Chapter 11, Psycho-Analysis in Culture , Leonardo Da Vinci Summary and Analysis

While the discussion of Leonardo Da Vinci is somewhat interesting, it stands in the overall body of The Reader as secondary in importance to Totem and Taboo. Freud defines homosexuality, which he calls inversion, in this context as being defined by an emotional attitude towards others rather than by the actual behavior. Readers may agree or disagree, but that is how Freud explains it. Freud has attempted to discern the truth or falsehood of claims made by homosexual men to determine whether nature made them that way, and if so, was there a decipherable process. Readers may agree or disagree, but Freud's pyscho-analysis showed that his homosexual male patients had loved their mothers very much; so much in fact, that she is entirely irreplaceable and that the homosexual man...