ABSTRACT
The chapter begins with an introduction on the Jungian interpretation of fairy tales. The story of Snow White sets the stage for exploring the pursuit of beauty, youthfulness, and perfection—compulsions that can be destructive in our lives. The chapter illustrates how plastic surgery, social media, drug use, and certain approaches to parenting can all feed into these impossible fantasies of control. The Greek myth of Narcissus is presented together with a review of narcissism in psychological literature. Narcissism has been understood as a desire to eliminate otherness, asserting the full control of our will on other people and our own emotional experiences—a grandiose pursuit destined to fail.
