Selected papers on hysteria and other psychoneurosesFreud, Sigmund
Science
Selected papers on hysteria and other psychoneuroses
Freud, Sigmund
Hysteria; Neuroses; Psychoanalysis
Naturally I was also anxious to know what chance there was for the
fulfilment of the girl’s present conscious wish. Here things were less
favorable! The mother stated that for some time she had had an inkling
of Elisabeth’s affection for her brother-in-law, of course she did not
know that it existed during the lifetime of her sister. Whoever saw them
both in friendly intercourse—of late, to be sure, only seldom—could
entertain no doubt of the girl’s anxiety to please him. However, neither
she, her mother, nor the advisers of the family showed any particular
inclination to bring about a matrimonial union between the two. The
health of the young man had not been very good and had received a
setback through the death of his beloved wife, and it was not at all
certain that he had sufficiently recovered from the shock to enter into
a new matrimony. It was quite probable that this was the reason for his
reserve, perhaps also because he was not sure of his position, and
wished to avoid all obvious gossip. With such a reserve on both sides
the solution for which Elisabeth was yearning was likely to fail.
I informed the girl of everything that I had heard from her mother and
had the satisfaction of seeing her benefited by the explanation
concerning the money affair. On the other hand, I expected her to bear
calmly the uncertainties of her future which could not be set aside. The
advancing summer compelled us to bring the treatment to an end. She now
felt better, and since we had discussed the causes to which the pain
could be traced she no longer complained of pain. We both felt that the
work was done, although I thought that the ab-reaction of the suppressed
love was really not as complete as it should have been. I regarded her
as cured and urged her to continue independently the solution after the
way had been cleared, to which she agreed. She left with her mother for
a summer resort where they were to join the older sister and her family.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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