hysteria
first identified with the patient Anna O. (Bertha Pappenheim) in Studies on Hysteria: "During
the time Bertha Pappenheim nursed her father, she stopped eating.
Her weight loss was such that she was forbidden to continue her
nursing duties. She had also developed a cough which resembled her
father's. At this point, Dr. Breuer was called in for the first
time. Over the next three months, a very complex hysteria
developed. Pappenheim suffered rigid paralyses of her arms and
legs, paresis of the neck muscles, headaches, an somnambulism.
First her right arm, then her right side, then her entire body
suffered contracture. She was intermittently deaf. She had a
convergent squint and severe, inexplicable disturbances of vision.
She had temper tantrums during which she would throw things about
the room, tear the buttons off her bedclothes, and grow distressed
when relatives appeared. Most essential to this article is the
fact that Pappenheim in her hysteria experienced a profound
disorganization of speech and, for a time, total aphasia"
(Hunter 467).
J'appelle un chat un chat
(41) = I call a cat a cat
transference (106): when a patient transfers neurosis onto
therapist as part of normal treatment
Traumdeutung (77) = Interpretation of Dreams
Blanche Wittman in André Brouillet's portrait of Dr.
Charcot and Dr. Babinski demonstrating hypnosis, A Clinical Lecture at the
Salpêtiere, 1887 (L'Ecole de Medecine, Lyon,
France)
Dramatic Sketch
Directions: Write a short dramatic sketch involving
characters from Dora in the Naturalist style. Include a detailed
description of the scene.
Main Characters: Dora, Dora's mother, Dora's father, Herr K,
Frau K
Characters on or offstage: Dora's brother, Dr. Freud, servants,
Dora's governess (29)
Choose a scenario or make one up yourself:
Scenario 1: Dora has a dream (either one described to Freud [p.
56, 85] or one your group concocts)
Scenario 2: Dora's governess tells Dora's mother about the
inappropriateness of Frau K.'s relationship to Dora's father
(29)
Scenario 3: Dora calls on Frau K. after the death of her child
(p. 111)
Works Cited:
Freud, Sigmund. Dora: An
Analysis of a Case of Hysteria. Ed. Philip Rieff. NY:
Simon and Schuster, 1963.
Hunter, Dianne. "Hysteria, Psychoanalysis, and Feminism: the Case
of Anna O." Feminist Studies
9.3 (Fall 1983): 464-88.
Moi, Toril. "Representation of Patriarchy: Sexuality and
Epistemology in Freud's Dora."
Feminist Review N. 9
(Oct. 1981): 60-74
