Professor Freud had posited the existence of a general phenomenon of childhood in which possessive feelings for the parent of the opposite sex were combined with hostile — sometimes murderous — feeling directed towards the parent of the same sex. In the desires and rage of infancy he had seen Greek tragedy recapitulated: the drama of King Oedipus. Freud had once suggested to Liebermann that a failure to resolve these primal urges might be an important determinant of mental illness, but he had been unable to specify how this resolution might be accomplished. In the intervening months he had given the matter much thought and was now regaling his disciple with some speculative hypotheses.
‘The Oedipal situation casts the father in the role of an angry rival, competing for the mother’s affection. In the already troubled infant mind, fears develop concerning the nature of paternal retribution. The child already has some inkling that his sexual feelings towards his mother are futile; the threat of castration — by his father — settles the issue and Oedipal desires are repressed. In due course, the syndrome disintegrates. Sexual interest in the mother wanes and hostility towards the father diminishes. The child is free to enter adolescence unencumbered by infantile material, which has served its purpose by orienting the libido towards its appropriate object. For girls, maturity is reached by a more circuitous route.’
Professor Freud threw his head back, opened his mouth, and allowed a spire of smoke to ascend.
‘All infants,’ he continued, ‘irrespective of gender, are profoundly attached to their mothers; however, the ultimate orientation of female libido requires a transfer of affection from mother to father. How does this happen — and why — since mother has hitherto been the principal source of nourishment, tenderness and care? It happens because, at this juncture, little girls make a momentous discovery. They learn that they are anatomically deficient, incomplete. Boys have something which they don’t have. This dramatic realisation creates feelings of inferiority and envy. The little girl rejects her mother and becomes devoted to her father, whom she now believes has the power to rectify her deficiency. Normal development then proceeds, with the wish for a penis being gradually replaced by a wish for a baby.’
Freud waved his cigar in the air, creating a diaphanous blue-grey screen.
‘Unlike her brothers and opposite-sex play-friends, the little girl is free from worries about retributive castration: subsequently, forbidden ideas are repressed with less vigour. Thus it may be the case that women never achieve the moral strength of men. Moreover, they are prone to suffer from unresolved sexual feelings towards their fathers.’
The old man peered through the dissipating smoke.
‘Ah,’ he said, his lips buckling to form a lopsided smile. ‘I see that you are not persuaded.’
Liebermann, embarrassed by the transparency of his reaction, felt an uncomfortable warmth rise from beneath his collar to his cheeks.
‘You seem to have made a number of …’ Liebermann stretched his fingers nervously and said, ‘… assumptions.’ Freud made a gesture, inviting Liebermann to continue. ‘With respect, where is the evidence for these processes?’
‘You aren’t married yet,’ said Freud. ‘Wait until you have children. Little girls are always asking why it is that their brothers have a widdler and they don’t.’
‘And boys,’ said Liebermann, ‘three-year-old-boys — you really think they fear castration?’
‘Yes, and with good reason. A common threat employed by parents to discourage little boys from playing with themselves in public is — if you carry on doing that I’ll cut it off! And when a little boy chances upon a little girl urinating, and observes a conspicuous absence in the location where he is endowed, what is he to think? It is perfectly reasonable for him to conclude that castration is not an idle threat but a real punishment.’
Liebermann thought about his father. They had always been, for as long as he could remember, uneasy in each other’s company. There was something problematic, elusive, and frankly inexpressible at the root of their inability to communicate. He wondered whether some vestige of infant anxiety was still lurking in his unconscious.
‘These are challenging ideas,’ continued the professor, ‘and it may be some time before the world is ready to accept them. Indeed, I must resign myself to the publication of several preparatory works before I risk setting yet more unpalatable truths before an already recalcitrant public. I am conscious of the fact that they have hardly digested my dream book. They will not welcome further threats to their complacency so soon after.’
The two men continued to discuss ‘Sophoclean psychology’ for several hours. In due course, Freud glanced at his desk clock, stifled a yawn and said, ‘Forgive me, I am a little tired.’
Liebermann stood and unhooked his coat from the back of his chair.
‘Thank you, once more, for a very stimulating evening.’
Freud made a languid papal benediction with his cigar.
‘Strange that you should have mentioned Saminsky the other day.’
‘Oh? Why’s that?
‘I ran into him at an auction. We were both bidding for the same unguentarium.’
‘The same what?’
‘One of these.’ Freud turned and lifted a bottle from his bookshelf. It was mottled with patches of iridescent blue and green. ‘Roman: first century. It was used to keep perfume in. I couldn’t compete, of course. Saminsky’s resources exceed mine by several orders of magnitude.’
‘He’s a collector?’
‘Yes, and a very serious one too.’ Freud rotated the bottle. ‘Notice the long narrow neck, how it flares out — the swelling mouth. Beautiful.’
He could have been describing a woman. Freud found sex in the most unlikely places.