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PARTISAN REVIEW
her family at their summer resort. He reported that she was "better,
but not quite well." Freud was vaguely aware of the reproof in
Otto's words and so sat down that evening to write an account of
Irma's case history, "in order," as he wrote, "to justify myself."
The preamble makes it clear, even before one reads the dream–
text, that the dream concerns Freud's anxiety about treating pa–
tients in psychotherapy. In so doing, it alerts the reader to
one
of the
dream's recurrent themes. But this is not its explicit function.
Ostensibly it is designed to provide a necessary background to
Freud's method of interpretation in order to prove that the dream is
an expression of a wish. Could it be that Freud's anxiety is the latent
meaning of the preamble?
It
is certainly the manifest content of the
dream's interpretation.
The dream-text:
"Dream of July 23rd-24th, 1895"
A large hall-numerous guests, whom we were receiv–
ing-Among them was Irma. I at once took her on one side, as
though to answer her letter and to reproach her for not having
accepted my "solution" yet. I said to her:
"If
you still get pains,
it's really only your fault." She replied,
"If
you only knew what
pains I've got now in my throat and stomach and abdomen-it's
choking me"-I was alarmed and looked at her. She looked pale
and puffy. I thought to myself that after all I must be missing
some organic trouble . I took her to the window and looked down
her throat, and she showed signs of recalcitrance, like women
with artificial dentures. I thought to myself that there was really
no need for her to do that.-Then she opened her mouth prop–
erly and on the right I found a big white patch; at another place I
saw extensive whitish grey scabs upon some remarkable curly
structures which were evidently modeled on the turbinal bones
of the nose. -at once I called in Dr. M., and he repeated the ex–
amination and confirmed it. ... Dr. M. looked quite different
from usual; he was very pale, he walked with a limp and his chin
was clean-shaven .... My friend Otto was now standing beside
her as well , and my friend Leopold was percussing her through
her bodice and saying: "She has a dull area low down on the
left." He also indicated that a portion of the skin on the left
shoulder was infiltrated (I noticed this, just as he did, in spite of
her dress.) .... M. said: "There's no doubt it's an infection,
but no matter; dysentery will supervene and the toxin will be
eliminated." ... We were directly aware , too , of the origin of
the infection. Not long before, when she was feeling unwell , my
