“Perhaps when we find ourselves wanting everything, it is because we are dangerously close to wanting nothing.” ( http://thinkexist.com/quotes/sylvia_plath/)
The Bell Jar is a very complicated book that deals with very complex issues. There are numerous ways this book can be examined this paper will focus on analysis through the use of theories. There are a plethora of different theories that could be utilized to dissect this book this paper will focus on five.
The first theory to be discussed is structuralism, this theory is composed of many different branches. The branches that this paper will be looking into is archetypes. The definition of of archetype is typical images, characters, narrative designs and themes and other literary phenomena. Archetypes have their own form of criticism that is called archetypal criticism. Archetypal criticism means the generic, recurring and conventional elements in literature that cannot be explained through historical influence or tradition.
Some examples of archetypes are, the wounded child, the victim, the villain, the rebel, the savior, finding redemption, death, and the happy ending. Now that there is an understanding of what an archetype is we can look at four different archetypes in The Bell Jar.
The first archetype in The Bell Jar, is the character of Doreen, she would be seen as the bad-girl. She is very easy, not very smart but very pretty, she relates well to the character of Helen of troy who embodied all of the things aspects before.
The second example is the character of Esther, she can be seen as the victim and as the heroine. The reason she can be seen as the victim is because of the many injustices she faces. For example when she is subjec...
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3.) Example Archetypes, Rgsmedicalinsight.homestead.com, November 30/09
http://rgsmedicalinsight.homestead.com/archetypes1.html
4.) Margaret Anne Class Notes, Nov 30/09
5.) Dobbs, Jeannine. “Viciousness in the Kitchen” Modern Language Studies, Vol 7, No2
Modern Language Studies Autumn, 1977, pp.11-25
6.)The Bell Jar Literary Devices, Shmoop.com, December 2/09
http://www.shmoop.com/bell-jar/literary-devices.html
7.) The Bell Jar, Jandysbooks.com, December2/09
http://www.jandysbooks.com/genfic/belljar.html
8.)Sylvia Plath Quotes, Thinkexist.com December 4/09
http://thinkexist.com/quotes/sylvia_plath/
9.)Bell Jar Quotes Quotegarden.com, December 4/09
http://www.quotegarden.com/bk-bj.html
10.)Astell, Anne, W, Christianity and Literature Vo 48 spring 1999 December 2/09
Archetypes refer to the persistently recurring symbols or motifs in literature. The term itself has its origins in ancient Greek and continues to play a prominent role in analyzing literature. Archetypal images and story patterns encourage readers to participate ritualistically in basic beliefs, fears, and anxieties of their age. These archetypal features not only constitute the eloquence of the text but also tap into a level of desires and concerns of civilization. The Anglo-Saxon poem, Beowulf, translated by Seamus Heaney, integrates many of the common archetypes that still exist today. The outcast archetype is one that particularly expressed the desires, anxieties and values of the people who lived during the Beowulf era. Grendel, a character of monstrous appearance and hazily human emotion, is portrayed as the principal outsider in Beowulf. The incorporation of a banished character against his fellow society effectively expressed the anxiety and fears that the Anglo-Saxon culture felt towards seclusion and abnormality, caused by a societal absorption in family lineage and traditionalism.
The different archetypes are the shadow, the mandala, the great mother, the transformation, the hero, the spiritual father, and the trickster. All archetypes were drawn from a part of what makes us human and hidden in our subconscious. Many of the characters in the film often play more than one character. An example of this would be Ben Kenobi seems to play the archetype of Luke’s father, then he also plays the archetype as an old, wise man.
Flannery O’ Conner’s short story, “A good man is hard to find”, explains emotional reactions, betrayal, and violence. The misfit is an example of a devil figure. This character archetype is best seen when we see the misfit’s true colors shine as he murders the grandmother and her family. O’ Conner uses setting archetypes best when she uses a clear bright sky or an open dirt road, which can mean a variety of outcomes. This helps understand the many plot twists in the story. We best see symbolic archetypes as the three bandits including the misfit. They represent a mock of the holy trinity and represent evil. “The fall” is a good archetype that shows the misfit’s lack of innocence when he betrays the grandmother. This best explains the whole
Le Morte d’Arthur and many other stories have many wonderful archetypes in them. The definition of an archetype is a typical character action or situation that seems to represent universal patterns of human nature. This means that things represent things that naturally happen and will still happen. Archetypes play into Le Morte d'Arthur by showing how the character act and react with other characters and objects. In Thomas Malory´s Le Morte d´Arthur he illustrates the three types of archetypes they include character, situational, and symbolic.
archetype is very typical example of a person or a thing. Carlson’s most important characteristic
An archetype is a universal symbol. It is also a term from the criticism that accepts Jung’s idea of recurring patterns of situation, character, or symbol existing universally and instinctively in the collective unconscious of man. Archetypes come in three categories: images (symbols), characters, and situations. Feelings are provoked about a certain subject by archetypes. The use of the images of water, sunsets, and circles set the scene of the movie. Characters, including the temptress, the devil figure, and the trickster, contribute to the movie’s conflicts that the hero must overcome in order to reach his dream. However, to reach his dream, the hero must also go through many situations such as, the fall, dealing with the unhealable wound, and the task. By using archetypes in the movie, the viewer can obtain more than just the plot and better understand the true theme of the movie: to never give up on dreams.
For an example, Stan Pines, also known as Grunkle Stan, is an Initiate because he has barely shown any heroic characteristics, but is starting to in Season 2, (“Scary-oke” Jeff Rowe/Matt Chapman/Alex Hirsch) by risking his life to save Dipper and Mabel. On the other hand, Wendy, an attractive teenager, can be a combination of archetypal characters, but she best represents a Hotshot. Furthermore, she takes risks and also gets others into dangerous situations. Soos, an employee of Stan’s store, the Mystery Shack, is an Everyman because he is an ordinary, but important character that will do almost anything that Dipper and Mabel asks him to. Though, he sometimes gets pulled into dangerous situations, most of the time he ends up siding with Grunkle Stan. Lastly, the last character is the Pines family’s Archenemy, Gideon. “Lil ol’ Gideon” was determined to discover the secrets of Gravity Falls, but the Season 1 Finale, (“Gideon Rises” Matt Chapman/Alex Hirsch/Michael Rianda) was the last episode he was seen
An archetypal story is one which follows the archetypal theory, having hidden symbols and roles which must be played, for example, a scapegoat, an outcast and a villain. In the novel The Lord of the Flies, written by William Golding, the main characters can have more than one of these roles, for example Piggy who is the sage as well as the scapegoat.
The Bell Jar is occupied with several female characters that all represent an assortment of female stereotypes. There are college students who wish to fully experience the city of New York, patients in a mental institution, and psychiatrists who could potentially serve as role models throughout the novel. Esther often finds herself lacking self-confidence due to the fact that she is constantly comparing herself to these individuals. Esther is shown as being stubborn because she rejects the womanhood that is presented to her. Instead, she spends her time worrying about what she thinks it is to be a woman. Sylvia Plath’s novel, The Bell Jar, diagrams the repressed role women endured due to the restrictions and expectations of societal norms.
Michael W. McConnell, “The Forgotten Constitutional Moment,” Constitutional Commentary, No. 1. 1 (Winter 1994): 121-22. 21. What is the difference between a'smart' and a'smart'?
The women's movement was in full swing in America in the sixties. These were the women who were escaping from their kitchens, burning their bras, and working in careers that were traditionally male-oriented, while at the same time demanding payment equal to men's salaries. In her essay: What Would It Be Like if Women Win, Gloria Steinem has many thoughts on the ways feminism could change this country and what the society would be like if her changes were made. An interesting change she is looking to make involves sexual hypocrisy: "No more sex arranged on the barter system, with women pretending interest, and men never sure whether they are loved for themselves or for the security few women can get any other way" (Steinem, Takin' it to the Streets, 476). This new attitude can be found in much of the literature of the sixties. Specifically, in two of the books we have read, women authors have projected this concept of a "new sexual women" into their characters.
The Maze Runner is a 2014 mystery/science fiction film that can be viewed from an archetypal perspective. An archetype can be described as a pattern that can and is copied and recurring symbols or characters. The concept of archetypes came from Carl Jung a psychiatrist who believed that all cultures use archetypes to build stories without communicating to each other about them. Two groups of archetypes are the character and symbolic archetypes. The film The Maze Runner should be analyzed through an archetypal perspective because it has character and symbolic archetypes.
Sylvia Plath’s The Bell Jar (1971) is a thinly veiled autobiography. Having been riddled by depression herself, Plath has us follow her protagonist Esther’s journey of self-discovery in order to assert her views on the intersection of mental illness and traditional femininity. In the novel, blood serves to mark transitions in Esther’s life. Time after time, blood intersects with largely feminine milestones and the shifts in her mental health as she witnesses births, is sexually exploited, and must confront her own sexuality. Esther struggles to fit in to the narrow feminine role and views the world through a predisposition for depressive thoughts. The “traditional” era in which she exists enforces very binary gender roles and places her purity
of the book. Vol. 24. What is the difference between a'smart' and a'smart'? Berkeley, CA: University of California, 1984.
Vol. 3. What is the difference between a'smart' and a'smart'?