Letter from Sigmund Freud to Ernest Jones, January 23, 1932

23 January 1932
Vienna, IX. Berggasse 19

Dear Jones,

I not only expected but also hoped that my new study on female sexuality would induce you, too, to deal with the subject again. It is so important and still so obscure that it really merits this. Both of your objections seem to me unwarranted. My essay is explicitly presented as one contribution among others, and only touches on the confirmation or contradiction from other quarters. A full appraisal of these other authors is not intended. That I am supposed to have forgotten the father is generally not like me. I state that the father does not yet play a role, or only a negligible one, in a certain developmental phase. It seems to me that in your circles this chronological order is neglected, and that too many disparate elements are thrown onto the same plane, probably under the influence of Kleinian interpretations, whose justification I dispute in accordance with my latest experiences. As you see, there is still much to be ascertained and determined.

However, I also sense a misunderstanding between us. Can it be that what you denote as the phallic phase in the girl means something different to us; that you make a distinction between phallic and clitoral, which mean the same to us? It seems to me to be so.

We were certainly sorry to hear that we missed a visit from you and your wife in January. But we would really much rather see you in summer and welcome you in a garden. We rented the same house as last year in Poetzleinsdorf, and we are all longing to stay there from the end of May until September, so peacefully beautiful, near the town but away from its noise, in greenery and sunlight. It was like that last year, when the wretched weather made all enjoyment virtually impossible.

With cordial greetings to you and yours.

Freud