Masochism and Fantasies of Preparing to be Incorporated

Clinical observations have led me to the impression that masochism is associated with fantasies and acts of self-preparation for being incorporated. The fantasied and actual self-destruction has as its unconscious aim the goal of achieving a secure and physically gratifying union with an omnipotent figure. The incorporation may take place by oral, respiratory, and other pathways.

In the oral pattern the individual prepares himself by self-destructive fantasies and ritualistic acts to be devoured by and become part of an omnipotent figure. The emphasis in the manifest parts of the fantasies is on the preparation rather than on the ultimate aim of being incorporated, and so achieving identification. This later aim may be brought to consciousness by analysis.

Freud (7) has indicated that in erotogenic masochism the particular wish or fear is related to libidinal development. The wish and fear of being devoured is part of the oral phase. The wishes to be beaten, to be castrated, or, in the case of a male, to play the role of a woman in intercourse, are related to their respective phases. However, in this paper the question raised is whether or not self-preparation for being incorporated is a basic motive in the development of masochistic fantasies and acts.

The first case is that of a middle-aged man with a long history of self-belittling and self-destructive tendencies. He was asked to go to lunch to discuss important business matters with his boss. In an analytic session he described the luncheon as a terrifying ordeal. He felt as though his body were contracting and becoming small, and he feared that he was going to faint. He spoke of a feeling of evaporating or expiring, and he experienced a trembling sensation as if he would "go to pieces." During that time he felt