When Nietzsche Wept: A Novel Of Obsession

“God knows I have no idea about curing despair: I can’t cure my own.”

Breuer thinks this to himself in response to Lou Salome’s request to treat Nietzsche’s despair. The language Breuer uses here underscores the collaborative nature of his work with Nietzsche. Breuer is himself mired in despair and unable to do anything about it by himself. What he and Nietzsche discover together is an insight at the heart of the talking cure and of subsequent developments in psychotherapy: that they can do for one another what they have been unable to do for themselves.

“Once the excess cerebral electrical charge responsible for symptoms is discharged through emotional catharsis, then the symptoms behave properly and promptly vanish!”

Freud says this to Breuer in response to the latter’s explanation of his treatment of Bertha. Breuer essentially describes a rudimentary form of immersion therapy in which he hypnotizes Bertha and gets her to confront her fears, leading to a cessation of the emotional agitation she had been experiencing.

“The joy of being observed ran so deep that Breuer believed the real pain of old age, bereavement, outliving one’s friends, was the absence of scrutiny—the horror of living an unobserved life.”

Dr. Breuer’s reflection is based on his practice and experience. It reveals an outlook central to Breuer’s practice: He believes that people are fundamentally social and that their biggest fears stem from the prospect of total isolation.

“Surely, you must realize that we created God, and that all of us together now have killed him.”

Breuer and Nietzsche are discussing the ethics of withholding the truth of impending death from a dying patient. When Breuer suggests that how the patient processes his death is between him and his god, Nietzsche becomes energized and utters this reply. The comment is one of Nietzsche’s most famous remarks, but it is a bit more ambiguous than its apparent anti-theistic sentiment.

“What is the seal of liberation?—No longer being ashamed in front of oneself!”

This is one of Nietzsche’s aphorisms that Breuer recalls while lying awake at night, his thoughts wandering. Breuer is motivated by the spirit of Nietzsche’s thinking, which offers a contrast to the malaise that he finds himself in as he contends with middle age.

“To disclose oneself to another is the prelude to betrayal, and betrayal makes one sick, does it not?”

Nietzsche’s aphoristic statement to Breuer here illustrates the cause of his emotionally walled-off persona. Nietzsche is expressing his belief that vulnerability leads to pain instead of leading to a close bond between individuals.

“No one has ever done anything wholly for others. All actions are self-directed, all service is self-serving, all love self-loving.”

Nietzsche again demonstrates his distrust in human motivation. He sees even love that is shared between individuals as ultimately an exercise in self-interest.

“And that other Nietzsche, the one who wants to die but pleads for help, the one you promised to help—that Nietzsche is not here now. Don’t try to speak to him.”

Breuer implicitly realizes the dualistic nature of Nietzsche; there is his public persona, which is acknowledged here, but there is also a man underneath it all suffering and desiring to be helped. Breuer recognizes this dualism and decides to interact on the persona’s terms and not on the terms of the man who had been crying out for help.

“Breuer had a premonition that his encounter with this bizarre man might lead to something redemptive for himself.”

Since Nietzsche questioned Breuer on his motives for offering help, Breuer has been uncertain as to what his true motivation was. Here, as he once again reflects on what his motivations are, Breuer stumbles upon a different answer. The process of helping Nietzsche grapple with his own suffering is actually Breuer’s attempt at wrestling with his own.

“The spirit of a man is constructed out of his choices!”

Breuer and Nietzsche are not on the same page regarding fate. The comment here is spoken by Nietzsche, and it shows his view that it is the will that shapes a person, not the circumstances of fate.

“One must have chaos and frenzy within oneself to give birth to a dancing star.”

Nietzsche says this to Breuer, and the comment offers insight into how Nietzsche views his own personality. Chaos and frenzy are not bad things or states of mind to be avoided; instead, they should be embraced fully in order that a person can shine. The frenzy and chaos are what lead to the reward in life, according to Nietzsche.

“The will cannot will backward.”

Nietzsche offers this comment to Breuer as they discuss the concept of time. Breuer states that he sees a lack of purpose in his life because at 40 years old, he feels like the promise of his youth has gone forever. Nietzsche points out that Breuer’s awareness of time is a good thing and that he still has a lot of time to become who he is.

“Even though some sessions made him feel worse, he unaccountably looked forward to the next with anticipation.”

While much of the chapter shows Breuer to be in the grip of despair, this comment indicates that on some level, progress is being made. The sessions with Nietzsche allow him an outlet to relieve some of his despair, which the quote indicates is happening on a deeper level within his mind.

“He took refuge in a new thought: maybe he could best help Nietzsche by letting Nietzsche help him!”

Thus far, Breuer has maintained that his purpose in the sessions with Nietzsche is to try to subtly invert the relationship and get Nietzsche to open up to him. Instead, Breuer considers that perhaps enabling Nietzsche to feel like he is providing Breuer with something significant is achieving the same end: an improvement in his patient’s health.

“A cosmic perspective always attenuates tragedy. If we climb high enough, we will reach a height from which tragedy ceases to look tragic.”

Nietzsche continually suggests that Breuer should zoom out and look at his problems from a different perspective. Eventually, if he can zoom out from a far enough vantage point, he will see the same problem as ultimately insignificant in the larger scope of his life.

“All seeing is relative, and so is all knowing. We invent what we experience. And what we have invented, we can destroy.”

Breuer feels powerless, almost victimized by the circumstances of his despair; here, Nietzsche reminds him that, ultimately, Breuer is in control of how he perceives these circumstances.

“I’ve always believed, Josef, that we are more in love with desire than with the desired!”

Nietzsche posits one of his more famous comments here to Breuer. Nietzsche suggests that Breuer feels love because it makes him feel good; therefore, love is an exercise in self-interest rather than a mutual feeling shared with someone else.

“The flame of belief is fueled inexhaustibly by the fears of death, oblivion, and meaninglessness.”

Nietzsche writes this in his journal notes after his latest session with Breuer. Nietzsche shows the reciprocal relationship between belief and despair, specifically that belief is a way out of despair.

“No one now tends their graves because no one living has ever known them. They know what it means to be dead.”

Breuer points this out by way of explaining the untended section of the cemetery where his parents are buried. There is of course irony in his words here, but the comments also show his true existential fear, which is to die and become entirely anonymous over time.

“Some philosophers are born posthumously!”

Nietzsche says this as he and Breuer discuss Breuer’s father being his only audience. This is another famous saying by Nietzsche, and it illustrates the point that he felt his work would not be understood until well after his death.

“And he would die alone: no matter the companionship, he thought, one always dies alone.”

Breuer thinks this to himself while hypnotized and experiencing a virtual reality while under hypnosis. When he plays out the hypothetical circumstances of what it would be like to leave his life totally behind, Breuer is able to unlock one of his deepest fears, expressed in the quote. When he wakes up, he better understands this as the real source of his despair.

“How foolish to have spent month after month attacking symptoms—the silly, superficial skirmishes—while neglecting the real battle, the mortal struggle underneath.”

Breuer has been successful in treating Bertha’s symptoms, but only on a surface level. The comment hints at future developments in psychoanalysis that his friend Freud would become famous for—helping a patient come to terms with their deepest struggles rather than just the manifestation of those struggles.

“Despite my bravado about being the posthumous philosopher, despite my certitude that my day will come, despite even my knowledge of eternal return—I am haunted by the thought of dying alone.”

Nietzsche says this to Breuer, and it reflects Breuer’s own fear of dying alone. This is a rare circumstance in which Nietzsche is totally open and vulnerable, admitting his fear. Though Nietzsche strives for an isolated and detached way of life, the prospect of dying alone remains a central fear in his life.