Page:The International Journal of Psycho-Analysis II 1921 3-4.djvu/102

 356 IS ADO R H. CORIAT

In referring to Judaism, Weiningeri specifies that it is 'neither a race nor a people nor a recognized creed. I think of it as a tendency of mind, as a psychological constitution which is a poss- ibility for all mankind'. This statement is of interest in any psychoanalysis of Shylock, for it furnishes an insight into those traits which have constantly been referred to as being peculiar to the Jew in general and to Shylock in particular. As all men are capable of homosexual object selection and often accomplish this in their unconscious mental life, so all have the same anal-erotic components which to a certain degree are so conspicuous in Shylock.

The unconscious mind is so remote from the conscious mind, that Freud's astonishing demonstration in 1908 of what he termed the anal-erotic character traits has provoked the most intense opposition and incredulity. These traits of adult life and their dependence- on infantile sexual excitations in the anal canal have been criticized as absurd and grotesque, yet anyone who carefully worked in psychoanalysis is soon absolutely convinced of the soundness and validity of Freud's ideas.

Without going into the mechanism and genesis of these traits, it seems sufficient merely to enumerate them for the purpose in view, namely the analysis of the various aspects of Shylock's character. These features when they occur in a highly developed anal-erotic individual are orderliness, parsimony, miserliness and obstinacy, to which may be added love of money, hate, revenge, love of children, defiant disobedience and procrastination. Nearly all these will be found well defined in the character of Shylock if the development of the play and the text are carefully studied.

Shylock is portrayed as a wealthy Jew of Venice in whom the love of money, as shown by his often reiterated reference to his 'ducats', is a distinguishing trait. With the love of his money, Shakespeare with a remarkable insight emphasizes the tenderness for his daughter Jessica, as a sort of unconscious identity of the two most valuable possessions of his life — his daugliter and his ducats. As Jones points out: 'One of the most impressive traits in the whole gamut of the anal character is the extra- ordinary and quite exquisite tenderness that some members ol the type are capable of, especially with children; this is no doubt strengthened both by the association with innocence and purity. ..

1 Otto Wcininger: Sex and Character, p. 303.