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Lacan introduced this schema in his [[seminar]] of 1953-1954, on <i>[[Freud]]'s Papers on [[Technique]]</i>. He took his cue from Freud's reference to an [[Optical Schema|optical schema]] in T<i>he [[Interpretation]] of [[Dreams]]</i> (Freud, 1900a, p. 536; Lacan, 1953-54, 74-76). Lacan first used the schema to illustrate the reciprocal play of [[The Real|the real]], the [[imaginary]], and the [[symbolic]] in Melanie [[Klein]]'s [[case]] of "Little Dick."
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[[Lacan]] borrowed his [[optical]] [[schema]] from [[physics]]. He used it to illustrate the [[role]] of the [[real]] [[Other]] in constructing both the [[body]] and the [[specular]] [[image]] as the [[model]] for the ego.
Lacan introduced this schema in his [[seminar]] of 1953-1954, on <i>[[Freud]]'s Papers on [[Technique]]</i>. He took his cue from Freud's reference to an optical schema in T<i>he [[Interpretation]] of [[Dreams]]</i> (Freud, 1900a, p. 536; Lacan, 1953-54, 74-76). Lacan first used the schema to illustrate the reciprocal play of the real, the [[imaginary]], and the [[symbolic]] in Melanie [[Klein]]'s [[case]] of "Little Dick." Because of the optical properties of concave mirrors, a bouquet of flowers that is hidden from the [[visual]] field of the viewer emerges above the vase. And if the eye of the viewer is properly placed, an image of flowers in the vase is produced as a [[whole]] or a [[unity]] ([[Figure]] 1). The [[illusory]] [[presence]] of the flowers in the vase represented a [[baby]]'s relation to his body, but this is something the baby cannot see. To create a "[[substitute]] for the [[mirror]]-[[stage]]" (1953-54, p. 74), Lacan introduced a plane mirror (Figure 2).[[File:Lacan-opticalmodel.jpg|thumb|Lacan's optical schema]]
In the [[virtual]] [[space]] beyond the mirror, a [[specular image]] is created, <i>i</i>′ <i>(a)</i>, and this is where the baby as [[subject]] recognizes the image as its ego. This represents the [[dimension]] of radical [[alienation]] in ego [[formation]] as it occurs in relation to the image of a fellow being—a [[process]] that is specific to secondary [[narcissism]] and the [[ideal]] ego.
Lacan returned to the optical schema in his seminar on <i>[[Transference]]</i> (1960-61), but then the plane mirror shows the effect that the parental Other's look has on the baby's organism. This look allows the baby to [[sense]] its own body, modeled on its [[Specular Image|specular image]]. Lacan even gave the Other a role in the formation of [[Primary Narcissism|primary narcissism]]. This schema allows for an approach to the [[treatment]] of early psychopathologies prior to the [[mirror stage]] (Laznik-Penot, 1993).
In his seminar on <i>[[Anxiety]]</i> (1962-63), Lacan redesigned the schema in response to a question asked by André Green regarding the relations between the real, [[the imaginary]], and [[the symbolic]] (Figure 3).
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<li>The flowers, a [[metaphor]] for [[libidinal]] investment, were no longer the [[reflection]] of a bouquet hidden under the table, but rather the effect of a [[lack]], which Lacan wrote as φ.</li>
<li>The inscription of lack, φ, also appeared behind the plane mirror, in [[The Imaginary|the imaginary]] field. Thus the new version of the schema emphasized the constitutive role of lack in any [[mental]] functioning.</li>
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