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In 1923, when he was 66, Freud wrote: “The difficulty of the work of research in psychoanalysis is clearly shown by the fact of its being possible, in spite of whole decades of unremitting observation, to overlook features that are of general occurrence and situations that are characteristic, until at last they confront one in an unmistakable form.” (Freud, 1924a, p. 141). With this statement Freud introduces “an interpolation into the theory of sexuality,” that is, the primacy of the phallus (rather than primacy of the genitals). In this paper, he goes on to state that “the significance of the castration complex can only be rightly appreciated if its origin in the phase of phallic primacy is also taken into account.” (Freud, 1924a, p. 144) Freud's presentation of this theoretical development clearly points to the existence of a longstanding repression relating to castration.
Anzieu (1986) points out that for a year, beginning in October, 1898, “castration anxiety had been Freud's main resistance against the completion of his theory, the publication of his self-analysis, and the composition of the final draft of his book.” (p. 437) In writing chapter 7 in September, 1899, Freud was at last able to describe it