Ibsen. Narcissism and Creativity

Many have pointed out Freud's fascination and preoccupation with literature and art where he found illustrations of the theoretical concepts which he was developing from his clinical practice. Some will even assert that his theories are influenced and inspired by his preoccupation with art and literature. Ibsen has been regarded as one of Freud's most significant sources of inspiration influencing and illustrating aspects of his theories (Brandell, 1961). Freud's (1915) study of Ibsen's play “Rosmersholm” (1886) is an example of this. In this study he explains the tragedy of the principal character, Rebecca, as a consequence of her forbidden oedipal and incestuous wishes being realised. When she gradually understands that her lover, Dr. West, really is her father, she is overwhelmed by feelings of guilt urging her to do away with herself. in the case history of “The Rat Man”, Freud (1909) mentions that in spite of the analysand's abundant associations, no light was thrown upon the meaning of his obsessional idea, until one day the Rat-Wife in Ibsen's “Little Eyolf” (1894) came up in the analysis. It then appeared that his obsessional deliria about rats were connected with his infantile fantasies of being a biting creature like a rat. However, there are allusions and references to Ibsen's plays much earlier. In “The interpretation of Dreams” (1900) Freud describes a dream he has had in “norekdalsk style”, representing a condensation and a mixture of the names Nora and Ekdal, two figures in Ibsen's “A Doll's House” (1879) and “The Wild Duck” (1884) respectively. In the same book he refers to Ibsen as an example of how a playwright is certain to have an impact on the audience when, like Ibsen, he makes the primeval conflict between father and son the object of his drama. Ibsen's play “The Lady from the Sea”, published in 1888, is an excellent illustration of a psychoanalytical cure, masterly embodied in a