The author reviews Freud's (1914) seminal paper ‘On narcissism: an introduction’. Freud's paper is briefly set in the historical context of the evolution of psychoanalysis and psychoanalytic theories, and Freud's metapsychology up to the publication of his Narcissism paper is outlined. A detailed and comprehensive description of the content of the paper is given, accompanied by commentary on, and critical analysis of, Freud's ideas. Freud's applications of his ideas about narcissism in relation to homosexuality, hypochondria and psychosis are elucidated and discussed. The author concludes by considering some of the influences of Freud's ideas about narcissism on Kleinian and post-Kleinian developments in psychoanalytic theory.