Changes

Melanie [[Klein]] used the adjective "archaic" only once, but made frequent use of "früh" or "early" (Petot, 1982). The idea of the archaic mother was introduced in connection with Klein's theses on the early stages of the [[Oedipus complex]] in boys and girls (1928). Apropos of the early oral [[stage]] of the [[oedipal]] [[conflict]], Klein described a "paranoid-schizoid [[position]]" characterized by the [[relationship]] to part-[[objects]], by the [[splitting]] of the ego (an ego [[lacking]] in maturity) and of the object, by persecutory [[anxiety]], and by schizoid mechanisms. The breast of the archaic mother was a [[structuring]] factor here. Frustrated in their attempts to attain that breast, both girls and boys were prompted to abandon the quest and embrace the [[wish]] for oral satisfaction by means of the father's [[penis]]. [[Introjection]] of the good and bad breast of the good and bad mother was thus replaced by introjection of the good and bad penis of the good and bad father. The [[parents]] became the first models not only for [[internal]] protective and helpful [[figures]] but also for internal vengeful and persecutory ones; these first identifications by the ego constituted the foundations of the [[superego]]. Some of the [[SuperEgo|superego]]'s most important traits, both its loving/protective and its destructive/devouring sides, were derived from the earliest identifications with the mother.

See also: Breast, good/bad object; [[Oedipus Complex|Oedipus complex]], early; Paranoid-schizoid position; [[Real]], [[Imaginary]], and [[Symbolic]] father; "Vagina dentata," fantasy of.