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Freud's dandelion memory raises a point of theoretical interest which merits a brief note.
Freud published the account of his dandelion memory in 1899. It has been republished, in the paper, “Screen Memories” in Volume III of the Standard Edition of the Complete Psychological Works of Sigmund Freud.1 Freud interpreted the memory as a screen for his adolescent sexual stirrings.2
The point of theoretical interest is that it can be interpreted as screening not only his adolescent sexual stirrings but also his reactions, at the age of two and a half years,3 to his sister Anna's birth and to various pregenital problems.
The relation to his sister Anna's birth is indicated by his saying, in connection with the memory, that he has no recollection of her birth.4 The attack which, in the memory, he and his playmate make on the little girl5 can be interpreted as a displacement to her of hostility to his new-born sister Anna.
The first and most obvious clue to pregenital (in this case anal) concerns, is his reference to women's bustles. “The bright yellow of dandelions,7 the related darker yellow of mountain flowers8 and of the dress of the girl with whom he was in love,9 and his involvement, as he writes about the memory, with money10 are interpretable as other derivatives of anal interests.
The German name for dandelion (like the English name, but more obviously so) is “lion tooth.” This suggests oral sadistic elements. The bread for which he competes successfully11 is also related to orality. The French name, “pisse en lit,” with which he was familiar,12 suggests urethral interests.
At the time of his sister Anna's birth, Freud lost his old