Imagined Human Beings. Bernard Jay Paris

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СКАЧАТЬ people regard the world as “an arena where, in the Darwinian sense, only the fittest survive and the strong annihilate the weak.” A “callous pursuit of self-interest is the paramount law” (Horney 1945, 64). There are no values inherent in the order of things except that might makes right. Considerateness, compassion, loyalty, unselfishness are all scorned as signs of weakness, “as restraints on the path to a sinister glory” (Horney 1950, 203). Those who value such qualities are fools just asking to be exploited. Aggressive people are sometimes drawn toward compliant types, however, because of their submissiveness and malleability—and also because of their own repressed self-effacing tendencies.

      Just as self-effacing people must repress their aggressive impulses in order to make their solution work, so for arrogant-vindictive people any “attitude of compliance would be incompatible” with their “whole structure of living” and would “shake its foundations.” They need to fight their softer feelings: “Nietzsche gives us a good illustration of these dynamics when he has his superman see any form of sympathy as a sort of fifth column, an enemy operating from within” (Horney 1945, 69–70). They fear the emergence of compliant trends because this would make them vulnerable in an evil world, would cause them to feel like fools, and would threaten their bargain, which is essentially with themselves. They do not count on the world to give them anything but are convinced they can reach their ambitious goals if they remain true to their vision of life as a battle and do not allow themselves to be seduced by the traditional morality or their own compliant tendencies. If their predominant solution collapses, powerful self-effacing trends may emerge.

      Predominantly arrogant-vindictive characters who have been discussed in Horneyan terms include Iago (Rosenberg 1961, Rabkin and Brown 1973, Paris 1991a), Edmund, Goneril, Regan, Lady Macbeth, and Macbeth after the murder (Paris 1991a), and Richard III and Cassius (Paris 1991b) in Shakespeare; Julien Sorel in Stendhal’s The Red and the Black (Paris 1974); Becky Sharp in Vanity Fair (Paris 1974); Count Guido in Browning’s The Ring and the Book (Lewis 1986); Raskolnikov in Dostoevsky’s Crime and Punishment (Paris 1978c, 1991c, 1994b); and Joe Christmas in Faulkner’s Light in August (Haselswerdt 1986).

      Predominantly narcissistic people also seek mastery, but their childhoods are quite different from those of arrogant-vindictive people, as are their strategies of defense. Whereas arrogant-vindictive people have usually been subject to abuse, narcissistic people were often “favored and admired” children who were “gifted beyond average” and “early and easily won distinctions” (Horney 1950, 194). The goal of aggressive people is to prove their superiority to their detractors through achievement; the goal of narcissistic people is to maintain the sense of being exceptional that they imbibed in childhood. “Healthy friction with the wishes and will of others” (18), which Horney regards as an essential condition of sound development, and the need to earn a sense of worth through achievement, are missing in their early experience. They develop an unrealistic sense of their powers and importance, and this creates anxiety of a different kind from that experienced by those toward whom the world has been begrudging. They are afraid of other people whose genuine accomplishments or refusal to indulge them call their inflated conception of themselves into question. Note that Horney does not posit a primary narcissism, as do many other theorists, but rather sees narcissism, like aggression, as a reaction to an unhealthy environment.

      As adults, narcissists seek to master life “by self-admiration and the exercise of charm” (Horney 1950, 212). They have an “unquestioned belief in [their] greatness and uniqueness” that gives them a “buoyancy and perennial youthfulness.” The narcissist “has (consciously) no doubts; he is the anointed, the man of destiny, the great giver, the benefactor of mankind.” He feels that there is “no one he cannot win” and is adept at charming people “with a scintillating display of feeling, with flattery, with favors and help—in anticipation of admiration or in return for devotion received.” His insecurity is manifested by the fact that he “may speak incessantly of his exploits or of his wonderful qualities and needs endless confirmation of his estimate of himself in the form of admiration and devotion” (194).

      Like arrogant-vindictive people, narcissists use people and do “not seem to mind breaking promises, being unfaithful, incurring debts, defrauding” (Horney 1990, 195). But they are not “scheming exploiters”; rather, they feel that their needs are “so important that they entitle [them] to every privilege.” They expect unconditional love from others, no matter how much they “trespass on their rights.”

      Because their imagination is captivated by “the glory of the dramatic,” narcissists resent “the humble tasks of daily living” as “humiliating.” They have fantasies of “quick and glamorous achievement,” avoid consistent effort and attention to detail, and quickly lose interest as a face-saving device if they encounter obstacles (Horney 1950, 313–15). When disillusioned they may give up their ambitions, telling themselves that they would have accomplished something great if they had decided really to try.

      On the surface narcissistic people are “rather optimistic” and “turn outward toward life,” but “there are undercurrents of despondency and pessimism” (Horney 1950, 196). They see the world as a fostering parent, expect continual good luck, and demand the fulfillment of their wishes by fate and other people. Their bargain is that if they hold onto their dreams and their exaggerated claims for themselves, life is bound to give them what they want. Since life can never match their expectations, they feel, in their weaker moments, that it is full of tragic contradictions.

      Predominantly narcissistic characters who have been discussed in Horneyan terms include King Lear (Paris 1991a) and Richard II (Paris 1991b) in Shakespeare, Jane Austen’s Emma Woodhouse (Paris 1978b), Mathilde de la Mole in The Red and the Black (Paris 1974), and Conrad’s Lord Jim (Paris 1974).

      In Neurosis and Human Growth, Horney gives the least amount of attention to the perfectionistic solution, but she discusses it also in New Ways in Psychoanalysis, where she argues that an adherence to “rigid and high moral standards” and a “drive toward rectitude and perfection” (1939, 207) are not products of an instinctually based superego but special needs of individuals who have had a certain kind of childhood. They were made to feel worthless or guilty if they did not live up to their parents’ demands, but by conforming to expectations they could put themselves beyond reproach and gain a feeling of superiority. Perfectionists do not revel in a sense of being wonderful, like narcissists, but derive a sadistic satisfaction from their rectitude because it shows others “how stupid, worthless, and contemptible they are.” They want to “strike others with righteous indignation from the height of their infallibility,” to “inflict the same injury” on others that their parents inflicted on them (218–21).

      As adults, perfectionists feel superior because of their “high standards, moral and intellectual, and on this basis look down on others” (Horney 1950, 196). They easily feel guilty but regard this as a virtue because it proves their “high sensitivity toward moral requirements.” If the analyst points out that their self-recriminations are exaggerated, they may feel that the analyst is inferior and “cannot possibly understand” them (Horney 1939, 220). Unlike narcissists, perfectionists work hard and pay obsessive attention to details. What really matters is not the details themselves “but the flawless excellence of the whole conduct of life” (Horney 1950, 196). Only this will reduce their anxiety, make them feel superior to others, and give them a sense of controlling their own destiny.

      Since they are pursuing the impossible, perfectionists must find ways to defend themselves against failure and its consequences. One defense is to equate “standards and actualities—knowing about moral values and being a good person” (Horney 1950, 196). While they deceive themselves in this way, they may insist that others live up to their standards and “despise them for failing to do so. [Their] own self-condemnation is thus externalized.” The imposition of their standards on others leads to admiration for a select few and a critical or condescending attitude toward most people.

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