Introduction

The Introduction presents Meltzer&s;s understanding of narcissism as a condition rooted in the unconscious phantasy of intrusion into the inside of the internal mother of infantile phantasy. He calls the inside of the maternal internal object the ‘claustrum&s;; an enclosed space within which safety and narcissistic sustenance is sought, but which provokes persecutory anxieties in the intruder, particularly claustrophobia. Meltzer&s;s formulation (along with other Kleinian thought) is at the heart of this book&s;s interpretation of The Lord of the Rings , which is approached as a psychological developmental journey towards integration and health. Meltzer&s;s ideas are therefore used to elucidate The Lord of the Rings , as The Lord of the Rings is used to elucidate Meltzer&s;s ideas. The nature of this critical approach is then discussed in relation to various acknowledged pitfalls with psychoanalytic literary criticism. One of this book&s;s core aspirations is to come to an understanding of the polarised reader-responses to The Lord of the Rings , considering the psychological processes evoked by the tale.