When Nietzsche Wept: A Novel Of Obsession

After Nietzsche comes to take care of his bill, Breuer has a conversation with Frau Becker, his nurse, who tries to talk him into accepting that Nietzsche simply did not want his help. Later that evening, Mathilde has prepared a dinner for some members of her own family, including her brother-in-law, Max. Max and Breuer are reluctant friends and are of the same age. Breuer describes Nietzsche’s case, and Max responds by advising Breuer to let it go. Max does not understand Breuer’s need to help Nietzsche, who Max thinks is likely suffering from some undiagnosed psychological illness. They argue about Breuer’s desire to give Nietzsche one of the free beds at the Lauzon clinic. Breuer tries to appeal to Max’s empathy, asking him to imagine what he would do if a hypothetical patient desperately needed surgery but refused to have it, but Max warns Breuer to remember that he is a respectable doctor, but if he continues to treat people with obvious psychological problems, he will lose that reputation and will be maligned by the growing antisemitic movement in Vienna at the time. The two men then start playing chess, and the conversation regarding Nietzsche continues. Breuer points out that he is seeing an increase in patients with psychological distress and that the medical profession is failing to help them. Breuer sees the growing need and feels both interested and compelled to do something about it. Max suggests that Breuer is actually motivated by a sense of competition with Nietzsche. He also points out that instead of challenging Nietzsche, if he is the genius philosopher that Breuer claims him to be, maybe Breuer should instead learn from him. The talk turns toward their marriages. Max confesses to Breuer that he has been having an affair and says that it is just like his own affair with Eva Berger. Breuer understands that Max has heard this as gossip and denies that anything sexual ever happened between himself and Eva. Max continues to believe the disputed gossip. Max becomes increasingly vulgar and begins revealing his sexual temptations. Max insinuates that perhaps Breuer is becoming impotent, and Breuer confesses his distaste for Mathilde but not for other women. Breuer then discusses his discontent overall with his family life and wishes that he could disappear from that life as he thinks it will make him happier to be free from it.

Breuer is awakened very early the next morning by a Herr Schlagel, the owner of the guesthouse where Nietzsche has been staying. Schlagel says that he discovered Nietzsche passed out from illness and rushed to get Breuer, his doctor, to help him. Breuer immediately has his driver prepare the fiacre, and he and Schlagel depart for the guesthouse. On the way, Schlagel describes the situation. Nietzsche has vomited in the room, and there is commotion from Nietzsche’s suffering. Schlagel tells Breuer about Nietzsche’s stay at the guesthouse, including the letter Nietzsche received from Elizabeth. Because his partial blindness prevented him from reading it, Nietzsche asked the innkeeper’s wife to read it aloud for him. Nietzsche cut her off before she could finish it, leaving the woman to become suspicious because the letter mentioned some scandal involving a Russian woman. Schlagel, a former military officer, believes that Nietzsche is some sort of spy, a fiction that Breuer immediately dismisses.

When Breuer finally arrives, he notices that the room is exactly as Schlagel described it to him. He requests to be left alone with the patient. He discovers that Nietzsche has taken hydro-chlorate tablets, and it appears likely that he has taken too many, which may explain the vomiting and the apparent unconsciousness. Breuer massages Nietzsche’s temples, and after some time, Nietzsche finally begins to slowly come around. Eventually, Breuer hears Nietzsche talking, mumbling words the words “help me” (128). With Nietzsche’s condition continuing to improve, Breuer returns home for a few hours before returning to the guesthouse to check up on his patient. Schlagel informs him that there have been no new developments, and Nietzsche is still asleep. Breuer tries to wake him, eventually calling him by his nickname, Fritz, which rouses him. Breuer tells him that he nearly died from ingesting too many hydro-chlorate tablets. Nietzsche is unphased by this, and as he is still groggy, Breuer leaves him once more. When he again returns, Nietzsche is lying in his bed fully dressed, an image that triggers an unpleasant daydream in Breuer: He is dead, lying in repose at his own wake, alone with nobody to mourn his passing. Nietzsche has regained his composure and insists on making sure Breuer provides him with a bill for his services rendered. He then says that tomorrow, he will be departing for Basel, an idea that Breuer strongly advises against on account of the severity of Nietzsche’s illness. Breuer convinces Nietzsche to stay at the guesthouse until he shows improvement, and Nietzsche agrees. Breuer confronts Nietzsche about his apparent overdose on the tablets, trying one final time to convince him to enter the clinic in Lauzon, but Nietzsche once again refuses. Unlike the previous day, Nietzsche is thankful toward Breuer but insists that his whole reason for being prevents him from accepting help in this way. After a lengthy discussion during which Breuer pleads with Nietzsche to accept the help, Breuer departs and walks home. On his way there, he has a sudden insight and, in an excited state, concludes that he has finally discovered the way to get Nietzsche to accept help.

Nietzsche arrives the following Monday to pay his bill. He once again thanks Breuer and mentions that he likely will never see him again. Before Nietzsche leaves, Breuer asks him to consider a request. As Breuer has been Nietzsche’s physician of the body, he asks Nietzsche to become his physician of the spirit. At first, Nietzsche is curious but rejects the idea. He claims that he has no expertise on such matters. Breuer continues to plead his case, and after providing a list of what ails him in his life, he finally admits that what he needs to be cured of is his despair. Nietzsche holds firm and maintains that he cannot help Breuer, but his resistance does not deter the doctor. Breuer proposes a deal in which Nietzsche agrees to attend the clinic in Lauzon in exchange for becoming Breuer’s personal philosopher, helping Breuer learn to cope with despair. Breuer also reminds Nietzsche that the deal would wipe out the debt that Nietzsche feels he owes for the medical services rendered by Breuer. At long last, Nietzsche finally agrees to attend the clinic in Lauzon. The chapter concludes with a letter from Nietzsche to his friend Peter Overbook. In the letter, Nietzsche shows his distrustful persona and brags about how he saw through Breuer’s attempts at getting him to attend Lauzon. He lauds the doctor and states that his true motivation of seeking help for his despair reveals him to be respectable. Nietzsche thinks that Breuer has engaged in subterfuge only because he was afraid to admit that he needed help; he is unaware that Breuer has actually tricked him into staying at Lauzon.