But Jung's theory of the archetypes of the collective unconscious differs . Archetypal theory and criticism, although often used synonymously with Myth theory and crticism, has a distinct history and process. Another important influence was Carl Gustav Jung (1875-1961) who used the term archetype to what he called "primordial images". Indeed, the psychological resonances of the drama, along with its provocative racial and gender themes, have caused Othello, perhaps more than any other of Shakespeares plays, to reverberate the loudest with current audiences and commentators. Key quotation (Aside) O, you are well tuned now!But I'll set down the pegs that make this music, As honest as I am. Myth criticism grew in part as a reaction to the formalism of New Criticism, while archetypal criticism based on Jung was never linked with any academic tradition and remained organically bound to its roots in depth psychology: the individual and collective psyche, dreams, and the analytic process. The moment he showed violence towards Desdemona, the audience lost interest in comforting Othello. Posted on . Othello is decisive, confident, and secure in his identity, duty, and place in the world. Jung was also more preoccupied with dreams and fantasies, because he saw them as exclusively (purely) products of the unconscious, in contrast to literature, which he oddly believed, citing Joyces Ulysses as an example, was created in the full light of consciousness (15:123). reflects the archetypal villain" (Sen, ). Archetypal criticism is a product of both cultural anthropology and psychoanalysis which are academic fields that might seem to be far from the concept of archetypal criticism. Check out our Privacy and Content Sharing policies for more information.). A Modern View of Feminist Criticism William Shakespeare 's "Othello" can be analyzed from a feminist perspective.This criticism focuses on relationships between genders, like the patterns of thoughts, behavior, values, enfranchisement, and power in relations between and within sexes. His final speech mixes together the acknowledgment of what he was and what he has become, who he is and how he would like to be remembered: I have done the state some service, and they knowt. 1. Examples of Archetype in Shakespearean Works. "Othello", by William Shakespeare, is a story of jealousy's potential to manipulate thoughts and eventually lead to ultimate demise. This juxtaposition between Othello's transparency and Iago's duality identifies him as a sympathetic character despite his actions. And new theories increasingly give credence to the requirement, historically asserted by Jungian readers, that each text elicit a personal, affective, and not merely intellectual response. As the pair kneels together, they exchange vows: Iago: Witness you ever-burning lights above, Despite his deliberately selective focus on critical works written in English on literary texts that are, for the most part, also written in English, van Meurs, with the early assistance of John Kidd, has collected 902 entries, of which he identifies slightly over 80 as valid and valuable literary criticism. Othello is a Moorish (African) general in the Venetian army and an eloquent storyteller who is respected, but often treated as an outsider. 1924) to move beyond clinical inquiry within the consulting room of psychotherapy to formulate archetypal theory as a multidisciplinary field (Archetypal 1). Earnest Cassirer, a social anthropologist was an important influence on myth criticism. What is a tragic hero and why is Othello considered one? Shakespeare derived his plot from Giraldi Cinthios Tale of the Moor, in the story collection Hecatommithi (1565), reshaping Cinthios sensational tale of jealousy, intrigue, and murder in several key ways. . From the moment when the temptation of the hero begins, the readers heart and mind are held in a vice, experiencing the extremes of pity and fear, sympathy and repulsion, sickening hope and dreadful expectation. Van Meurs also does a service by resurrecting successful but neglected early studies, such as Elizabeth Drews of T. S. Eliot (1949), and discovering value even in reductionist and impressionistic studies, such as June Singers of Blake. Ignoring her appeals for mercy and avowals of innocence, Othello smothers her moments before Emilia arrives with the proof of Desdemonas innocence and Iagos villainy. Aristotle believed that the plot is the most important element in a play and that plot also clearly points out the problem of any characters to be solved. And so much duty as my mother showd James Baird, Jungian Psychology in Criticism: Theoretical Problems, Literary Criticism and Psychology (ed. ("Literary Criticism.") Evil is displayed before him, not indeed with the profusion found in King Lear, but forming, as it were, the soul of a single character, and united with an intellectual superiority so great that he watches its advance fascinated and appalled. Misled by the handkerchief, his love token to Desdemona, that Iago has planted in Cassios room and by a partially overheard conversation between Iago and Cassio, Othello, by the end of act 3, forsakes his wife and engages himself in a perverse version of the marriage ceremony of act 2 to Iago. This scene has suggested to some critics that Iagos true motivation for destroying the marriage of Desdemona and Othello is a repressed homosexual love for Othello. Thus criticism evolving from his work is more accurately named archetypal and is quite distinct from myth criticism. 2. In his play, he portrays Othello like a tragic hero, a type of literary character. http://www.kibin.com/essay-examples/an-archetype-criticism-of-othello-a-play-by-william-shakespeare-yJF4zltX Be sure to capitalize proper nouns (e.g. Perplexed in the extreme; of one whose hand, Mythological literary critics look for archetypes, characters and/or symbols with traits that are seen throughout literature regardless of time or place. Of all Shakespeares tragedies . Essays may be lightly modified for readability or to protect the anonymity of contributors, but we do not edit essay examples prior to publication. Iago reviews Othellos performance as a lover by stating, O, you are well tuned now, / But Ill set down the pegs that make this music. Iago will now orchestrate discord and disharmony based on a life philosophy totally opposed to the ennobling and selfless concept of love demonstrated by the newlyweds. The execution of his wit, hands, heart Thus, with the archetypal theorists multiplying across disciplines on the one hand and the clinically practicing followers serving as (generally inadequate) critics on the other, archetypal literary theory and criticism flourished in two independent streams in the 1960s and 1970s. must concern itself with the archetypal, the universal, with that which is necessarily larger, more extreme than in life. To see you here before me. What makes you cringe? Beat a Venetian and tradud the state, "An Archetype Criticism of Othello, a Play by William Shakespeare." "Who can control his fate?" "He is, in a sense, a 'self made man', the . As Othello came to his breaking point, desdemona foreshadows her own death and he lets jealousy take over. What bloody business ever. The contrast is most pronounced from the beginning of the play to its conclusion, switching from being calm and peaceful to acts of uncontrolled venomous rage. Archetypal criticism gets its impetus from psychologist Carl Jung, who postulated that humankind has a "collective unconscious," a kind of universal psyche, which is manifested in dreams and myths and which harbors themes . Othello, a play that was written in 1604 by William Shakespeare, is an example of a type of story called a tragedy. Throughout the course of the work, Othello proves himself to be very easily misled, despite his heroic status. Desdemona is shown as the most pure and proper of the women in Othello and is put into the center of all the drama. Sign up Other forms previously labeled Jungian are here subsumed under the term archetypal because whatever their immediate specific focus, these forms operate on a set of assumptions derived from Jung and accept the depth-psychological structure posited by Jung. Consistent with his role as guardian of order in the state, Othello carries out his own execution, by analogy judging his act as a violation reflected by Venices savage enemy: And say besides, that in Aleppo once, The Critical Analysis Of A Novel: Atonement By Ian Mcewan Atonement by Ian McEwan is a literary masterpiece and a highly critically acclaimed novel. For more information on choosing credible sources for your paper, check out this blog post. Marxist criticism would also have offered a distinctive way of looking at Othello. Succeeds in unknown fate. From the theorists, dissertations, articles, and books, often traditionally academic in orientation, appeared; the productions of the practitioners are chronicled and critiqued in van Meurss bibliography. According to Hillman, that discourse was anticipated by Evangelos Christous Logos of the Soul (1963) and extended in religion (David L. Millers New Polytheism, 1974), philosophy (Edward Caseys Imagining: A Phenomenological Study, 1976), mythology (Rafael Lopez-Pedrazas Hermes and His Children, 1977), psycholinguistics (Paul Kuglers Alchemy of Discourse: An Archetypal Approach to Language, 1982), and the theory of analysis (Patricia Berrys Echos Subtle Body, 1982). However, these fields of study contributed a lot to the development of archetypal criticism through the characters of Sir James Frazer and Carl Jung. Jungs Psychology of the Unconscious (1916, B. M. Hinkles translation of the 1911-12 Wandlungen und Symbole der Libido) appeared in English one year after publication of the concluding volume with bibliography of the third edition of J. G. Frazers The Golden Bough: A Study in Magic and Religion (2 vols., 1890,3d ed., 12 vols., 1911-15). 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