Frau Lisa Erdman, a young opera singer of Polish Catholic and Ukrainian Jewish descent living in Vienna, Austria, has been suffering from sexual hysteria. She seeks the treatment of Sigmund Freud, the father of psychoanalysis. Through therapy, Freud explores Lisa's childhood and tries to find a root to her pain and a reason behind her hysteria. He discovers that her hallucinations spring from sexual encounters [with Madame R.] and declares Lisa bisexual