Freud, Dora, and Vienna 1900 - by Hannah S Decker (Paperback)

About the Book

This book studies one of Freud's famous, but unhappiest cases "Dora"--an adolescent girl from the upper-middle-class Viennese-Jewish family that he treated in his early years as a psychoanalyst. Decker locates both Freud and Dora in their historical context and reconstructs attitudes about Jews, women, and doctors in turn-of-the-century Vienna.

Book Synopsis

Exploring attitudes and beliefs surround Jews, women, and doctors in beginning of the twentieth century, Hannah S. Decker analyses one of Sigmund Freud's "unhappiest cases" (Peter Gay, Freud: A Life for Our Time).

Evaluating the psychoanalytic encounter of Sigmund Freud and Dora, an emotionally troubled adolescent suffering from hysteria, Hannah S. Decker places the treatment of Dora into a larger social and historical context.

In an effort to provide a glimpse into the private lives of upper-middle-class Jews in fin-de-siecle Vienna, Freud, Dora, and Vienna 1990 pursues the lives of both Freud and Dora before and after their meeting.

From the Back Cover

This book studies one of Freud's famous, but unhappiest cases 'Dora'--an adolescent girl from the upper-middle-class Viennese-Jewish family that he treated in his early years as a psychoanalyst. Hannah Decker does a wonderful job of locating both Freud and Dora in their historical context and of reconstructing attitudes about Jews, women, and doctors in turn-of-the-century Vienna.

About the Author

Hannah Decker is a Professor at the University of Houston. She is a scholar of German history and the recipient of the University of Houston Research Excellence Award and Teacher Excellence Award.