ABSTRACT
A familiar phenomenon referring to the relations of power and domination between individuals, mastery seems to be well known; and yet, albeit introduced by Freud, the notion of a drive for mastery seems subsequently to have been neglected. Denis has pointed out that it is necessary to distinguish two levels: a phenomenological level, that of the relationship of mastery, which Roger Dorey describes and considers as a characteristic of perversion, and a metapsychological level, that of Freud's drive for mastery. A moment in the analysis of a patient may serve to illustrate this point. The analytic process seemed subject to the ebb and flow of particularly powerful drive movements. The sense of helplessness felt by the analyst was, of course, the direct consequence of the efforts she was making to exert her mastery. Re-establishing the function of representation loosened the grip of mastery and opened the way towards other horizons.
