Re: A little more Narcissus -- Mimetic Theory and Literary Study

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Date Posted: 19:58:25 04/12/08 Sat
Author: Cara
Subject: Re: A little more Narcissus
In reply to: Erin Risch 's message, "A little more Narcissus" on 10:17:11 04/05/08 Sat

The youth in the second half of your message sounds like a really interesting example of someone being both object and rival for the same person. I think we may have talked about it before in reference to "the coquette". Whereas a coquette uses a desire of the self to provoke the same desire in someone else, the youth's desire is for Narcissus, and at the same time he hates Narcissus for possessing and withholding himself.

In the book I'm writing about for my paper, a relatively similar rivalry arises. The protagonist marries a very strange and rather cruel man, and both of them are somewhat egotistical. They develop a rivalry over Isabel's freedom of thought, because they value their egos more than anything else. If Isabel has free ideas, she dominates Gilbert and possesses her own will and ego. If Gilbert controls her ideas, he dominates her, and deprives her of her egotism.

This could be a part of common parent-child conflicts -- a rivalry over a person's free will.

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