A Topological Account of Hysteria in Psychoanalysis

The effects of psychoanalysis are often unclear due to the use of rhetorical language. This thesis examines four written accounts of psychoanalysis for individuals suffering from hysteria, and theorises the effects of the treatment within Jacques Lacan’s topology. The texts that are discussed are Bruce Fink’s A Case of Hysteria; Louville Emerson’s A Psychoanalytic Study of a Severe Case of Hysteria; Marie Cardinal’s The Words to Say it; and Betty Milan’s Analyzed by Lacan. The topological account of these cases reveals a pattern of similar psychological changes, and allows a more precise and comprehensive insight into psychoanalytic treatment.