- Name : Sejal N. Solanki
Roll No. : 27
Semester : 2.
Batch : 2019 - 2021
Enrollment No. : 2069108420200037
Email : sejal.solanki3107@gmail.com
Class : M.A. Sem : 2.
Paper : 7. (Literary Criticism)
Topic : Northrop Frye : The Archetypes of Literature.
Submitted by Dr. Dilip Barad
Department of English
Maharaja Krishnakumar singhji Bhavnagar University.
About the Writer Northrop Frye.
The Archetypal of Literature published on 1951 by Canadian critics Northrop Frye. He was a literary theorist and most influence of the 20th century. He was a student of theology then switched to Literature. The Term "archetypal" means original idea or pattern of something of which others are copies. Archetypal approach is the interpretation of a text in the light of Cultural patterns involved in it, and these Cultural patterns are based on myth and rituals of nation. Northrop Frye working in the field of Literature defined an archetype as a symbol, usually an image, which recurs often enough in Literature to be recognizable as an element of one's literary experience as a whole.
He was ordained to the ministry of the United Church of Canada and studied at Oxford before returning to voft. One of the most recognized authors of literary criticism world - wide. Northrop Frye studied at both the University of Toronto and Oxford. Herman Northrop Frye was a Canadian literary critic and literary theorist, considered one of the most influential of the 20th century.
It is a type of critical theory that interprets text by focusing on recurring myths and archetypes in the narrative, symbols, images and character types in a literary work.
What is an Archetypal?
According to Oxford Dictionary :
A very typical example of a certain person or things. An original which has been imitated ; a prototype mythology. In Jungian theory, a primitive mental image inherited from the earliest human ancestors, and supposed to be present in the collective unconscious.
There are different meaning of Archetypal Criticism.
=} Arche "first" and typos "from".
An original model or pattern from which copies are made.
" Archetypal criticism looks in Literature for patterns and traces them through works of classical antiquity into modern texts, and interprets those reverberation as symbols or manifestations of universal human conflicts and desires." James G. Freezer gave theory of Archetypal in 'The Golden Bough.' developed in 1934."
An image or symbol that is used repeatedly in art or literature. The Archetypal criticism means identifying patterns of action character types, and themes in Literature as well as in myth, dreams and social rituals. The Archetypal critic observes the symbol, myths, pattern of action and applies it to any particular literature.
A synchronized efforts of displaying images, characters, colors, seasons, etc.
An Archetypal is "a figure...that repeats itself in the course of history whenever creative fantasy is fully manifested.
- Carl Jung.
Minds —> Personal Experience —> Common Source
Archetypal are preconscious, instinctual expressions on man's basic nature.
Archetypes are universal symbols. Certain concepts are also archetypes. Jung defines an Archetype as a "primordial image". It is a part of the collective unconscious. Archetypes are the residue of innumerable experiences of the same type undergone by the mind. Same experience when repeated over centuries of a Enos leave a track or mark on the human mind. The solar cycle, seasonal cycle and life cycle are such repetitive phenomena.
Northrop Frye developed the theory of literature based on myths and archetypes. He says literature is not reflection of life nor experience of personality. Seasonal myths appears in Hamlet. Frye wanted to develop a unifying theory of criticism something like the Darwinian theory of Evolution of Literature. He call it as a kind of literary Anthropology. He detects an Archetype or myth in every kind of Literature. All branches of Literature and their genres are transformations of myths. Myths of dark power triumphing flood return of chaos defeat of hero irony and satire.
The Dawn, Spring, and the Birth
Myth of the hero, of revival and resurrection of creation and because the four phases are a cycle of the defeat of the power of darkness, winter and subordinate characters, the father and the mother. The Archetype of romance and of most dithyrambic and rhapsodic poetry.
The zenith, summer and marriage.
Myths of apotheosis, of the scared marriage and of entering into paradise. Subordinate character, the companion and the bride. The Archetype of comedy, pastoral and idyll.
The sunset, autumn and death.
Myth of fall, of the dying God, of violent death and sacrifice and of the isolation of the hero. Subordinate character, the traitor and the siren. The Archetype of tragedy and elegy.
The darkness and the dissolution
Myth of the triumph of these powers, myths of floods and the return of chaos and of the defeat of the hero. Subordinate character, the ogre and the witch. The Archetype of satire. The quest of the hero also tends to assimilate the oracular.
Common character Archetype :
The Hero :
The courageous figure, the one who's always running in and saving the day.
Examples: Ram, Tom Jones, Hamlet.
The Outcast :
A figure who is banished from a social group for some crime against his fellow or has left it on voluntary basis. Usually destined to become a wanderer.
Examples: Buddha, Mahavir, Pandavas
The Scapegoat :
The Scapegoat figure is one who gets blame for everything, regardless of whatever he/she is actually at fault, sacrificed but they often become more powerful forced dead then alive.
Examples: Vanechandon varghodo
The star crossed lovers :
This is the young couple joined by love unexpectedly parted by fate.
Examples: Romeo and Juliet
