Pious Martha, or the family life of Dr. Freud

2024 Author: Richard Flannagan | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-15 23:55

Jealous, straightforward, conflicted - such a portrait of the world famous scientist arises from his letters to his wife - Martha Bernays … Despite the "non-family" character Sigmund Freud, their marriage will last 53 years. But what concessions did Martha have to make in order to maintain a relationship that many contemporaries considered harmonious?

26-year-old Sigmund, withdrawn and unsociable, fell in love with Martha to the point of dizziness. He had never met a girl before. Martha made him change his principles in relation to the opposite sex. The indecisive young man began to take the initiative. There was no money, but every day he sent Marta a rose. Their meetings are filled with romance. One day Sigmund decides to touch the girl's hand, which, according to Jewish traditions, is strictly forbidden before the wedding.

Soon the engagement took place, but it took several years to wait for the wedding for financial reasons. Sigmund fills the years of waiting with long letters that today give an idea of their relationship. Freud ambitiously promises his "little princess" that he will become a great scientist.

At the very beginning, Sigmund showed himself to be a temperamental and uncompromising person. Falling in love does not prevent him from saying that the bride is ugly. He constantly challenges her religiosity (Martha is a Jewish woman from an Orthodox family). Conflicts begin with the future mother-in-law. The girl is waiting for the groom, although even he is surprised at her patience. Freud is jealous of Martha for her brother, Max, and for her friend. She recalls that she did not immediately respond to his feelings. Forces to abandon the religious wedding ceremony. He wants to reeducate her. The most sensitive moment is the ultimatum put forward before Martha: either he or her relatives.

Obviously, Freud was aware of his difficult temper, noting in the letter:. From Paris, he returns without the promised "greatness", as well as without money. The search for his own method of treating patients has reached a dead end. And yet, on September 14, 1886, the wedding took place. Part of the amount had to be borrowed.

Freud preferred emotional women with a "masculine" character, like Minna, Martha's sister, to whom some biographers attribute an affair with a scientist. However, it is a delusion to consider Martha complaisant and obedient. She chose a strategy of waiting for the next outburst of her husband's nervousness to pass and they would be able to come to an agreement. Besides being patient and calm, Martha was a stubborn and intelligent woman.

Martha completely subordinated herself to the interests of the family. Realizing that my husband will always have science in the first place, she took over everyday issues. The couple had six children. There were enough worries. However, financial difficulties had receded by this time. Dr. Freud's teachings were widely publicized. Freud, contrary to rumors, was a loyal and caring spouse. After the birth of the last, sixth, child, the scientist stopped sleeping with Martha. His personal life also influences his scientific practice. He is actively interested in the problems of contraception.

In the thirties, the life of the family was overshadowed by the serious illness of Sigmund Freud. His psychological state deteriorated. The youngest daughter, Anna, who later continued her father's work, who devoted herself to science and did not create a family, became the inspiration and companion at this time. Another threat was looming: Germany occupied Austria. Thanks to the intervention of influential people, the family manages to escape to London. In September 1939, Sigmund Freud was given a lethal injection of morphine. On September 23, he died in a circle of close people. Martha will live to be 90 years old. After the death of her husband, she will return to religion. Sigmund Freud was a brilliant personality in which mutually exclusive features and phenomena collided. For example, oddities and phobias a physician and scientist dedicated to healing people from mental disorders.