The Appeasement of Ancestral Ghosts: with John Steiner and Ronald Britton

The Melanie Klein Trust was founded on 1st February 1955 to promote training and research in the psychoanalytic theory and technique adopted and practised by Melanie Klein.  The primary objects of the Melanie Klein Trust are:- To further and promote training and research in psychoanalytic theory and technique as adopted, developed and practised by Melanie Klein and ‘developments thereof’.- To publish, promote and encourage the publication of books, articles, pamphlets, and papers which are based upon or may further the contributions to psychoanalytic theory and technique made by Melanie Klein.- To promote clinical work in psychoanalysis based upon the theory and and technique of Melanie Klein.- Generally to secure the furtherance and development of theory and technique of psychoanalysis adopted, developed and practised by Melanie Klein.- To do all this in any part of the world.

The Melanie Klein Trust

Two-part webinar series with John Steiner, Ronald Britton, chaired by Michael Feldman

The Appeasement of Ancestral Ghosts: Shakespeare’s Hamlet and Aeschylus’ OresteiaWe are delighted to have John Steiner and Ron Britton presenting new papers in a two-part webinar series this autumn. John Steiner will explore mourning in Shakespeare’s Hamlet, followed the week after by Ron Britton examining the ego and super-ego in Aeschylus’ Oresteia.Join us for these special webinars on two of the most compelling tragic dramas in Western literature.Chaired by Michael Feldman, each event will consist of a paper presentation and discussion between the speakers and Chair, followed by questions from the audience.Everyone who registers will receive a link to a recording of the event a few days afterwards, which will be available to view for two weeks.Part One - 1st October: Turning Ancestral Ghosts into Ancestors: Mourning in Hamlet, by John SteinerAs Freud described, the vital work of mourning is obstructed if a lost object is concretely internalised, haunting the bereaved like an ancestral ghost demanding reparation and revenge. To mourn properly, one must do the difficult work of withdrawing projections, giving up the object, and allowing the ghost to return to its grave. The lost object lives on in the internal world, but now as a symbol: the ghosts become ancestors. Shakespeare’s Hamlet shows how painful the choice can be between identifying with ancestral values and defying them to articulate a personal point of view. The young Hamlet is spurred to revenge when he discovers that his dead father&#x27;s hatred of the new king and queen aligns with his own. However, this revenge is delayed by his capacity for introspection and empathic suffering, while his ability to think symbolically opens up a rich world of imagination, fantasy and dreaming.Part Two - 8th October: ‘Time must have a stop’ – Ron Britton on the OresteiaThe Oresteia, by Greek tragedian Aeschylus, was described by Gilbert Murray as an, ‘attempt of a powerful mind to think out one of the deep, unresolved mysteries of life – the problem of Sin, Punishment and Forgiveness.’ This ‘unresolved mystery’ resurfaced in the European Renaissance, notably in the plays of Shakespeare, and has since also re-emerged in psychology. In psychoanalysis, it appears as the problem of the relationship between the ‘superego’ and the ‘ego’, and it was this that attracted Melanie Klein to write about the Oresteia late in life, while reviewing her ideas on the development of the superego. Ron Britton will examine how these ideas appear in the Oresteia, drawing on Klein’s thinking and his own psychoanalytic understanding.John Steiner, Ron Britton and Michael Feldman are all Distinguished Fellows of the British Psychoanalytical Society. John Steiner and Ron Britton are recipients of the Sigourney Award. Michael Feldman is Chair of the Melanie Klein Trust.-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------We are a charity, and we rely upon income from events like these to continue our work. However, just as it is a challenging time for us, we understand that many others are in a similar situation, and we do not want the price of entry to be a barrier to anyone keen to attend our online events. If the ticket price is prohibitively high for you at the current time, please email the MKT Administrator at contact@melaniekleintrust.org.uk, who has a number of free places available for each event.-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------How we use your data: please note that by registering for this event you are giving consent for us to add your details to the Melanie Klein Trust mailing list. We use Mailchimp to store subscribers&#x27; details, which we use to send occasional emails about news and events that may be of interest. We don&#x27;t pass on subscribers&#x27; details to anyone else and you can unsubscribe at any time. For more details see our <a href="https://melanie-klein-trust.org.uk/privacy-policy/" target="_blank" data-msys-clicktrack="0" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer">privacy policy.</a>

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The Appeasement of Ancestral Ghosts: with John Steiner and Ronald Britton

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The Appeasement of Ancestral Ghosts: with John Steiner and Ronald Britton

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