Summary

Since Freud contends that hysterical symptoms have a psycho-sexual origin, he roots Dora’s chronic cough in her sexual fantasies. Dora told Freud that Frau K. was only with her father because he was a “man of means,” which Freud interprets to mean that he is impotent (40). When Freud points out the contradiction between his impotence and her contention that he is having an affair with Frau K., Dora responded that there are several ways that one can have sex, namely through oral sex. Freud concludes that Dora’s cough must come from her fantasies involving oral sex between Frau K. and her father. Once again, Freud defends the frank manner he uses when speaking to Dora about sexual topics. He explains that it is erroneous to assume that he could “corrupt an inexperienced girl” with his use of the proper names for...