Lacan's dictum that "the only thing of which one can be guilty is of having given ground relative to one's desire' (Lacan, 1992: 319) raises a number of interpretative problems. Any considered reading of this statement would have to account not only for the precise meaning of the dual terms "desire' and "guilt' but, crucially, for how these two terms might interrelate, that is, what might be meant by "having given ground relative to'.