Summary

Early on in this essay, “The Housekeeper of a World-Shattering Theory,” about Martha Freud, Sigmund Freud’s wife, Diski writes, “Wives, of either sex, are what keep the universe orderly and quiet enough for the great to think their thoughts, complete their travels, write their books and change the world” (247). Diski believes that Martha is a “paragon among wives” because she took care of all of the household and parenting duties while Sigmund did his work (247). Diski claims that a main premise of Katja Behling’s biography on Martha is that the world should respect the contribution she made to the world of psychology. In short, her contribution was to take care of Sigmund’s home life so that he could contribute all that he did to the field. Diski said a person would...