ABSTRACT
Published in 1905, Three Essays on the Theory of Sexuality is often considered to be Freud’s second most important book, ranked just after The Interpretation of Dreams (1900a), and his most outstanding work on sexuality. In it, Freud openly challenges popular opinion and the then current assumptions about sexuality. On the one hand, he expanded the idea of sexuality beyond the narrow limits within which that notion was conventionally defined, and on the other he argued that the beginnings of sexuality are to be found in early childhood, in other words at a much earlier period than had been thought up till then. He showed that sexuality does not begin with the onset of puberty but in early childhood and that it develops through successive stages before adult sexuality is reached. In addition, he built bridges between abnormal and so-called normal forms of sexuality.
