d in that way. Freud compared her actions to those of “the first passionate adoration of a youth for a celebrated actress whom he regards as far above him”(23). All this aside, Freud decides that this particular patient was not a homosexual at birth, but was rather a “case… of late acquired inversion”(28). In fact towards the end of the study his findings seem to imply that she may not in fact be a homosexual by nature, but as a matter of manipulation of those around her. She went through the normal Oediple stages as a child, and later replaced her father with one of her slightly older brothers. When she was about five years old she and her brother compared genitalia and it had long lasting impressions on her. A short time later her mother gave birth to another boy, and this birth seemed to have little or no effect on her. During puberty she learned the basics of sex in school and it left her both feeling fascinated and feeling frightened distaste. This was not out of the ordinary. Then when she was thirteen or fourteen she showed rather strong feelings for a small boy around the age of three. It seemed that she was feeling strong motherly instincts and desired to be a mother herself. She soon moved on from the child to more mature, but still young women, most of whom were already mothers. It seemed that she was looking for a mother figure to replace hers. At this point in her life her libido was focused on motherhood, and not really the women themselves. Then her mother gave birth to a third son, and things changed drastically. Her libido switched from motherhood to the women themselves. Though the lady that she had turned her affections to when she was brought to Freud was not a mother, all of the women directly proceeding her brother’s birth were actual mothers between the ages of thirty and thirty-five. A short while after, the condition for her love ceased to be motherhood and was re...
