Reik, Schnitzler, Freud, and “The Murderer”: The Limits of Insight in Psychoanalysis*

“Do you remember the novel The Murderer by Schnitzler?” This was the surprising question that Sigmund Freud addressed to Theodor Reik during a psychoanalytic session.1 Reik attributes an almost magically curative effect to this question and to his own amazed and insightful response. There is a long and complex history surrounding this incident, the understanding of which may illuminate not only the relationships between Reik, Schnitzler, and Freud but also the determining role that literature played in Reik's life.

Freud's question and the life situation in which it was embedded are viewed here as a kind of nodal point in time that caught Reik sharply in its focus. What kind of insight did Reik derive from The Murderer and upon what factors was this insight based. Some psychoanalytic interpretation of this work is offered and certain aspects of the relationship between Reik, Schnitzler, and Freud are described. However, the major emphasis is upon the relationship between Reik's own life behavior and the nature of his insight.