Chapter 8 Summary

The following morning at breakfast Josef and Mathilde have an argument about how much time he spends with his patients. She says that she worries about him spending so much time with Nietzsche, but Breuer takes this as accusations about his relationship with Bertha. He is very sensitive about this because several months ago Mathilde insisted that Breuer fire his nurse Eva Berger because of their unusually close relationship. Breuer has very much missed Eva and feels that Mathilde was unfair.

Nietzsche arrives for his appointment to discuss the three questions he asked Breuer. Breuer answers the questions immediately by saying that there is no evidence that he has a progressive brain disease, that his migraines should become less severe as he ages, and that although he doesn't know if Nietzsche will go blind, there is sufficient evidence that migraines do not lead...