Changes

In the [[mirror stage]], the [[infant]] sees its [[reflection]] in the [[mirror]] as a [[wholeness]], in contrast with the uncoordination in the [[real]] [[body]]: this contrast is experienced as an [[aggressivity|aggressive tension]] between the [[specular image]] and the [[real]] [[body]], since the [[wholeness]] of the [[image]] seems to threaten the [[body]] with [[fragmented body|disintegration]] and [[fragmentation]].

The consequent [[identification]] with the [[specular image]] thus implies an [[ambivalence|ambivalent]] relation with the [[counterpart]], involving both [[eroticism]] and [[aggressivity|aggression]].