Bearing a beautiful daughter: conflicting identifications for a new mother and for the observer

Abstract

This paper describes a particular aspect of an infant observation which highlights Meltzer's theory of the aesthetic conflict and his ideas concerning the overwhelming nature of the aesthetic impact, not only for the mother in her identification with her infant, but also for the observer in witnessing the ‘beauty of mother and her daughter's world’. The paper gives a detailed account of an infant observation in which the more ordinary and imaginative relationship between mother and her infant daughter was fleetingly interrupted by absences in the mother's ongoing attentive link with her infant. These moments are explored through the observer's experience of being disorientated and disappointed. The role of the observer and seminar group is considered as facilitating an essential containing function for the split off and projected aspects of the mother and shows an increasing capacity to manage her envy and jealousy through the course of the observation.