This paper presents the view that the “need to be beguiled” is a fundamental experiential dimension immanent within the drive organization of the human psyche. It is argued that, as an expression of the “feminine,” inherent in the constitutional bisexuality of the psyche, this need makes itself felt from the very beginning of any mother–infant interaction. It seems to function as a sine qua non element for the establishment of early object relationships and for the reception and incorporation of perceptual and psychic stimuli arriving from without. Developmentally, this need finds expression in a variety of relational manifestations, that is, creative acceptance, receptivity, and surrender at one end of the spectrum, all the way to abusive masochism at the other. The position and vicissitudes of this dynamic within the psychoanalytic condition are examined with some thoroughness.