Prologue Summary

The prologue consists of a series of fictional letters between Sigmund Freud, his colleagues, and their friends. While several of the letters discuss current events, the main focus of most is the unusual psychosexual writings of one of Freud's young patients.

The first letter, written September 8, 1909, is from Freud's contemporary Sandor Ferenczi to his lover, Gisela, discussing a conference he, Freud and Jung are attending. He discusses the tensions between Freud and Jung and the closeness between Freud and himself, focusing on a time in which they shared their dreams and analyzed them together. Freud has no trouble analyzing Ferenczi's dream, which is about Gisela. It is revealed that Gisela is married and does not wish to leave her husband until her daughters are grown, and Ferenczi fears this means she does not want to marry him.

Freud writes to Ferenczi in the...