Chapter 4 Summary

A week later, Dr. Breuer receives a note from Lou Salome saying that their plan is working, and Dr. Overbeck has agreed to exert his influence with Nietzsche to get him to see Dr. Breuer. Nietzsche arrives at Dr. Breuer's office, and Dr. Breuer immediately notices that Nietzsche is pale, cold, and weak. He has a huge mustache and soft voice. The soft voice surprises Dr. Breuer because the voice in Nietzsche's books seems anything but soft.

They first converse about his previous treatments and physicians. He has seen many well-known physicians. Their conversation quickly turns to philosophy and Nietzsche's career. Nietzsche explains that he had a professorship at Basel but that he had to resign his position three years ago because of illness. He's convinced, however, that if he hadn't left on account of illness, he would have been driven out by...