In this paper, we trace the history of the concept of repetition compulsion and offer a critical discussion of it and its precursors in Freud's theoretical system. We also present an overview of the different ways in which this problematic phenomenon has been interpreted and conceptualized by subsequent schools of psychoanalytic thought. Based on this, and with special reference to Lacan's work, we develop a new approach to and understanding of the repetition compulsion and the death instinct.