ABSTRACT
Envy and Gratitude, published in 1957, is one of Melanie Klein's last writings before she died in 1960. Sometimes, in relation to the analyst, gratitude emerges before envy. Klein writes of gratitude in infancy: "A full gratification at the breast means that the infant feels he has received from his loved object a unique gift which he wants to keep. This is the basis of gratitude". Throughout Envy and Gratitude, Klein emphasizes that emotional life is characterized by losing and regaining the good object. Indeed, impermanence is a central aspect of what she means by her concept of position. Envy interferes with gratitude, while gratitude mitigates envy. Mitigation is more mysterious than interference. As split-off envy affects an analysis by its underlying negation, so split-off gratitude supports an analysis by an affirmation that is, for some reason, kept outside the session.
