closely connected.
In most ways the couple’s way of life was not so different from that of many of
their colleagues. It was quite common for analysts to have mates who were also in the pro-
fession. It was also common to avoid a stereotypic division of their roles with the husband
as breadwinner and wife as homemaker. However, the Reichs seemed to have carried the
equal partnership further than most, even though Reich was surely the dominant partner.
For example, each had a separate bank account, just as each had an independent career.
Fairly early in their marriage there seems to have been the understanding that extramarital
relationships were not proscribed, although this particular alternative would have been more
attractive to Reich than to Annie. Reich’s jealousy in relationships does not seem to have
been a factor with Annie, who described herself as being the jealous one^10.
In setting up the apartment, Reich made a point of obtaining good furniture and
other household items. An interesting contradiction should be noted here, one that Ilse
Ollendorff, his third wife and co-worker during the 1940s and early 19508, also observed.
Reich could be very generous to others and very generous to himself. He usually wore good
clothes, ate good food, and, in general, enjoyed many of the conveniences and pleasures of
fine possessions. At the same time, he could often resent daily living expenses. Moreover,
when consumed by some cause that required a large financial investment, he could at times
skimp on all personal expenses in order to dedicate most of his resources to his work. His
fear of the “trivial” existence sometimes manifested itself as a dislike of domestic demands
that drained one’s energy and money.
Around 1926 or so, this financial conflict seems to have arisen in his relationship
with Annie. At that time, the “cause” that began to consume him was political. Exactly when
Reich’s strong social involvement originated is not clear. My conjecture is that sometime in
the mid-i92os Reich began to donate money toward supporting the left-wing faction of the
Social Democratic Party. Then his commitment to social concerns and Annie’s focus on
household needs began to clash.
Intense as Reich was about his work,his early years as an analyst included consid-
erable socializing with his colleagues. There are photographs of Annie and Willy from this
period playing ball at the beach with friends, at parties, on ski trips. Never again will we see
photos ofReich so entirely at play. One photograph shows Annie and Willy caught mid-air;
another captures Willy and some of his colleagues making teasing faces for the camera.
These photos ofReich contrast sharply with formal portraits taken during the same period.
One from 1921, when Reich was only twenty-four, reveals an extremely serious, determined
man, with a deep, penetrating, and somewhat hurt-angry look around the eyes.
In the first halfofthe 1920s, too, Reich’s sense of personal mission was somewhat
subdued by his intellectual and organizational subordination to Freud. He saw himself as
working forpsychoanalysis. He was to continue this personal vision for several more years;
only after 1927 would he fight the psychoanalytic—organization and the older Freud—in
the name ofthe younger Freud. Until this time, he interacted with his young colleagues as
one of Freud’s children. Never again was Reich to enjoy the kind of social belonging to a
8 : Personal Life: 1920-1926 109