Klein is often viewed as a transitional figure in psychoanalytic theory. On the one hand, her exploration of the inner life of the child as part of her pioneering an object relations approach prepared the way for the psychodynamic reorientation of psychoanalysis. Yet, in deploying the language of ego, superego, and id and relying on instinct and libidinal stage theory, thereby minimizing the formative role of the relational environment, Klein was said to be squarely in the tradition of Freudianism. From this perspective, a consistently psychodynamic and relational psychoanalysis was left to her successors.

Dissenting, I make the case that a theory of the origins and struggles of the self is at the center of her work. It's true that Klein rarely speaks of the “self.” Instead, she uses the Freudian ego/superego/id. However, her developmental perspective assumes the more enveloping construct of the self. Indeed, I argue that Klein offers a highly original, deeply relational, account of the psychodynamic making of the self.