BRIEF REPORT: Moreno's Idee Fixe

Abstract

The theory that underlies and unifies Moreno's varied work may be discerned by contemplating the relationship between two key historical texts-Moreno's description of his "idee fixe" and his autobiographical story of "God-playing" when he was 5 years old. The focus of this article is to consider the origin, meaning, and value of Moreno's dee fixe. In the 1947 translation and revision of his The Theatre of Spontaneity, Moreno wrote that he felt he "suffered" from an idee fixe, a French term for a mild obsession, not so much in the pathological sense, but rather more as a guiding vision.