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The Couvade and the Psychogenesis of the Fear of Retribution. THEODOR REIK.
The “Death” Theme. Hans Sachs.
The True Nature of the Child Psyche. Edited by H. v. Hug-Hellmuth. Continued from Psa. Rev., VI, 2. Letters of Children. H. v. Hug-Hellmuth.
The Couvade and the Psychogenesis of the Fear of Retribution.—The writer examines the psychological significance of the custom called the couvade first by inquiring into the actual facts which constitute the custom. The name is really misleading in regard to it. It is utilized to denote the widely observed custom by which the father of a newly born child must betake himself to bed or adopt other situations which belong to the mother and also must submit to rigorous restrictions in diet and in matters pertaining to his usual occupations. Particularly must he refrain from the use of dangerous weapons or tools. The custom is attested in widely different parts of the world and there are traces of it in civilized communities such as those of western Europe. The father must undergo both before and after the birth other restrictions which are contrary to the joyous nature expected of the occasion of the birth. He has even to submit to more or less serious physical injuries of divers sorts. At the end of the period of these hardships and restrictions a feast is given when the forbidden foods are again upon the table.
It is accepted by many authorities that the couvade belongs not to a lower form of savagery but that it has had a wide area of existence and marks a transition stage, an important epoch in human progress. A number of theories have been expounded in order to explain it. It has been interpreted as a mark of atonement for the memory of the original
sin. It has been viewed as a sign of the transition from the matriarchate, a sort of “masculine protest” on the part of the father. Or it is a sign of the increase of the man's social power. Or it was instigated by the mother's relatives to protect the child fro