ABSTRACT
Unlike Dr Joffe, I do not see envy – the genuine primitive article – as in any way combined with hope. I see it as one of the deepest roots of hopelessness, since it attacks the sources of life.
3. This brings me to the relation between narcissism and envy. I agree with Dr Joffe that there is a link between narcissism and envy. I have often noticed that what non-Kleinian colleagues would describe as a reaction to a narcissistic wound, I would see as envy. To my mind a persistence of narcissism is often an expression of, as well as a defence against, envy. Envy and narcissism can be seen as two sides of the same coin.The infant wishes to see himself as a source of all love and goodness, and the moment his belief is shaken he experiences envy of the object which is felt to contain life and goodness.
