When Nietzsche Wept: A Novel Of Obsession

Often considered one of the eminent post-Enlightenment philosophers, Friedrich Nietzsche at the time of the novel is not well known. His first two major philosophical works, The Gay Science and Human, All Too Human, have sold poorly. Having left his position at the University of Basel, he lives an ascetic and often lonely life, traveling to many different European cities and living off his meager pension from the university. Nietzsche believes that his work is too far ahead of its time to be widely appreciated now and that it will be properly valued only after his death.

At the time of the novel, Nietzsche is very ill. He suffers from a multitude of illnesses, including migraines, headaches, nausea, and vision impairment. As a result of trying to treat his medical conditions, Nietzsche has also developed a drug addiction to chloral-hydrate, a sedative drug that he uses to help him sleep. Nietzsche’s friend Franz Overbeck initially recommends Breuer to him, but Breuer quickly becomes only the latest in a slew of doctors who have not yet discovered the cause of Nietzsche’s health problems or how to cure them.

As a character, Nietzsche is singularly intelligent, and though his presence is severe, he is generally polite to strangers. Breuer discovers this about Nietzsche during their initial encounter. Nietzsche is also stubborn and solitary. He is motivated by his own idea that all human relationships are ostensibly a quest for power; thus, he is closed off from intimate relationships. By the time he meets Breuer, he has fallen in and out of love with Lou Salome, having proposed marriage to her and been rejected, turning bitter and hostile against women in general. Nietzsche is somewhat ignorant of Judaism but demonstrates respect to Breuer, especially later in the novel when they visit the cemetery where Breuer’s mother and father lie in rest. Nietzsche, like Breuer, also experiences transformation in the novel, and while his is not as dramatic as Breuer’s, he nonetheless comes to learn a great deal about his inner self. This does not change what he sees as his mission in life, which is to provide humankind with teachings that empower rather than invoke fear.

Lou is the catalyst who sets into motion the plot for the novel. It is at her initial request that Breuer first agrees to see Nietzsche as a patient. Salome is portrayed as a uniquely independent woman who is charming and entirely defiant of social norms that insist women must be meek and subservient to men. Salome describes her initial encounters with Nietzsche, their back story, and her involvement in a love triangle with Nietzsche and their mutual friend Paul Ree. In Lou’s mind, the arrangement was to be strictly platonic; however, Nietzsche soon developed feelings for her, and the arrangement ended soon after it began. Lou’s decision to seek help for her friend Nietzsche, even in spite of his apparent hatred for her, shows her sympathetic nature and her willingness to do what is right even when there is no direct benefit to her.

Josef’s wife, Mathilde is also the mother of five children. She comes from one of the wealthiest families in Vienna and, like Josef, is Jewish. Mathilde is treated unfairly by her husband for most of the novel, and because he spends so much time absorbed in his work, there is an obvious tension that arises between the two. Mathilde also is suspicious that Breuer has been cheating on her, though he has not been. Their marriage is frosty on account of this suspicion, and while she keeps up appearances for friends and family, she is obviously as unhappy in her marriage as Josef is. Mathilde is supportive but also frustrated that Breuer seemingly intentionally avoids spending time with his family. Toward the end of the novel, when Breuer is hypnotized, he imagines a scenario in which he leaves Mathilde. It is then that we see her frustration boil over. She points out the ways that she, as a Jewish woman, has been trapped by the circumstances of her own life and that unlike Josef, she is truly a victim of circumstance.

In the novel’s present time, 1882, Freud is 29 years old. Breuer is a father-like figure to him, both his mentor and friend. Freud would later go on to become the godfather of psychoanalysis, and his theories about the workings of the subconscious have been enormously influential not only in psychology but also in philosophy and literary theory. The conversations between Breuer and Freud in the novel illustrate how Freud developed his early theories from his work with Breuer. Much like Breuer, Freud also has faced discrimination because of his Jewish identity. He wants to be a research scientist rather than a physician, and it is because he is Jewish that he has been refused. Freud has a special friendship with Mathilde, who welcomes him into the family home almost as a nephew or other close family member, and this closeness adds to the intimate relationship between Freud and Breuer. Importantly, it is Freud who hypnotizes Breuer and guides him during the hypnosis. When Breuer wakes out of the trance, he confides in Freud, once again showing that their connection is as intimate as it is professional.