Chapter 5, Repetition: An Essay in Experimental Psychology Summary and Analysis

After Kierkegaard leaves for Berlin, he attempts to act as honestly as possible, but discovers that this is impossible. For Kierkegaard finds that he had to fight against subconscious aspects of the self. He gives up the idea of marrying Regina but wants to repeat the possibility. The idea of repetition forms Repetition, which the editor argues is his best work of literature, though not philosophy.

The idea of "repetition" derives from Kierkegaard's own life, as does the "plot" (and so, unlike many of his other works, Repetition has a plot). The young hero of the story has an experience similar to Kierkegaard's, finding himself increasingly in love with a woman that he cannot find a true union with. It is his depression and introspective personality that prevents this...