On masochistic enthralment a contribution to the study of moral masochism

Freud rested his final understanding of moral masochism (the masochistic character) upon the concept of the death-instinct. Those analysts who have been unable to accept this concept have continued to define and enrich the understanding of the masochistic character. Out of their work has emerged the picture of a character structured in three discernible layers: an upper one of "nobility in adversity": a middle one of hate toward the mother; and the deepest one of primary union with the mother to which a later return is made. An abbreviated account of an analysis is given to exemplify this structure. An understanding of the relation between the deepest layers is essential to a comprehension of the total structure. Out of a primary maternal union accompanied by experiences of omnipotence and grandiosity emerges an ambivalent relationship to the omnipotent mother characterized primarily by hate. The relationship to the mother is one of masochistic enthralment. The lost omnipotence is then recaptured by a union mystica (primary identification) with the hating and hated mother now internalized as an aggressive self-ideal in which phallic characteristics become prominent. The unio mystica may be momentary and orgasmic as in the masochistic perversion or more or less enduring and characterological as in the masochistic character to which it contributes traits of haughtiness and disdain.