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Comment on Dr. Lidz's Paper. Gösta Harding. Pp. 406-410.
Strindberg's schizophrenia occurred after his first marriage, fulfilling his preoedipal and Oedipal longings for reunion with his mother and elimination of his father which was too much for the tenuous defenses against these strivings. Lidz postulates that through illness and the tragedies of characters he created for the stage, Strindberg paid the penalty for infringement of taboos and gave catharsis to audiences for their unconscious fantasies.
Lidz's lecture leads to the heart of many difficult and unsolved problems regarding Strindberg. Harding thinks, however, that anal elements, as well as the oral and Oedipal conflicts, were present in his pathology. Also, his hallucinosis appears to be due to absinthe poisoning rather than indicating schizophrenia.