Chapter 10 On Ambition and Hubris: A Case Study

A patient, a 39-year old woman, reported to me the following dream: “I came to your office, and you told me that you had cured Anne Bancroft.” The patient then offered various associations to this dream. She thought of two movies in which Anne Bancroft had appeared. “The Miracle Worker” and “The Graduate.” In the previous session, she had described a flirtation with a considerably younger man with whom she was working and had referred to herself as “Mrs. Robinson,” the character portrayed by Anne Bancroft in “The Graduate.” She then discussed some difficulties with respect to her work and in this context described Mrs. Robinson as a ruthlessly ambitious woman, who pursued her desires without concern for the effect on others. She admired her determination in her pursuit of the young college graduate and wished that she could pursue her work with similar determination. Yet there was something frightening about the unconflicted boldness and cold-blooded determination of Mrs. Robinson's designs. Anne Sullivan, Helen Keller's caretaker, portrayed by Anne Bancroft in “The Miracle Worker” was another matter. She epitomized total commitment and devotion, which the patient valued and easily recognized as part of herself. That character embodied both the patient's early relationship to her husband and,