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Illustrated portrait of The conference circle

A character in Fear of Flying

The conference circle

The analysts and spouses whose behavior turns professional certainty about sex into social comedy.

What they want in Isadora’s account

To maintain professional authority, social position, and private desire inside a conference devoted to explaining other people.

The book

Cover of Fear of Flying by Erica Jong
Fear of FlyingErica Jong, 1973

Isadora Wing tests sexual fantasy, marriage, and freedom in a candid, feverish, and sharply self-mocking voice.

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At a glance

Setting
Vienna psychoanalytic conference
Members
Analysts and spouses
Function
Satirical social world

Who they are in the book

Spoiler-free

The Vienna gathering presents people who theorize about freedom and normality while displaying vanity, rivalry, attraction, and compulsion. They provide the social stage on which Isadora meets Adrian.

The supplied research groups these minor figures, so one representative portrait avoids fabricating individual names and roles.

How the book draws them

Appearance, manner, and tone — as the book sketches them, in our words.

  • Representative 1970s analystOne adult figure stands for the grouped minor cast.
  • Professional conference clothingThe institutional world is clear.
  • Confident evaluative gazeThe observer may also be observed.
  • Socially polished postureVanity stays understated.
  • Close engraved bustNo conference table or group scene appears.
  • Muted olive accentThe green field varies the sequence.
What happens to The conference circleHow the book leaves them, what happened after, and what the record says. Open when you're ready.

The conference circle remains behind when Isadora leaves with Adrian; individual later outcomes are not supplied.

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