Prepared by : Sima Rathod
M.A. Sem. : 02
Batch : 2019 - 21
Email Id : rsima144@gmail.com
Introduction:
Northrop
Frye :
Herman Northrop Frye was a Canadian literary critic and literary theorist
,considered as one of the most influential critics of the 20th century. Frye gained international fame with his first book, Fearful Symmetry (1947), which led to the
reinterpretation of the poetry of William
Blake. His lasting reputation rests principally on
the theory of literary criticism that he developed in Anatomy of Criticism (1957), one of the
most important works of literary theory published in the twentieth century. The
American critic Harold
Bloom commented at the time of its publication
that Anatomy established Frye as "the foremost living student of
Western literature." Frye's contributions to cultural and social
criticism spanned a long career during which he earned widespread recognition
and received many honors.
Anatomy of Criticism Four Essays :
First Essay: Historical Criticism
Second Essay :Ethical
Criticism
Third Essay :Archetypal Criticism
Fourth Essay : Rhetorical Criticism , Theory of Genres
WHAT IS ARCHETYPAL CRITICISM
? WHAT DOES ARCHETYPAL CRITIC DO ?
The word archetype means , an universal pattern
of thought , present in an individuals unconscious , inherited from the past
collective experience of humanity. Archetypes are tools used in literature to
present common aspects of human nature and life in general.Northrop Frye in his
remarkable book ANATOMY OF CRITICISM , he developed the archetypal approach
into a radical and comprehensive revision of traditional grounds both in the
theory of literature and the practice of literary criticism.It was MAUD
DODKIN's ARCHETYPAL PATTERNS IN POETRY who was given a boost and flourished the
archetypal literary criticism during 1950 and 1960. Apart from him there were
critics , G. WILSON KNIGHT, ROBERT GRAVES, PHILIP WHEELWRIGHT, RICHARD CAMPBELL
who all emphasized the occurrence of mythical patterns in literature , on the
assumption that myths are closest to the element archetype than the artful
manipulation of sophisticated writers. Bodkin in his book applied Jung's
theories about the collective unconscious , archetypes and primordial images to
literature but Frye,s work helped displace new criticism as the major mode of
analyzing literary texts.There are two basic categories in Frye's framework :
COMEDIC and TRAGIC . Each category is further subdivided into two categories :
COMEDY and ROMANCE for the comedic , tragedy and satire /ironic for the
tragic.Frye uses the seasons in his archetypal schema. Each season is
aligned with a literary genre:
COMEDY - SPRING
ROMANCE - SUMMER
TRAGEDY - AUTUMN
SATIRE - WINTER
Frye
outlined five different spheres in his schema;
HUMAN :
The comedic human world is representative of wish
-fulfilment and being community centered . In contrast the tragic realm
human world is of isolation , tyranny and the fallen hero.
ANIMAL:
In the comedic genre animals are docile and pastoral
while in tragic realm animals are predatory and hunters.
VEGETARIAN :
For the realm of vegetation the comedic is again pastoral but
also represented by gardens , parks, roses and lotuses. and in tragic wild
forest as being barren.
MINERAL :
Cities , temples, or precious stones represent the comedic mineral realm
while the tragic mineral realm is noted for being a desert , ruins or
sinister geometric images .
WATER :
Rivers represents in the comedic realm while in tragic the seas ,
specially floods .
ARCHETYPES DIVIDED INTO TWO CATEGORIES :
1] CHARACTERS
2] SITUATIONS / SYMBOLS
1] CHARACTERS :
👉THE HERO :
The courageous figure , the one who is
always running in and saving the day . Hamlet, Charles Dickens Pip.
👉THE OUTCAST :
The out cast is just that, he or she
has been cast out of society or has left it on a voluntary basis , the outcast
figure can oftentimes also be considered as a christ figure.
Examples :
Monster in Mary Shelly’s Frankenstein
👉 THE SCAPEGOAT :
The scapegoat
figure is the one who gets blamed for everything , regardless of whether he or
she is actually at fault.
Example :
Oliver In Oliver Twist
👉THE
STAR- CROSSED LOVERS :
This is the young
couple joined by love but unexpectedly parted by fate.
Example :
Romio and Juliet,
Heer, Ranja.
👉 THE SHREW :
This is that nagging , bothersome wife always battering her
husband with verbal abuse.
Example :
Katharine from William Shakespeare’s The Taming of The
Shrew
👉 FEMME FATALE :
A female character type who
brings upon catastrophic and disastrous events.
Examples:
Eve from
Bible.
Draupadi from The Mahbharata
Sita from The Ramayana
👉 THE JOURNEY :
A narrative archetype where the
protagonist must overcome a series of obstacles before reaching his or her goal
.
Examples :
The Alchemist Paulo Coelho
2] SITUATIONS / SYMBOLS :
👉 THE TASK:
A situation in which a character , or a group of
characters , is driven to complete some duty of monstrous proportion.
👉THE QUEST :
The characters are searching for something , whether
consciously or unconsciously . Their actions, thoughts and feelings center
around the goal of completing this quest.
👉THE LOSS OF INNOCENCE :
As the
name suggests , loss of innocence through sexual experience , vilolence or any
other means .
👉WATER :
Water is a symbol of
life, cleansing and rebirth. It is a strong life force and is often depicted as
a living reasoning force.
👉SUN :
Fire and ice are colsely related
to it. it suggests creative energy , thinking ,enlightenment , wisdom,
spiritual vision . The rising sun suggests birth, creation, enlightenment while
the setting sun suggests death.
👉COLORS :
RED : Blood , sacrifice , passion, disorder .
GREEN :Growth , hope, fertility.
BLUE : Highly positive , secure , tranquil ,
spiritual purity.
BLACK :
Darkness , chaos , mystery , the unknown death , wisdom, evil, melancholy.
WHITE : Light, purity, innocence, timelessness ; it has
negative aspects also, death, terror , supernatural.
YELLOW: Enlightenment, wisdom.
👉SERPENT (SNACK / WORM ) :
Symbol of energy and pure force(libido), evil,
corruption, sensuality, destruction. Serpent in Paradise Lost .
👉NUMBERS :
3.
-Light, spiritual awareness , unity , male principle .
4.-
Associated with circle, life circle , four seasons , earth , nature , elements.
iN HINDU marriage four circles around fire ( dharma , artha , kam and moksha ).
7.-
The most potent of all symbolic numbers signifying the union of three and four
, the completion of a cycle , perfect order, perfect number , religious
symbol.
👉WISE OLD MAN :
Savior , redeemer , guru, representing
knowledge , reflection, insight, wisdom, intution and morality. ( old man in
Doctor Faustus )
👉GARDEN:
Paradise , innocence , unspoiled beauty .
👉TREE :
Denotes life of the cosmos, growth, proliferation , symbol of
immortality, phallic symbol.
👉DESERT:
Spiritual aridity, death, hopelessness.
👉CREATION:
All cultures believe the cosmos was brought
into existence by some supernatural being or beings.
👉SEASON :
SPRING:
Rebirth, genre / comedy
SUMMER :
Life, genre/ romance
FALL: Death,
dying , genre / tragedy
WINTER :
Without life , death, genre/ irony
👉THE GREAT FISH : Divine creation /life .
👉FREUD's SYMBOLISM / ARCHETYPES :
Concave images , ponds, flowers,
cups, vases, hollows, female or womb symbols.
Phallic symbols , towers, mountain
peaks , snakes , knives, male symbols.
Dancing, riding, or flying symbols of
sexual pleasure.
Conclusion:
Thus , Frye proposed that the totality of literary
works constitutes a self contained literary universe which has been created
over the age by the human imagination so as to assimilate the alien and
indifferent world of nature into archetypal forms that serve to satisfy
enduring human desires and needs.
Work citation:
Frye, Northrop.
Anatomy of Criticism: Four Essays. Edited by Robert D. Denham, vol. 22,
University of Toronto Press, 2006. JSTOR, www.jstor.org/stable/10.3138/j.ctt2tth1v.
Accessed 7 Mar. 2020.
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