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Chapter 6    Horney: Psychoanalytic Social Theory181
suffering hadbeen lessintense, herinsights would havebeen lessprofound” (p.xxv). 
Wenowlookatthelifeofthisoften-troubled woman.
Biography of Karen Horney
Thebiography ofKaren Horney hasseveral parallels withthelifeofMelanie Klein 
(seeChapter 5).Each wasbornduring the1880s, theyoungest child ofa50-year-old 
father andhissecond wife.Each hadolder siblings whowerefavored bytheparents, 
andeachfeltunwanted andunloved. Also, eachhadwanted tobecome aphysician, 
butonlyHorney fulfilled thatambition. Finally, bothHorney andKlein engaged 
inanextended self-analysis—Horney’s, beginning withherdiaries from age13to
26,continuing withheranalysis byKarlAbraham, andculminating withherbook 
Self-Analysis (Quinn, 1987).
Karen Danielsen Horney wasborninEilbek, asmall town nearHamburg, 
Germany, onSeptember 15,1885. Shewastheonlydaughter ofBerndt (Wackels) 
Danielsen, aseacaptain, andClothilda vanRonzelen Danielsen, awoman nearly 
18years younger thanherhusband. Theonlyother child ofthismarriage wasason,
about 4years older thanKaren. However, theoldseacaptain hadbeen married ear-
lierandhadfourother children, most ofwhom wereadults bythetimeHorney was
born. TheDanielsen family wasanunhappy one,inpartbecause Karen’s older half-
siblings turned theirfather against hissecond wife.Karen feltgreat hostility toward 
herstern, devoutly religious father andregarded himasareligious hypocrite. How -
ever, sheidolized hermother, whobothsupported andprotected heragainst thestern 
oldseacaptain. Nevertheless, Karen wasnotahappy child. Sheresented thefavored 
treatment given toherolder brother, andinaddition, sheworried about thebitterness 
anddiscord between herparents.
When shewas13,Horney decided tobecome aphysician, butatthattimeno
university inGermany admitted women. Bythetimeshewas16,thissituation had
changed. SoHorney—over theobjections ofherfather, whowanted hertostayhome 
andtakecareofthehousehold—entered thegymnasium, aschool thatwould leadto
auniversity andthentomedical school. Onherownforthefirsttime, Karen was
toremain independent fortherestofherlife.According toParis (1994), however, 
Horney’s independence wasmostly superficial. Onadeeper level, sheretained acom-
pulsive need tomerge withagreat man. Thismorbid dependency, which typically 
included idealization andfearofinciting angry rejection, haunted Horney during her
relationships withaseries ofmen.
In1906, sheentered theUniversity ofFreiburg, becoming oneofthefirstwomen 
inGermany tostudy medicine. There shemetOskar Horney, apolitical science student. 
Their relationship began asafriendship, butiteventually became aromantic one.After 
theirmarriage in1909, thecouple settled inBerlin, where Oskar, nowwithaPhD, 
worked foracoalcompany andKaren, notyetwithanMD,specialized inpsychiatry.
Bythistime, Freudian psychoanalysis wasbecoming wellestablished, and
Karen Horney became familiar withFreud’s writings. Early in1910, shebegan an
analysis withKarlAbraham, oneofFreud’s close associates andamanwholaterana-
lyzed Melanie Klein. After Horney’s analysis wasterminated, sheattended Abraham’s 
evening seminars, where shebecame acquainted withother psychoanalysts. By1917, 
shehadwritten herfirstpaper onpsychoanalysis, “The Technique ofPsychoanalytic Final PDF to printer