The Power of Envy
in Gender Development, Sexuality and Everyday Life
Fall, 2012
Carolyn Ellman
From Ancient Times to Contemporary Psychoanalytic Theorizing, Envy is
considered one of the most basic human feelings. Chaucer thought it was the
most destructive of all the seven deadly sins. Freud and Klein made it
central to their theorizing about how defenses against envy can lead to an
inability to love. Exploring the origins of envy in early development (with a
particular emphasis on gender development), this course will look at how
ubiquitous envy really is. Using case material and contemporary readings, we
will look at how envy affects politics, fear of success and even the failure
to progress in treatment. How to deal with envious feelings will be a crucial
issue we will address
READINGS
1:_FIRST_ CLASS: THE UNIVERSAL NATURE OF ENVY
J.H. BERKE (l988) The Tyranny of Malice, New York: Summit BooksChapters l and 2
BRYANT WELCH (2008) State of Confusion: Political Manipulation and the
Assault on the American Mind. Chapter 5: Envy pp. 81-105
2.SECOND CLASS- WHAT IS ENVY?
WALTER G. JOFFE A Critical Review of the Status of the Envy Concept.
Int. J. Psa. 1969 pp. 533-545
ELIZABETH B. SPILLIUS Varieties of Envious Experience (l993) Int. J.
Psycho-Anal, 74: 1199-1212
3. THIRD CLASS:
SIBLING RIVALRY AND NORMAL DEVELOPMENT
STEVEN FRANKEL AND IVAN SHERICK (1977) Observations on the Development
of Normal Envy. Psychoanalytic Study of the Child, 32: 257-281
ROSENBERGER, JOHN W. (2005) Envy, Shame and Sadism J. Amer.Acad.
Psychoanal., 33: 465-490
J.H. BERKE (1988) The Tyranny of Malice, New York: Summit Books=Chapter
8 “It’s Not Fair”
EDITH JACOBSON (1964) The Self and The Object Work, New York: IUP
pp.70-86 “The Child’s Finding of his Sexual Identity and the Building
up of his Ego”.
PENIS ENVY
4. GENDER AND ENVY; FREUD AND THE IDEALIZATION OF THE PENIS
SIGMUND FREUD (1931) Female Sexuality SE Vol. 21 (pp221-246)
KAREN HORNEY (1926) The Flight from Womanhood. In H. Kelman (ed.)
Feminine psychology. New York: W.W. Norton
BREAST AND WOMB ENVY
5. KLEIN’S EXPANSION OF ENVY – FROM THE PENIS TO THE BREAST
MELAINIE KLEIN (1957) Envy and Gratitude. In Envy and Gratitude and
Other Works, l946-1963, New York: Delacorte, l975
ROBERT CAPER (2008) Envy, Narcissism and the destructive instinct. In
Envy and Gratitude Revisited, (ed. Priscilla Roth and Alesandra Lemma)
IPA, 2008, London (pp.35-49)
(0ptional)- ENVY OF THE “ COMBINED COUPLE”
RONALD BRITTON (1989) The Missing Link: Parental Sexuality in the
Oedipus Complex. The Oedipus Complex Today Clinical Implications:
83-101
JANINE CHASSEQUET-SMIRGEL (1988) From the archaic matrix of the
Oedipus complex to the fully developed Oedipus complexTheoretical perspective in relation to clinical experience and
technique. Psychoanal. Q., 57:505-527
6. ENVY OF THE MOTHER IN GIRLS AND BOYS ENVY DEVELOPMENTAL ISSUES
JUDITH KESTENBERG (1956) On the development of maternal feelings in
early childhood. Psychoanalytic Study of the Child, 11: 275-291
CHRISTINE OLIVIER, (1980) In the beginning was Freud (and other excepts
from Jocasta’s children). In Gender and Envy, ed. N. Burke. New York:
Routledge, l998, pp. 199-212
CAROLYN ELLMAN (2000) The Empty Mother: Women’s Fear of their
Destructive Envy, PQ, Vol. LX1X, pp 633-657
CAROLYN ELLMAN (2002) Women’s Fear of Being Envied. Round Robin
RUTH LAX (1997) The boy’s envy of the mother & the consequences of this
narcissistic mortification. Vol. 52, PSC, pp. 118-139
7. THE MOTHER’S ENVY OF THE DAUGHTER
D. HOLTZMAN AND N. KULISH (2000) The feminization of the female Oedipal
complex: Part I: Separation issues. JAPA, 48: 1413-1437
ADRIENNE HARRIS (1997) Aggression, envy and ambition: circulating
tensions in women’s psychic life. Gender and psychoanalysis 2:291-325
8. ENVY AND THE THERAPEUTIC RELATIONSHIP
RIVIERE, J. (1936) A Contribution to the Analysis of the Negative Therapeutic Reaction. In.
J. Psychoanalysis, 17: 304-320