264n.; SE, viii; BW, p. 800.

60 “The History of the Psycho-Analytic Movement” (1914); GW, x, 62; SE, xiv, 24; CP, I, 306.

61 “Thoughts for the Times on War and Death” (1915); GW, x, 339; SE, xiv, 287; CP, iv, 303.

62 Letter to Wilhelm Fliess, 6 Feb. 1899; Origins, p. 276. See Jones, 1,16.

63 The Interpretation of Dreams, Ch. v, sec. B; GW, ii/iii 211; SE, iv, 205. See Jones, i, 16. See also SE, xiv, 289.

64 (2 H. IV, ii. iv. 147). Jokes and Their Relation to the Unconscious, sec. ii; GW, vi, 36; SE, viii; BW, p. 650.

65 (2 H. IV, iv. v. 43). The Interpretation of Dreams, Ch. vi, sec. H; GW, ii/iii, 488; SE, v, 484.

66 The Interpretation of Dreams, Ch. v, sec. B; GW, ii/iii, 217; SE, iv, 212.

67 (2 H. VI, i. i. 124). /ate arerf TAeir Relation to the Unconscious, sec. ii; GW, vi, 36; SE, viii; BW, p. 650.

68 See note 24.

69 (iii. ii. 13ff.) The Interpretation of Dreams, Ch. vi, sees. F and H; GW, ii/iii, 427 and 487; SE, v, 424 and 484. See Jones, I, 23.

70 “Observations upon a Case of Obsessional Neurosis” (1909); GW, VII, 404; SE, x, 180.

71 (iii. ii. 87). Jokes and Their Relation to the Unconscious, sec. ii; GW, vi, 78; SE, viii; BW, p. 675.

72 (iii. ii. 111). Letter to Wilhelm Fliess, 27 April 1895; Origins, p. 119.

73 (iii. hi). The Psychopathology of Everyday Life (1901), Ch. vi, sec. B-b; GW, iv, 130n.; SE, vi; BW, p. 89n.

74 (i. i). Delusion and Dream in Jensen's Gradiva; GW, vii, 69; SE, ix, 43.

75 GW, x, 23—37; SE, xii; CP, iv, 244—256. Freud described the composition of this “ trifle” in a letter to Ludwig Bins-wanger, 4 July 1912. See Binswanger, Sigmund Freud: Reminiscences of a Friendship, p. 45.

76 Letter to Richard Flatter, 30 March 1930; quoted, Jones, iii, 452; publ. in Shakespeare Quarterly, n (1951), 368.

77 Letter to James S. H. Bransom, 25 March 1934; quoted, Jones, iii, 457—458.

78 (iv.vi.109). Jokes and Their Relation to the Unconscious, sec. ii; GW, vi, 82; SE, viii; BW, p. 678.

79 (v.ii.871—873). Jokes and Their Relation to the Unconscious, sec. v; GW, vi, 162; SE, viii; BW, p. 732.

80 See note 26.

81 A General Introduction to Psychoanalysis, Lecture v; GW, xi, 93; SE, xv—xvi; trans. Joan Riviere (New York: Garden City Publ. Co., 1943), p. 86.

82 See note 22.

83 Letter to Arnold Zweig, 11 May 1934; quoted, Jones, iii, 459.

84 Totem and Taboo, sec. ii—3; GW, ix, 49; SE, xiii, 38.

85 See notes 23 and 24.

86 Freud and Josef Breuer, Studies in Hysteria (1893—95), sec. iii—6; SE, ii, 245.

87 “Obsessions and Phobias'? (1895), Case 11; GW, I, 350; SE, iii; CP, I, 134.

88 “The Fate of Two Women” (1912—-unpublished); Jones, ii, 350.

89 “Some Character-Types met with in Psycho-Analytic Work” (1916), Part ii; GW, x, 373—380, 389; SE, xrv, 318—324,331; CP, iv, 323—333,341.

90 (i.iii.67). “ A Child is Being Beaten” (1919); GW, xii, 207; SE, xvii, 187.

91 (v.v.52). Letter to Oskar Pfister, 6 March 1910; quoted, Jones, ii, 396—397.

92 “A Special Type of Choice of Object Made by Men” (1910); GW, viii, 76; SE, xi, 173; CP, iv, 201.

93 “The Theme of the Three Caskets"; GW, x, 23—37; SE, xii; CP, iv, 244—256.

94 (iii.ii.16—18). The Psychopatkology of Everyday Life (1901), Ch. v; GW, iv, 108—109; SE, vi; BW, pp. 84—85. A General Introduction to Psychoanalysis, Lecture II; GW, xi, 31—32; SE, xv—xvi; trans. Joan Riviere (New York: Garden City Publ. Co., 1943), pp. 35—36.

95 See note 23.

96 Letter to Wilhelm Fliess, 31 May 1897; Origins, p. 208.

97 Theodore Reik, The Haunting Melody (New York: Farrar, Straus, & Young, 1953), p. 49.

98 Theodore Reik, From Thirty Years with Freud, p. 29.

99 (v.i.12). Letter to Wilhelm Fliess, 31 May 1897; Origins, p. 208.

100 (v.i.212). Freud and Josef Breuer, Studies in Hysteria, Ch.iii (6); SE, ii, 250—251.

101 (v.i.226). The Interpretation of Dreams, Ch. vi, sec. H; GW, ii/iii, 465; SE, v, 462.

102 (iii.iii.55—56). “ Analysis of a Phobia in a Five-Year-Old Boy” (1909), Conclusion; GW, vii, 374—375; SE, x, 144.

103 See note 16.

104 (iii.iv.51ff.) The Interpretation of Dreams, Ch. v, sec. A; GW, ii/iii, 183; SE, iv, 177.

105 (iv.iii.55—57). “ Neurotic Mechanisms in Jealousy, Paranoia, and Homosexuality” (1922); GW, xiii, 197; SE, xviii, 224; CP, ii, 233.

106 “Some Character-Types Met with in Psycho-Analytic Work” (1916), Part i; GW, x, 368—370; SE, xiv, 313—315; CP, iv, 320—323.2

107 (i. ii). “ Some Character-Types Met with in Psycho-Analytic Work,” Part ii; GW, x, 379; SE, xiv, 323; CP, iv, 332.

108 See note 84.

109 (i. ii. 362—363). Letter from Max Eitingon to Charles Maylan, 22 March 1929; quoted, Jones, iii, 145.

110 (i.ii.396—402). Totem and Taboo, Chapter iv, sec. 7; GW, ix, 187; SE, xiii, 155.

111 See note 26.

112 (ii.iii.44—45). Letter to Martha Bernays, July 1883; quoted, Jones, I, 113.