L'enfant et les sortileges revisited

The author discusses 'L' Enfant et les sortileges', an opera by Ravel based on a short story by Colette, which traces the trials and tribulations of a young boy whose bad behaviour leads to his being sent to his room, left al one and given only tea and bread until dinner. His progression from angel t o persecution and fear, the various defences he employs to protect himself from fee ling overwhelmed and his despair ave graphically illustrated throu gh words and music The author considers the opera in relation to Klein's th eory of the paranoid-schizoid position and the struggle involved in maintai ning contact with good objects, externally and internally,. Revisiting the opera in light of Meltzer's contribution to psychoanalytic thinking provide s a wider perspective in which to explore what he has termed the aesthetic conflict and its place in relation to the depressive position and developme ntal processes.