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Rating: 
Summary: a charming little study
Review: Freud shines here in a largely non-reductive analytic look at Jensen's well-plotted and psychologically rich but literarily mediocre novella Gravida: A Fancy, written about an archeologist who falls under the spell of a beautiful feminine image and travels to Pompeii to meet the authentic woman who reminds him of it. Or rather, the reverse....Although I can't follow Freud's evocation of the dream censor, that device which scrambles images and feelings to keep them unconscious, or the classification of Hanold's state of possession as a delusion (not meant by Freud as "false," however), this well-written study is a nice example of a fair-minded psychoanalytic interpretation--in this case, one that uncovers a repressed but potentially passionate love for a flesh-and-blood woman. To Freud's description of the Vesuvius dream as anxiety caused by repressed erotism--certainly true in this case--I would add that the woman buried under ash also represents the very real possibility that Hanold's capacity for relating to women, the world, and humanity is in danger of being repressed for good. His soul is on the line, and it requires the cleverness and insight of Zoe to awaken it and fulfill its promptings. In general, the Standard Edition translation into English, though comprehensive, has done Freud's literary voice little credit. Where he'd have written that "the beloved becomes infused with desire," Strackey would have interpreted that "the object achieves a libidinal cathexis." Helen Downey's translation brings out the warmth and wit of Freud's immense eloquence while remaining true to his scientific formulations.
Rating:
Summary: a charming little study
Review: Freud shines here in a largely non-reductive analytic look at Jensen's well-plotted and psychologically rich but literarily mediocre novella Gravida: A Fancy, written about an archeologist who falls under the spell of a beautiful feminine image and travels to Pompeii to meet the authentic woman who reminds him of it. Or rather, the reverse.... Although I can't follow Freud's evocation of the dream censor, that device which scrambles images and feelings to keep them unconscious, or the classification of Hanold's state of possession as a delusion (not meant by Freud as "false," however), this well-written study is a nice example of a fair-minded psychoanalytic interpretation--in this case, one that uncovers a repressed but potentially passionate love for a flesh-and-blood woman. To Freud's description of the Vesuvius dream as anxiety caused by repressed erotism--certainly true in this case--I would add that the woman buried under ash also represents the very real possibility that Hanold's capacity for relating to women, the world, and humanity is in danger of being repressed for good. His soul is on the line, and it requires the cleverness and insight of Zoe to awaken it and fulfill its promptings. In general, the Standard Edition translation into English, though comprehensive, has done Freud's literary voice little credit. Where he'd have written that "the beloved becomes infused with desire," Strackey would have interpreted that "the object achieves a libidinal cathexis." Helen Downey's translation brings out the warmth and wit of Freud's immense eloquence while remaining true to his scientific formulations.
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