The Force of Fantasy - Hardcover

Person, Ethel S.

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0002556855 ISBN 13: 9780002556859

Publisher: HarperCollins, 1996

Synopsis

Most people do not take their daydreams seriously. This book argues that the fantasy of daydreams is central to our lives and essential to our well-being. Far from being a retreat from the world, fantasy plays a major role in shaping it. The book offers evidence that fantasies fuel our behaviour, revealing our secret hopes and fears and helping us transform our lives. Fantasies can soothe us or stimulate us sexually, but more significantly, they let us test possibilities. They deepen our connections with other people. They protect us from precipitate action, they serve as viable life-plans. They heal or undo past defects and old conflicts. They create an ambience of hope for the future, even in seemingly hopeless situatins, and give us the strength to endure.

About this title

From the Back Cover:

Most people do not take their daydreams seriously; they are often embarrassed or ashamed by them and rarely reveal them to other people. In this ground-breaking book, Ethel Person argues that fantasy is central to our lives and essential to our well-being. Far from being a retreat from the world, fantasy plays a major role in shaping it.

Drawing on her vast clinical experience and research, as well as on examples from literature and art, she offers provocative evidence that fantasies fuel our behaviour, revealing our secret hopes and fears and helping us transform our lives. Fantasies can soothe us or turn us on sexually, but, more significantly, they let us test possibilities. They deepen our relationships with other people. They protect us from precipitate actions (as when we imagine murdering a tyrannical boss or an indifferent spouse). They serve as viable life plans. They heal or undo past defects and old conflicts. They create an ambience of hope for the future, even in seemingly hopeless situations, and give us the strength to endure.

'The Force of Fantasy' probes the mysteries behind the inner world of imagination: why each of us plays out specific themes from childhood to old age, why we guard our fantasies even from ourselves, why sexual fantasies enjoy such a privileged position in mental life, and much more.

Focussing on a long-neglected topic, this engrossing book sheds light on a vital area of our lives.

Ethel S. Person is a Training and Supervising Analyst at the Columbia University Research Center for Psychoanalytic Training and Research, and Professor of Clinical Psychiatry, College of Physicians and Surgeons. She is also the author of 'Dreams of Love and Fateful Encounters: The Power of Romantic Passion' and the co-editor of 'Women: Sex and Sexuality; Passionate Attachments: Thinking About Love; 'and 'Psychoanalysis: The Second Century.'

'Freud thought that fantasy was a childish escape from, and denial of, reality. It is a pleasure to welcome a book from a psychoanalyst which recognizes the many positive functions served by fantasy in the lives of all of us.'
DR ANTHONY STORR

About the Author:

Ethel S. Person is a Training and Supervising Analyst at the Columbia University Research Center for Psychoanalytic Training and Research, and Professor of Clinical Psychiatry, College of Physicians and Surgeons. She is the author of’Dreams of Love’ and ‘Fateful Encounters’, among other titles. She lives in New York City, US.

About this edition

• Publisher: HarperCollins
• Publication date: 1996
• ISBN 10: 0002556855
• ISBN 13: 9780002556859
• Binding: Hardcover
• Number of pages: 288