ABSTRACT
This chapter is concerned with envy arising from an actual experience of deprivation. Just as Melanie Klein describes it in the case of primary envy, an experience of deprivation may also result in attacks on the good object. In Envy and Gratitude Klein introduces her notion of an innate, "primary envy" defined by the attack being on a "good" object because of its goodness. The idea of innate destructiveness has courted controversy. Klein has been criticized for either dismissing altogether or minimizing the impact of the actual mother on the development of the baby. Internally, motherhood adds a layer of complexity to the psychic process of adolescence, which typically sets in motion an unsettling review of personal identity. A mother who enjoys feeding her baby helps the baby to move away from envy towards gratitude. The troubled young mother's difficulties are indeed often manifest in her identification with the baby rather than with the wish to become a mother herself.
