ABSTRACT
In 1952 Joan had two papers published in the International Journal of Psychoanalysis, an issue in honour of Klein’s seventieth birthday. Both papers describe how different aspects of the internal world are represented in works of literature. One paper uses illustrations from poetry of how we can keep our loved ones inside us; the other is about Ibsen’s The Master Builder, which is about mania and tragic loss. The chapter suggests that Joan is imaginatively trying out possible endings for her own life. Perhaps the tragic aspect of Joan’s life was her rift with Klein. Klein too felt lonely despite all her colleagues and friends. She wrote: ‘there remains and unsatisfied longing for an understanding without words’. This was something Klein and Joan had together. As Joan became increasingly fragile, she turned to old friends, particularly Ernest Jones and James Strachey. Examples from her letters show she remained lively and ironic until her death in 1962.
