This famous text by Sigmund Freud was first published in 1913. From his correspondence, it is concluded that the idea for this work came to him in June 1912. In a letter to Ferenzi, dated July 7, 1913, he implied that a "subjective factor" played a role in the realization of this work, namely the fact that he himself had three daughters.

Two scenes from Shakespeare provide Freud with the inspiration for this text. One is from "The Merchant of Venice," where the beautiful and wise Portia is called to choose a husband by selecting among three boxes made of gold, silver, and lead, which are offered to her by the three suitors competing for her hand. The other is from "King Lear," when, now old, he decides to divide his kingdom among his three daughters according to the love they express for him.

Freud relates these two scenes to myths and fairy tales, examining the motif of the three women either in relation to the role and origin of the mythical triadic gods of destiny (Fates, Hours, Graces, for example) or in relation to the function of the third sister or daughter in fairy tales (as seen in the Grimms' fairy tales, for example). Why does the choice lean towards the third? What do the boxes represent in the dream? What is the relationship of the choice to death? What is the process of substitution?

The retrospective adaptation attempted by the writer based on a myth, distorted by the transformation of desire, reveals its old meaning so clearly that it perhaps allows us an obvious, allegorical interpretation of the motif. We could say that those depicted here are the three inevitable relationships of a man with a woman: the fertile one, the companion, the destroyer. Or the three forms that the mother takes during her life.