Archetypal Literature Adapted from Literature in Critical Perspectives, edited by Walter K. Gordon. Appleton-Century-Crofts. New York. 1968.

(ar ka tip al original pattern or model; prototype) In recent years a school of literary criticism has emerged that both accepts and rejects earlier critical methods. This school accepts the concepts that a work of art is produced by a cultural climate but one extending beyond the present and recent past. Although close, critical reading of the material is still important, this school holds that the work of art is not self-sufficient for complete understanding. This school explores the collective rather than the individual aspects of the human psyche. Since this approach emphasizes myth in its approach, it is often called mythic. More often, however, because it emphasizes repetitive patterns, in mans life as revealed in his literature, only some of which are embodied in myths, this critical perspective is called archetypal, a word that refers to a pattern from which copies are made. This basic contention, archetypal criticism, is that literature and literary expression are unconscious products of the collective experience of the entire human species. As such, literature is therefore internally related with mans cultural past. To support this assertion, archetypal criticism draws heavily on the non-literary field of mans historical and prehistoric past religion, anthropology, and folklore in order to understand and interpret the creative mind. Of particular interest to these critics are mans civilization his rites, rituals, mores, folkways, and myths that is, all the beliefs and practices that combine to form human cultural behavior. The theories of Carl Jung (1875-1961), a Swiss psychologist, are at the base of this school of criticism. Jungs investigations brought forth two ideas, which are especially important and influential in literary criticism: the concept of the collective unconscious and theory of the archetype. Freud believed that each individuals unconscious psyche differed from all others. Jung accepted this idea, but suggested that one individuals psyche shared characteristics identical with the psyche of all other individuals of the same species. He believed that this part of the mind goes beyond the experience of the person and is the same in all minds because it draws upon the common source of the experience of the whole human race. For Jung, then, the experiences of the individual are conditioned by the experiences of the human race, of all who have gone before. This, Jung called the collective unconscious. He further believed that this collective unconscious is not directly knowable, but that it is expressed in the form of the archetype, a figure that repeats itself in the course of history wherever creative fantasy is fully manifested. Essentially, therefore, this archetype is a mythological figure, the formulated resultants of countless experiences of our ancestors. The fundamental quality of the archetype, as Jung conceived it, is that it is primordial, a preconscious, instinctual expression of mans basic nature. Biologists have long recognized that such inborn behavior patterns exist in lower animals. The nesting of birds, the ritual dance of bees, the spinning instinct of spiders, and the migratory habits of certain birds are all examples of actions that are not acquired but that seem derived from the remotest beginnings of the species. (Prove this yourselves by observing a dog, which is about to lie down. Why does he often turn around three times or more before he lies down? Could it be that his forefathers did this when they were in the wild state in order to

smooth out a place to rest?) Jung thought that in like manner, subtle psychophysical and atavistic (throwback) forces concentrate mans behavior into perceptible patterns. He believed also that, although the archetypes may take on innumerable forms, their essential patterns grow out of mans as a social, psychological, and biological being. Jung also asserted that the archetypal is universal; it is generated by mans psyche regardless of time or place. The archetypes expression is as meaningful to a Bantu tribesman as to an advertising executive, as relevant to a Roman gladiator as to an astronaut. Since mans psycho-neurological mechanism differs from time to time and from place to place, and since man undergoes essentially the same kinds of basic experiences, the expression of his collective expression is bound to be the same. The findings of many modern anthropologists lend credence to Jungs views. Research has shown amazing similarities between myths collected from widely different geographical and cultural areas. Stories explaining the creation of man and the world, for example, seem to be universal. Ancient Mayans, Buddhists, Hindus, and Christians have all been confronted with the archetypal problem of understanding their own experience. Their explanations have been introduced into holy books, religious rituals, and sacramental practices that are strikingly similar. Other universal, or near-universal, motifs reported by anthropologists are stories of the destruction of the world by flood, famine, plague, or earthquake; the slaying of monsters; incest myths; sibling rivalries; and Oedipus legends. To be sure, the details of theses stories frequently vary greatly from culture to culture, but the basic pattern remains amazingly alike. Nor can the persistence of these stories be explained by an interaction among people who originated them. So geographically remote are some of the areas concerned, and so unlikely the prospect of social intercourse, that many anthropologists have concluded with Jung that those and similar stories generate from the common problems of diverse peoples as they confront their universe, gods, parents, and children. That is, they believe, the stories originate from experiences, attitudes, and problems that are universal rather than particular. A final archetypal characteristic is that it is recurrent. From prehistoric times until the end of the earth, it expresses mans reaction to essentially changeless situations. Each generation of readers unconsciously reacts to the archetype as it stimulates an image already in their collective unconscious. One of the major reasons we applaud the creation of such literary works as Faust, Macbeth, or Huckleberry Finn is that they depict some eternal quality, some enduring feature of the human race. As the archetype reaches into the racial past, and recreates the spiritual progenitors of the present, each generation recognizes itself and responds emotionally. Jung believed that the creative process consists mainly of successive embodiments of the archetypes, of fashioning primordial images into the language of the present which makes it possible for every man to find again the deepest springs of life which would otherwise be closed to him. The number of possible archetypes is as unlimited as the variety of mans experiences. Their appearances, however, may be grouped in three major categories: (1) characters, (2) situations, and (3) symbols or associations. Characters: A. The Hero Lord Raglan in The Hero: A study in Tradition, Myth, and Drama

contends that this archetype is so well defined that the life of the protagonist can be clearly divided into a series of well-marked adventures, which strongly suggest a ritualistic pattern. Raglan finds that traditionally the heros mother is a virgin, the circumstances of his conception are unusual and at birth some attempt is made to kill him. He is, however, spirited away and reared by foster parents. We know almost nothing about his childhood, but upon reaching manhood he returns to his future kingdom. After a victory over the king or a wild beast, he marries a princess, becomes king, reigns uneventfully, but later loses favor with the gods. He is then driven from the city after which he meets a mysterious death, often as the top of a hill. His body is not buried, but nevertheless he has one or more holy sepulchers. Characters who exemplify this archetype to a greater or lesser extent are Oedipus, Theseus, Romulus, Perseus, Jason, Dionysus, Joseph, Moses, Elijah, Jesus Christ, Siegfried, Beowulf, Arthur, Robin Hood, Watu Gunun (Japanese), and Uew Llawayffes (Celtic). Superman B. The Scapegoat An animal or more usually a human being whose death in a public ceremony expiates some taint or sin that has been visited upon a community. Characters who exemplify this archetype to a greater or lesser extent are Jesus Christ, Rubaishov, the old Bolshevik in Koestlers novel Darkness at Noon, and Shirley Jacksons The Lottery. C. The Outcast A figure who is banished from a social group for some crime against his fellow man. The outcast is usually destined to become a wanderer from place to place. (E.g., Cain, the Wandering Jew, the Ancient Mariner.) D. The Devil Figure Evil incarnate, this character offers worldly goods, fame, or knowledge to the protagonist in exchange for possession of his soul. (E.g., Lucifer, Mephistopheles, Satan, the Faust Legend.) E. The Woman Figure 1. The Earth mother Symbolic of fruition, abundance, and fertility, this character traditionally offers spiritual and emotional nourishment to those with whom she comes in contact. (E.g., Mother Nature, Mother Country, Alma Mater.) 2. The Temptress Characterized by sensuous beauty, this woman is one to whom the protagonist is physically attracted and who ultimately brings about his downfall. (E.g., Dantes Beatrice, Petrarchs Laura, most Shelleyan heroines.) 3. The Unfaithful Wife A woman, married to a man she sees as dull and unimaginative, is physically attracted to a more virile and desirable man. (E.g., Guinevere, Madam Bovary, Anna Karenina, Lady Chatterly). F. Star-Crossed Lovers A young man or woman enters an ill-fated affair, which ends tragically in the death of either or both of the lovers. (E.g., Romeo and Juliet, West Side Story, Tristan and Isolde, Hero and Leander). Situations: A. The Quest This motif describes the search for someone or some talisman which

when found and brought back, will restore fertility to a wasted land, the desolation of which is mirrored by a leaders illness and disability. Jessie L. Westons From Ritual to Romance traces one facet of this archetype through the quests of Gawain, Percival, and Galahad for the Holy Grail. This situation is used in Tennysons Idylls of the King, as well as in shorter poems by Moris, Browning, and Arnold. Ahabs monomaniacal quest for the albino whale in Moby Dick is a variation on this archetype. B. The Task To save the kingdom, to win the fair lady, to identify himself so that he may resume his rightful position, the Hero must perform some nearly superhuman deed. (E.g., Odysseus must string the bow, Arthur must pull the sword from the stone, Beowulf must slay Grendel, Sir Gawain must find the Green Knight). C. The Initiation This usually takes the form of an initiation into life, that is, the depiction of an adolescent coming into maturity and adulthood with all the attendant problems and responsibilities that this process involves. An awakening, awareness, or an increased perception of the world and the people in it usually forms the climax of the archetypal situation. (E.g., Holden Caulfield, Huckleberry Finn, Stephen Dedalus, Eugene Gant). D. The Journey This usually takes form with any or all of the foregoing situational types. The journey is used to send the Hero in search of information or intellectual truth. A common employment of the journey archetype is the descent into hell. (E.g., Odyssey, Aenid, Inferno, Endymion, Joyces Ulysses, Beowulf). A second use of this pattern is the depiction of a limited number of travelers on an airplane flight, sea voyage, bus ride, or walking trip for the purpose of isolating them as a microcosm of society. (E.g., The Canterbury Tales, Shih of Fools, Lost Horizon, The Bridge of San Luis Rey.) E. The Fall This archetype describes a descent from a higher to a lower state of being. The experience involves spiritual defilement and/or a loss of innocence and bliss. The fall is also usually accompanied by expulsion from some kind of paradise as penalty for disobedience and moral transgression. (E.g., Adam and Eve, Paradise Lost, Billy Budd). F. Death and Rebirth The most common of all situational archetypes, this motif grows out of the parallel between the cycle of nature and the cycle of life. Thus, morning and springtime represent birth, youth and/or rebirth; evening and winter suggest old age or death. Anthropologists believe that fertility rites and vegetative rituals usually took place in the spring because this is the time of physical regeneration of Nature, and appropriate time to enact ritualistic statements of spiritual rebirth and resurrection. In The Golden Bough Sir James Grazer cites many rite celebrating the rebirth of dying gods, especially among the peoples of Egypt and Western Asia. Tied closely to the seasonal patterns are a variety of ritualistic observances to such annually resurrected gods as Osiris, Tammuz, Adonis, and Attis. Writers frequently make use of this archetype. For example, poems of death and

despondency are usually set at night (e.g., Grays Elegy. Poes The Raven) or in winter (e.g., Frosts Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening.) A somewhat different use of the same archetype is shown in Tess of the DUrbervilles. When Tesss life is spiritually fulfilled and emotionally satisfying, she works as a dairymaid on a farm where lush vegetation and agricultural abundance prevail. But when she loses all, her life is empty and without purpose, she is employed on a farm that is all but barren and where vegetation is scant. Hardy thus mirrors her emotional condition in the physical conditions of the farms. Notice also what happens to Per Hansa and Beret in Giants in the Earth. Symbols and Associations: The collective unconscious makes certain associations between the outside world and psychic experiences. These as associations become enduring and are passed from one generation to the next. Some of the more common archetypal associations are as follows: A. Light/Darkness light usually suggests hope, renewal, or intellectual illumination; darkness implies the unknown, ignorance, or despair. (E.g., Dover Beach, most Gothic literature, The Red Badge of Courage, such TV soap operas as The Guiding Light, The Edge of Night, Dark Shadows, etc.) B. Water/Desert Because water is necessary to life and growth, it commonly appears as a birth or rebirth symbol. It is archetypally significant, anthropologists believe, that water is used in baptismal services, which solemnize birth. Similarly, the appearance of rain in a work of literature can suggest the characters regeneration or rebirth. (E.g., The Ancient Mariner.) Conversely, the aridity of the desert is often associated with spiritual sterility or desiccation. (E.g., The Waste Land.) C. Heaven/Hell Man has traditionally associated parts of the universe not accessible to him with the dwelling places of the primordial forces that govern his world. The skies and mountain tops housing gods while the bowels of the earth contain diabolic forces that inhabit his universe. (E.g., Mount Olympus, the Underworld, Paradise Lost, The Divine Comedy.) It should be noted that the primitive mind tends not to make fine discriminations but thinks rather in terms of polarities. Thus, when archetypes appear in a work of literature, they usually evoke their primordial opposites. Good is in conflict with evil; birth symbols are juxtaposed with death images; depictions of heaven are countered by descriptions of hell; and for every Penelope, there is usually a Circe to balance the archetypal scales. The advantages of archetypal criticism are apparent. First, it relates literature to other areas of intellectual activity in a coherent, meaningful way. Secondly, by placing literature against an unfolding cultural panorama, it clarifies the author-work-audience relationship to a degree unmatched by other critical modes. As Stanley Hyman observes, archetypes exist all along the chain of communication; as configurations in the authors unconscious, as recurring themes or images sequences in literature, and as configurations in the readers unconscious. Because of this threshold emphasis, archetypal criticism

interprets a work of art simultaneously from psychological, aesthetic, and cultural points of view. No other approach can claim so much.