The developing understanding of the concepts of splitting linked to primitive persecutory anxieties, and attended by the primitive defence mechanisms of omnipotent denial, projection and projective identification is discussed in the context of literary themes, particularly those contained in the classical Gothic novel. Most specifically the concept of perverse relationships between parts of the self, including overtly malignant and benign parts is discussed with examples from literature illustrating a gradation which coincides with the

development of understanding about destructive narcissism. The themes which are explored range from the concept of splitting and projective identification per se to a sense of horror at the destructiveness which has been countenanced, and ends with the sacrifice of much needed and dependable objects in the pursuit of the individual's magic omnipotence.