Neurosis and Discourse
The neurotic is positioned in relation to the discourse of the Master. In interrogating the desire of the Master, the hysteric offers the Master a semblance of the object she does not want to be. In Dora's case, she does not want the phallus, preferring that another woman use it before her eyes. She is identified with the Master, the one who chooses to deprive himself of jouissance. Dora's object of surplus jouissance is Frau K. and not her father. But while the Master's discourse structures the hysterical identification, it does not structure the hysteric's discourse; for this, the analyst's desire is necessary. The obsessional subject refuses to be considered as a master, while at the same time being riveted to the Master's discourse in the position of the slave; i.e., as the one who does not renounce jouissance. The obsessional is obliged to return this jouissance to the Master; he refuses the Master's castration. The analyst therefore should not allow himself to incarnate the place of the Master, endeavouring instead to hystericise the obsessional's discourse.