ABSTRACT
Susan Isaacs's paper on phantasy, the first in the controversial discussion, is very important in illuminating Melanie Klein's views. It was read first, because it had become clear to all that to grasp Klein's views on the early development of the ego and superego and the importance she attaches to the internal objects, it is essential to understand the use she makes of the concept of unconscious phantasy. For Melanie Klein, the re-organization of the Society after the Controversial Discussions was on the whole a helpful development. The controversy between Miss Freud and Mrs Klein became the focus of the scientific life of the Society. The authors of the papers wished to refute the accusation that Melanie Klein departed from basic psychoanalytical views about the nature of psychic conflicts, anxieties and defences, but they also wanted to demonstrate how, grounded in S. Freud's theory, she nevertheless reaches certain conclusions differing from his.
