Archetypal Criticism
Hello everyone this blog is responding to a thinking activity task assigned by the Head of Dept.Dr.Dilip.Barad which is based on Northern Fry’s theory of ‘Archetypal Criticism’. For further reading Click Here
1) What is Archetypal Criticism?
Archetypal Criticism is a branch of literary analysis that seeks to uncover universal, recurring symbols, themes, and narrative archetypes embedded in literature, art, and culture. Rooted in the psychological theories of Carl Jung, it posits that humanity shares a "collective unconscious", a reservoir of primordial images and experiences inherited across generations. These archetypes (e.g., the Hero, the Mother, the Journey) transcend individual cultures and time periods, reflecting shared human instincts, fears, and desires.
Key Concepts:
Jung’s Collective Unconscious: Jung argued that archetypes are innate psychic structures, not learned. For example, the "Shadow" (dark, repressed aspects of the self) or the "Anima/Animus" (feminine/masculine qualities) appear in myths, dreams, and art.
Northrop Frye’s Expansion: In Anatomy of Criticism (1957), Frye systematized archetypal criticism by linking literature to mythic cycles (e.g., seasons, birth-death-rebirth) and categorizing works into modes (mythic, romantic, high mimetic, low mimetic, ironic).
Monomyth (Joseph Campbell): The "Hero’s Journey" (e.g., departure, initiation, return) is a universal narrative pattern found in myths like The Odyssey and modern stories like Star Wars.
Archetypal criticism aims to reveal how literature taps into these timeless patterns to evoke profound emotional and psychological responses. It bridges the gap between the personal and universal, showing how individual stories resonate with humanity’s shared symbolic language.
2) What Do Archetypal Critics Do?
Archetypal critics analyze texts by identifying and interpreting recurring patterns that align with universal human experiences. Their work involves:
a) Identifying Archetypal Motifs
Character Types: The Hero (e.g., Harry Potter), the Mentor (Gandalf in Lord of the Rings), the Trickster (Loki in Norse myths), the Scapegoat (Jesus in Christian theology).
Symbols: Water (purification, rebirth), the Garden (paradise, innocence), the Desert (spiritual aridity).
Narrative Structures: The Quest (search for identity or a sacred object), the Fall (loss of innocence, as in Paradise Lost).
b) Connecting to Myths and Universal Narratives
Critics draw parallels between texts and ancient myths, religious stories, or folklore. For example:
Comparing the dystopian society in The Hunger Games to the myth of Theseus and the Minotaur.
Linking the "wasteland" motif in T.S. Eliot’s poem to fertility myths and the Fisher King legend.
c) Analyzing Psychological and Cultural Resonance
Jungian Psychology: Critics explore how archetypes reflect universal psychological struggles (e.g., the "Shadow" in Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde).
Cultural Universals: Themes like death/rebirth (e.g., The Phoenix) or the battle between good and evil (e.g., Beowulf) appear across cultures.
Mythic: Gods and supernatural beings (e.g., The Odyssey).
Romantic: Idealized heroes (e.g., King Arthur).
High Mimetic: Tragic human figures (e.g., Shakespeare’s Hamlet).
Low Mimetic: Realistic, everyday characters (e.g., Jane Austen’s novels).
Ironic: Anti-heroes and fragmented societies (e.g., Kafka’s The Metamorphosis).
Forests (the unknown, transformation, as in Dante’s Inferno).
Mountains (spiritual ascension, as in The Pilgrim’s Progress).
3) Exemplify How Archetypal Criticism is Done?
Case Study: The Lion King (1994)
*Step1 Identify Archetypes:- The Hero’s Journey (Monomyth): Simba’s journey follows Campbell’s structure:
Departure: Exile after Mufasa’s death.
Initiation: Guidance from Rafiki (mentor), confronting Scar (Shadow).
Return: Restoring balance to the Pride Lands.
*The Circle of Life: A mythic symbol of eternal cyclicality (birth-death-rebirth).
*Archetypal Characters:
Mufasa: The Wise King (divine ruler, like Osiris in Egyptian myth).
Scar: The Trickster/Shadow (embodying chaos and envy, akin to Satan in Paradise Lost).
Nala: The Anima (feminine force guiding Simba’s growth).
*Step 2: Connect to Myths and Religions
a)Hamlet: Scar’s fratricide mirrors Claudius’s murder of King Hamlet.
b)Biblical Parallels: Simba’s exile and return evoke the Prodigal Son parable.
The Pride Lands’ restoration parallels the “return to Eden” motif.
c)African Cosmology: The “Great Kings of the Past” reflect ancestor worship traditions.
*Step 3: Analyze Universal Themes
Rebirth: Simba’s transformation from guilt-ridden exile to rightful king mirrors the Phoenix archetype.
Balance vs. Chaos: Scar’s rule (drought, hyenas) represents the archetypal “wasteland,” while Simba’s return restores fertility.
Step 4: Apply Frye’s Modes
The Lion King operates in the mythic mode, using anthropomorphic animals to universalize its themes, akin to Aesop’s fables.
Step 5: Psychological Interpretation
a)Individuation (Jung): Simba’s journey symbolizes integrating his Shadow (guilt over Mufasa’s death) and achieving self-actualization.
b)Collective Unconscious: The story’s emotional power stems from tapping into shared fears (failure) and hopes (redemption).
Conclusion:
Archetypal criticism reveals how The Lion King transcends its Disney framework to engage with timeless human concerns—responsibility, legacy, and harmony with nature—through universal symbols and narratives. This approach shows why the story resonates globally, echoing myths from Gilgamesh to Star Wars.
(DeepSeek)
As per sir instruction we have to do This prompt through the new ai tool ‘Deepseek’.
As part of archetypal reading of ‘The Waste land’ by T.S.Eliot we did two activities here are responses of that activity.
1)Prompt for Gen AI:
After conducting a New Critical verbal reading of T.S. Eliot's , I have identified the following recurring motifs and symbols:
: : :etc
Using these findings as your foundation, interpret through the lens of Northrop Frye's .
Consider these guiding questions:How do the recurring motifs (animals, birds, colours, seasons) reflect archetypal patterns such as the cycle of life, death, and rebirth?In what ways does the poem employ the archetypes of , , or ?Does the imagery of desolation, water, and renewal align with Frye's notion of —such as the "desert" and "garden" opposites?How does the use of seasonal archetypes underscore the spiritual and cultural decay/rebirth narrative within the poem?
This is a response of this prompt:-
1. Archetypal Cycles: Life, Death, and Rebirth
Frye identifies recurring archetypes tied to natural cycles, such as seasons and the transformation of life. In The Waste Land, the motifs of seasons, water, and spiritual desolation reflect this:
Seasons: The poem’s references to spring (“April is the cruellest month”), summer, autumn, and winter represent the cyclical nature of death and regeneration. Spring, traditionally a symbol of rebirth, is paradoxically rendered cruel in the poem, highlighting a world resistant to renewal.
Animals: Creatures like bats, rats, and the nightingale embody decay, pestilence, and tragedy. For instance, the nightingale’s song recalls the myth of Philomela, linking violence and suffering with art and memory, thus continuing the cycle of transformation.
Colours: The use of red (violence, passion), white (purity), and green (fertility) echoes the symbolic spectrum of life’s stages: death, innocence, and renewal.
Water: Central to the cycle of life and death, water appears in both destructive (drowning in "Death by Water") and redemptive forms (the Ganga and the promise of rain in What the Thunder Said). The tension between these forms underscores spiritual barrenness and the yearning for purification.
2. Archetypes of the Hero, Quest, and Sacrifice
Frye’s concepts of the quest and hero archetypes are present in the fragmented journeys of Eliot’s personas and the poem's mythical allusions:
The Fisher King: Central to the Arthurian myth, the Fisher King is wounded and barren, mirroring the desolate spiritual condition of the modern world. His potential healing depends on a sacrificial act or enlightenment, an echo of the universal hero’s journey.
Tiresias: A liminal figure, Tiresias combines male and female perspectives, symbolizing the collective human experience. His role as an observer reflects the fractured self and highlights the difficulty of reconciliation and wholeness in the modern age.
Madame Sosostris and the Tarot Cards: The invocation of divination suggests an archetypal search for guidance amidst chaos, but the incomplete and ominous symbols (e.g., the Hanged Man) indicate the failure to find clear resolution.
3. Desolation and Renewal: The "Desert" and "Garden" Opposites
Frye’s notion of polarities between the desert (barrenness) and the garden (fertility) is deeply embedded in The Waste Land:
The Unreal City: London, described as an "Unreal City" under the fog, is a landscape of spiritual desolation. This archetypal "desert" is devoid of meaning and life, populated by the walking dead, who are cut off from spiritual renewal.
The Garden: Imagery like the “Hyacinth Garden” momentarily offers a glimpse of lost unity and love but quickly fades into despair, symbolizing the unattainable ideal of renewal.
Water and Thunder: The promise of rain in the final section (What the Thunder Said) evokes hope for regeneration. The Sanskrit word “Datta” (give) emphasizes the need for spiritual sacrifice to restore vitality.
4. Seasonal Archetypes and Spiritual/Cultural Decay
Eliot’s use of seasonal archetypes reflects Frye’s conception of the literary modes:
Autumn/Winter: Associated with tragedy and satire, these seasons dominate the poem, emphasizing decay, death, and the end of cycles. The pervasive barrenness mirrors the decline of Western culture and spiritual emptiness.
Spring/Summer: These are subverted. Spring, instead of symbolizing hope, becomes a time of cruel memory and pain. Summer is associated with exhaustion and stagnation rather than vitality.
This subversion aligns with Eliot's critique of cultural fragmentation, where the archetypal promise of rebirth is thwarted by modernity’s loss of meaning.
5. Mythical and Cultural Syncretism: Crafting a Modern Myth
Eliot draws on diverse mythologies (Greek, Hindu, Buddhist, Christian, Arthurian) to universalize the themes of decay and renewal. This fusion underscores the universality of archetypal patterns:
Christian and Hindu Symbols: The imagery of fire (spiritual cleansing) and water (rebirth) draws from both Christian and Hindu traditions. The invocation of the Ganga and the Upanishads reflects the interconnectedness of global spiritual heritage.
Arthurian and Greek Myths: Figures like the Fisher King, Tereus, and Philomela bring archetypes of sacrifice, tragedy, and the transformative power of art into a fragmented modern narrative.
The Bible and Dante: Allusions to Ezekiel’s valley of dry bones and Dante’s Inferno connect personal despair to collective spiritual desolation, making the fragmented poem a microcosm of a fractured world.
6. Imagery of Sexual Perversion and Spiritual Degradation
Frye identifies archetypes of sexual union as symbols of creative energy. Eliot, however, presents distorted versions:
Scenes such as the typist and clerk's mechanical, dispassionate encounter or Lil's crude relationship with Albert emphasize the breakdown of meaningful human connections.
This sexual degradation mirrors spiritual degradation, reinforcing the cultural barrenness of the modern world.
7. Conclusion: A Critique of Fragmentation and the Search for Wholeness
Through the lens of Frye’s archetypal theory, The Waste Land emerges as a modern myth that critiques the spiritual, cultural, and social fragmentation of Eliot’s time. The recurring patterns of desolation and renewal, life and death, and water and fire offer glimpses of redemption but also reflect the difficulty of achieving unity in a fractured world.
Eliot’s synthesis of archetypes ultimately underscores humanity's eternal struggle for renewal amidst cycles of destruction, resonating with Frye’s view that literature reflects universal patterns of human experience.
2)We also tries to understand ‘The Waste Land’ as archetypal criticism done. Here is a link of that activity
https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1wfRIwq7igot8fT5nrkC8xzupUzDixnorkqFKQnT3Q7w/edit?usp=sharing
References:
DeepSeek, https://chat.deepseek.com/a/chat/s/ac663f72-ae67-4336-82bd-ee0be5b2daa4 . Accessed 01 February 2025.
Barad, Dilip. “Dilip Barad | Teacher Blog: Nortahrop Frye: The Archetypes of Literature.” Dilip Barad's Blog, 29 December 2014, https://blog.dilipbarad.com/2014/12/northrop-frye-archetypes-of-literature.html . Accessed 2 February 2025.
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