Envy: the canker in the bud

Abstract

This paper attempts to explore the origins and mechanisms of envy through the relationship between two fictional sisters, Ruth and Elizabeth, in the short novel Sin by Josephine Hart (1992/1996, p. 138) and draw some parallels with case material. It will develop the hypothesis that the desire behind envy is not only to destroy the good that the envied one has, but also to become who the envied one is in order to have what they have. It will also show how this compulsion, which seeks basically to destroy and supplant, arises from an infant's failure to retain goodness for itself, resulting in a deep sense of unworthiness. Melanie Klein's assertion that envy arises in the very early dyadic stage of development is central to the way in which it is experienced, and this will be explored. Through its obsession with what is projected outside of the self, envy inherently alienates the envier from himself and is ultimately destined to fail in its desire, resulting only in self-destruction. Sin concerns the relationship between two first cousins, thrown together as ‘sisters’. It is the story of envy pursued with cold and calculated precision. It illustrates in painful detail the desire of the envier, Ruth, the narrator, to destroy the goodness that she envies and to become the envied one, Elizabeth. It offers its own hypothesis about how the envied one protects herself against envy without becoming contaminated by these destructive impulses and the aggressive desire for retaliation. Finally, it reveals the terror of annihilation that envy defends against and how, indeed whether, it is possible to confront this underlying threat.