Lacan- The Mirror Phase

The Mirror Phase is a theory formed during the 1950's by French Psychoanalyst Jacques Marie Emile Lacan that he describes as being formative in the function of the I as revealed in psychoanalytical experience. The Mirror Phase describes the formation of the ego through a process of objectification, the Ego being the result of a conflict between the subjects physical appearance and emotional experience. Lacan referred to this identification of the self as alienation. Lacan states that the Mirror base first occurs as an infant, at six months the child still has no physical co-ordination, yet they are able to recognise themselves in a mirror prior to their attainment of this control over their bodily movements. The child sees this image of themselves as a whole and the synthesis of this image produces a sense of contrast with their lack of physical control, which is perceived as being a fragmented body. The child experiences this contrast initially as a rivalry with the image as its "wholeness" threatens the child with fragmentation, so the Mirror Phase gives rise to an aggressive tension between the subject and the image. The subject will then try to identify with the image to resolve the aggressive tension and this primary identification with the counterpart forms the Ego. Lacan describes this as a moment of jubilation as it gives the subject a false sense of mastery over the image, yet when the child compares its own sense of mastery to the omnipotence of the mother a feeling of depression may also accompany the  jubilation of he child.