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sister and future brother-in-law.31 (The reason for his absence is not clear.) In any case, from hearsay descriptions of the ceremonies, Freud labeled them “simply loathsome.”32 In 1884, he did attend the marriage of his friend Joseph Paneth, and in reaction wrote a 16-page letter to Martha expressing his horror at the odious scene, which he described in “a spirit of malign mocking” throughout the course of the long letter.33
If we grant, as Jones documents, that Freud wanted Martha to give up her “religious prejudices,” how are we to account for the various pro-Christian comments made to her by Freud? A year later in 1885, Freud wrote, “What does it matter about the cross? We are not superstitious or piously orthodox.”34 The remark about the cross has been footnoted, “A jocular reference to Martha’s remark that she ought to ‘go to the cross’—i.e., humble herself.”35 Again, the language in the correspondence is suggestive of a Christian preoccupation. Unfortunately Martha’s letter and the context of her remark have not been published, for possibly a “jocular” exchange was not all that was going on. Freud’s comment that the cross did not matter because he was “not superstitious” sounds rather unconvincing when one reads a few letters later: “Do you believe in omens?” and “Since meeting you I have actually become quite superstitious.”36 In October 1885, Freud visited Paris for several months in order to meet and study with the great medical scientist Charcot, then particularly known for his contributions to the study of hypnotism and psychopathology. This was Freud’s first visit to Paris, and it was an important event in his life.37 (He was able to afford the trip in large part because he had been awarded a fellowship for this specific purpose.38) Aside from his meeting Charcot, the experience with the greatest impact on Freud appears to have been his visits to the Cathedral of Notre Dame de Paris. He described his first visit: You arc right, my darling, in saying that I have even more to tell you than before, and usually there is something I even forget to tell you, for instance my visit to Notre Dame de Paris on Sunday. My first impression on entering was a sensation I have never had before: “This is a church.”… I have never seen anything so movingly serious and somber, quite unadorned and very narrow….39 Besides the obvious significance of the experience for Freud, it should be Mentioned that this visit was on a Sunday, when it is almost certain that Mass was being celebrated at least somewhere in the cathedral. In The Interpretation of Dreams, published 15 years later, Freud wrote: “The platform of Notre Dame was my favorite resort in Parts; every free afternoon I used to clamber about there on the towers of the church between the monsters and the devils.”40 The very name “Dame” would have resonated with his “Amme.” To visit here-to be in the cathedral during Mass-would have been a partial recovery of his Czech “Dame,” |