Analyzed by Lacan
brings together the first English translations of
Why Lacan,
Betty Milan's memoir of her analysis with Lacan in the 1970s, and her play,
Goodbye Doctor
, inspired by her experience.
Why Lacan
provides a unique and valuable perspective on how Lacan worked as psychoanalyst as well as his approach to psychoanalytic theory. Milan's testimony shows that Lacan's method of working was based on the idea that the traditional way of interpreting provoked resistance.
Prior to
, Milan wrote a play,
, based on her experience as Lacan's patient. The play is structured around the sessions of Seriema with the Doctor. Through the analysis, Seriema discovers why she cannot give birth, namely, an unconscious desire to satisfy the will of her father who didn't authorize her to conceive. She ceases to be the victim of her unconscious, grasps the possibility of choosing a father for her child and thus becoming a mother.
has been adapted into a film,
Adieu Lacan
, by the director Richard Ledes.
features an Introduction by Milan to both works as well as a new interview with Mari Ruti about her writing and Lacan.