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{{Short description|1928 essay by Sigmund Freud}}
{{Category:Sigmund Freud}}{{wikify|October 2006}}
"'''Dostoevsky and Parricide'''" ({{langx|de|Dostojewski und die Vatertötung}}) is an introductory article contributed by ] to a scholarly collection on the 1880 novel '']'' by ]. The collection was published in 1928.<ref>Ernest Jones, ''The Life and Work of Sigmund Freud'' (Penguin 1964) p. 590</ref> The article argues that it is no coincidence that some of the greatest works of world literature – including '']'', '']'', as well as '']'' – all concern ], which in Dostoevsky's case Freud links to his ].
A 1928 article that argues that the greatest works of world literature all concern parricide: ], ], and ]. Freud claims that Dostoevsky's epilepsy was a function of guilt he bore at having wished for the death of his tyrannical father who was purportedly murdered by his own serfs. Ultimately, Freud claims that Dostoevsky's works are diminished by their weak Christian endings.


] termed the piece "Freud's last contribution to the psychology of literature and his most brilliant";<ref>Ernest Jones, ''The Life and Work of Sigmund Freud'' (Penguin 1964) p. 590</ref> Freud himself however called it "this trivial essay. It was written as a favour for someone and written reluctantly".<ref>Quoted in J. Halliday/P. Fuller eds., ''The Psychology of Gambling'' (1974) p. 105</ref>
(Freud's first extensive writing about parricide was in ] (1911), widely seen as his watershed work away from clinically oriented subject matter to philosophy. In it, parricide is the great crime at the base of all social evolution. (Freud drew extensively on Frazier's ].)

==Gambling==
The second section of Freud's essay turned away from a primary consideration of '']'' to consider the related question of Dostoevsky's gambling. Freud saw gambling as a defiant struggle with Fate (concealing the ]);<ref>Otto Fenichel, ''The Psychoanalytic Theory of Neurosis'' (1946) p. 372</ref> the associated guilt was the reason for the gambler's compulsion to lose. As Freud himself put it with reference to Dostoyevsky's wife:<ref>S. Freud, 'Dostoevsky and Parricide' in J. Halliday/P. Fuller eds., ''The Psychology of Gambling'' (1974) p. 170</ref>
<blockquote>"she had noticed that the one thing which offered any real hope of salvation – his literary production – never went better than when they had lost everything....When his sense of guilt was satisfied by the punishments he had inflicted on himself, the inhibition on his work became less severe."</blockquote>

==See also==
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==References==
{{Reflist|2|}}

==Further reading==
*F. Dostoevsky, ''The Gambler'' (Penguin 1971)
*] ''Dostoevsky'' (197?) Appendix 379-91

==External links==
* {{in lang|de}}
*
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{{Sigmund Freud}}

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{{lit-essay-stub}}

Latest revision as of 12:36, 27 October 2024

1928 essay by Sigmund Freud

"Dostoevsky and Parricide" (German: Dostojewski und die Vatertötung) is an introductory article contributed by Sigmund Freud to a scholarly collection on the 1880 novel The Brothers Karamazov by Fyodor Dostoyevsky. The collection was published in 1928. The article argues that it is no coincidence that some of the greatest works of world literature – including Oedipus Rex, Hamlet, as well as The Brothers Karamazov – all concern parricide, which in Dostoevsky's case Freud links to his epilepsy.

Ernest Jones termed the piece "Freud's last contribution to the psychology of literature and his most brilliant"; Freud himself however called it "this trivial essay. It was written as a favour for someone and written reluctantly".

Gambling

The second section of Freud's essay turned away from a primary consideration of The Brothers Karamazov to consider the related question of Dostoevsky's gambling. Freud saw gambling as a defiant struggle with Fate (concealing the father figure); the associated guilt was the reason for the gambler's compulsion to lose. As Freud himself put it with reference to Dostoyevsky's wife:

"she had noticed that the one thing which offered any real hope of salvation – his literary production – never went better than when they had lost everything....When his sense of guilt was satisfied by the punishments he had inflicted on himself, the inhibition on his work became less severe."

See also

References

  1. Ernest Jones, The Life and Work of Sigmund Freud (Penguin 1964) p. 590
  2. Ernest Jones, The Life and Work of Sigmund Freud (Penguin 1964) p. 590
  3. Quoted in J. Halliday/P. Fuller eds., The Psychology of Gambling (1974) p. 105
  4. Otto Fenichel, The Psychoanalytic Theory of Neurosis (1946) p. 372
  5. S. Freud, 'Dostoevsky and Parricide' in J. Halliday/P. Fuller eds., The Psychology of Gambling (1974) p. 170

Further reading

  • F. Dostoevsky, The Gambler (Penguin 1971)
  • Joseph Frank Dostoevsky (197?) Appendix 379-91

External links

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