“One day, in retrospect, the years of struggle

will strike you as the most beautiful.”

Sigmund Freud is known as the father of psychology and pioneer of psychoanalysis. He was a neurologist, physiologist and a psychologist. He worked with Joseph Breuer to unfold, now known as ‘Freudian psychology’. He practiced his own theories on his patients to uncover roots of human unconscious mind. He laid down foundation for certain theories and practices which are still of immense value to the clinical world. His major contributions to the field of psychology did not only inspire canonical literature of his time but contemporary critics and literature have been under his writings influence. He drew upon ‘Sophocles, Goethe’s Faust and Shakespeare – especially Hamlet, King Lear and Macbeth’ to interpret his understanding of the characters irrational behavior and complex dreams which both, are controlled by our unconscious selves.

However, his theories have set forth works of postmodernist critics such as ‘Claude Levi-Strauss, Roland Barthes, Jacques Lacan, Michel Foucault, Jacques Derrida, Gilles Deleuze and Julia Kristeva’ – all are reflected towards Freud’s thinking. Many famous Netflix shows such as ‘Dark’ have been produced on Freud.

He still remains with us as an indispensable part of the society, in the fields of health, politics and culture. It dictates that he’s still a part of modern world and a crucial dialogue of today’s psychology. His defense mechanisms are still used by counselors. The concept of id, ego and superego help people to understand themselves better. His comprehensive study on the human mind as an ‘energy system’ helped psychiatrists to discover the electrical features of the brain in neurology.