W6-Mythological and Archetypal Appraoches

8/10/2019 W6-Mythological and Archetypal Appraoches

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Mythological andArchetypal Approaches


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I.Definitions and Misconceptions

The myth criticsstudy the so-called

archetypes or

archetypalpatterns. They

wish to reveal

about the peoplesmind and

character.

Myth is the symbolic projection of thepeoples hopes, values, fears, and

aspirations. The illustration is

Pandoras Box. According to

mythology, Pandoras Box is the

source of all misfortune but alsohope.


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Both mythological

criticism and the

psychologicalapproach are

concerned with

the motives thatunderlie human

behavior.

Comparisons between these two approaches


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Psychology tends tobe experimental and

diagnostic; it isrelated to biologicalscience. Mythologytends to bespeculative andphilosophical; itsaffinities are withreligion, anthropology,and cultural history.


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II. Examples of Archetypes:

A. Images1. Water:

a. The seab. Rivers

2. Sun

a. Rising sunb. Setting sun

3. ColorsArchetypes are universal symbol.

This is Ouroboros.


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4. Circle:

wholeness, unity

a. Mandala

b. Egg (oval)

c. Yin-Yangd. Ouroboros

5. Serpent (snake,

worm)

6. Numbers

Mandala

Yang-yin


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8. The demon lover (cf.Blakes The Sick Rose

and the Jungian animus)

9. Garden

10. Tree

11. Desert

12. Mountain


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B. Archetypal Motifs or Patterns

1. Creation: perhapsthe most

fundamental of all

archetypal motifs

2. Immortality (cf. To

His Coy Mistress)

a. Escape from timeb. Mystical

submersion into

cyclical time

Andrew Marvell


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3. Hero archetypes

a. The quest (cf.Oedipus)

b. Initiation

c. The sacrificial

scapegoat (cf.

Oedipus and

Hamlet)

The dueling match in Hamletis

a pattern of sacrifice-atonement-Catharsis

Oedipus the Rex


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Northrop Frye, in his

Anatomy of Criticism,indicates the

correspondent genres

for the four seasons:

1. Spring: comedy

2. Summer: romance

3. Fall: tragedy (cf.

Hamlet)

4. Winter: irony

C. Archetypes as Genres

Louis Bouwmeester (1842-

1925) as Oedipus


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III. Myth Criticism in Practice:A. Anthropology and Its Uses

Sir James G. Frazer, in hismonumental The Golden Bough,demonstrates the essential

similarity of manschief wants

everywhere and at all times.

Photo from1990 Main

Stage

Production of

Oedipus Rex by

Sophocles


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The central motif with

which Frazer deals is

the archetype ofresurrection,

specifically the myths

describing the killing

of the divine king.

Corollary to the rite

was the scapegoat

archetype.The book cover of

Shirley Jacksons The

Lottery


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1. The Sacrificial Hero: Hamlet

Hamlet was not the

playwrights invention but was

drawn from legend.

Philip Wheelwrights The

Burning Fountain, explaining

the organic source of good and

evil, is directly relevant to the

moral vision in Hamlet,

particularly to the implicationsof Claudiuss crime and its

disastrous consequences.


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2. Archetypes of Time and Immorality:

To His Coy Mistress

To His Coy Mistress is a poem about

time. It is concerned with immorality.

The last stanza presents an escape intocynical time and thereby a chance for

immorality.


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B. Jungian Psychology

C.G. Jungs myth

formingelements are inthe unconscious psyche;

he refers them asmotifs,

primordialimages,or archetypes.

He also detected the

relationship between

dreams, myths, and art

through which

archetypes come into

consciousness.

Carl Gustav Jung is known

as one of the foremost

psychological thinkers of

the 20th century.


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Individuation is apsychological growing

up, the process of

discovering thoseaspects of ones self

that make one an

individual differentfrom other members

of the species.

Individuation: Shadows, Persona, and Anima

Process of individuation:1. acknowledging that

these unconscious

tendencies are part of

oneself, of one's

personality


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Shadow The shadow is thedarker aspects of our

unconscious self, theinferior and less

pleasing aspects of the

personality, which wewish to suppress. (cf.Shakespeares Iago,

Miltons Satan,Goethes

Mephistopheles, andConrads Kurtz)

2. refusing to allow one's

personality to be

compelled by these

tendencies through

possession or projection


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AnimaThe anima is thesoul-image.It is

the contrasexual partof a mans psyche,

the image of the

opposite sex that hecarries in both his

personal and

collectiveunconscious. (cf.

Helen of Troy,Dantes Beatrice,

Miltons Eve)


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2. Young Goodman Brown: a

failure of individualization

Just as his persona has proved inadequate in

mediating between Browns ego and the

external world, so his anima fails in relating to

his inner world. In clinical terms, young Goodman Brown

suffers from a failure of personality

integration, because he is unable to confront

his shadow, recognize it as a part of his own

psyche, and assimilate it into his

consciousness.


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3. Creature or creator: who

is the real monster Speaking archetypally, we may say ofFrankenstein, just as we have said of Brown,

that he suffers from a failure of

individualization. He himself has conjured upand manufactured from his own immature

ego.

Even in his dying moments Victor insists upon

projecting his shadow-image upon the

monster, calling him my adversary and

persisting in the sad delusion that his own

past conduct is not blamable.


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D. Everyday Use: The

Great [Grand]Mother In the story, the archetypal womanmanifests herself as both Good Mother

and Earth Mother.

The Good Mother is associated with

such life-enhancing virtues as warmth,

nourishment, growth and protection.

Dee, the daughter and antagonist, has

broken that tradition.


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IV. Limitation of Myth

Criticism Back to the beginning of humankinds oldest ritualsand beliefs and deep into our own individual hearts.

The work of Jung is based upon culturally specific,

Western mythology-so that other cultures might beinformed by significantly different mythic structures.

The discreet critic will apply such extrinsic

perspectives as the mythological and psychological

only as far as they enhance the experience of the art

form, the structure and potential meaning of the work

consistently support such approaches.


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Related works and links about

mythological approaches Jung, Carl Gustav. Four Archetypes: Mother, Rebirth, Spirit, Trickster.

Trans. R. F. C. Hull. London: Routledge,1969.

---. The Archetypes and the Collective Unconscious. Trans. R.F.C. Hull.Princeton, N.J.: Princeton U P,1980.

Frye, Northrop.Anatomy of Criticism. Princeton, NJ: Princeton UP,1957.

Grazer, James G. The Golden Bough. Abridged ed. New York:Macmillan, 1992.

Introduction to Individuation.http://www.cnr.edu/home/bmcmanus/persona.html

Personality and ConsciousnessMajor Archetypes andIndividuation.http://pandc.ca/?cat=car_jung&page=major_archetypes_and_individuation

The Individuation Process

http://www.soul-guidance.com/houseofthesun/individuationprocess.htm
http://www.cnr.edu/home/bmcmanus/persona.htmlhttp://pandc.ca/?cat=car_jung&page=major_archetypes_and_individuationhttp://pandc.ca/?cat=car_jung&page=major_archetypes_and_individuationhttp://pandc.ca/?cat=car_jung&page=major_archetypes_and_individuationhttp://www.soul-guidance.com/houseofthesun/individuationprocess.htmhttp://www.soul-guidance.com/houseofthesun/individuationprocess.htmhttp://www.soul-guidance.com/houseofthesun/individuationprocess.htmhttp://www.soul-guidance.com/houseofthesun/individuationprocess.htmhttp://pandc.ca/?cat=car_jung&page=major_archetypes_and_individuationhttp://pandc.ca/?cat=car_jung&page=major_archetypes_and_individuationhttp://www.cnr.edu/home/bmcmanus/persona.html

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