Excerpt: Narcissism takes its name from the legendary figure Narcissus, who fell in love with his own reflection in a woodland pool and pined away in unrequited love, and has come to refer to self-love. It involves a vain and grandiose selfcentredness, and auto-eroticism, *hedonism, vanity, exhibitionism and arrogant ingratitude are commonly considered to be elements. The late twentieth century has been characterized as the age of narcissism because of its hedonistic self-centred focus
