When looking at popular books and films as consumers we cannot help but see similarities, most commonly we see the brooding hero, the damsel in destress, and the evil villain. Whether it is a more modern story like Stranger Things or something older like Sir Gawain and The Green Knight we continue to see variations on of these characters. Psychologist Carl Jung noticed this and in the late 1910’s, Jung went on to produce many books on his findings. Over the span of these woks it was explained that these similarities were to be called Archetypes. Jung explains that Archetypes are not just limited to film and books, but rather that they appear just as regularly in our everyday lives. Jung also goes on to explan that there are many different types …show more content…
The hero acts as the audience’s guide throughout the story, this means it is extremely important that the audience can relate to this character. Throughout the film Donnie Darko it is clear that Donnie is the protagonist, but it does not become clear until the end of the film that Donnie is truly fits the hero Archetype. Although, Donnie is a rather a relatable charter; teenage boy full of angst with a distaste for the world around him accompanied with mental health problems that make him feel isolated from the world, all of which are characters many viewers could/may relate to. It is not until we first see Donnie interact with Frank that we realis that Donnie fits into the hero Archetype in an unconventional way. Typically, in the hero archetype we see the hero traveling to a new world, using their skill set to help them along the way. This is almost the opposite with Donnie, he does not travel anywhere new or use any exciting skills. This is because Donnie’s journey is a that of self-discovery. Throughout the film Donnie is costly placed in situations in which he and his subconscious mind are at war with one …show more content…
This is done quite literally in the film, although portrayed in the film as two separate people or entity’s both are representations of Donnie. This can be seen in how the two charters interact, Donnie can interact with the outside world but Frank can only interact with Donnie. When these interactions are interrupted only Donnie can see Frank, those who interrupt only continue to see Donnie as one person This can be seen in the bathroom scene that takes place within/after the PTA meeting, although Donnie can see and interact with Frank his younger sister cannot. In the interactions that take place between Donnie and Frank they cannot harm one another, this is made clear in the bathroom scene within the one on one meeting between his parents and his psychologist, here Donnie attempts to stab Frank but is unable to due to a barrier separation the two of them. This is because they are the same person
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.
An archetype, as defined by Literary Terms, is an idea, symbol, pattern, or character type that appears repeatedly in stories from cultures worldwide, symbolizing something universal in the human experience. There are three types of archetypes: symbolic, character, and situational. In her memoir, The Glass Castle, Jeannette Walls employs each archetype to capture her difficult life growing up due to her father's alcoholism and inability to hold a job. These archetypes also play a crucial role in developing the novel's theme of perseverance. The central theme of the novel is perseverance, as Jeannette and her siblings worked hard and never gave up, managing to build a better life for themselves.
archetype is very typical example of a person or a thing. Carlson’s most important characteristic
Everyone can relate to an archetype character in a movie, book, or television show. An archetype in literature is a typical character with an action or a situation that seems to represent such universal patterns of human nature. Common archetypes of characters are: a hero, caregiver, rebel, damsel in distressed, lover, villain, or tragic hero. In the play, The Crucible, there are several kinds of characters with archetypes. Tragic hero normally are in tragic plays which also can be called tragedy. “Tragedy is a drama in which a character that is usually a good and noble person of high rank which is brought to a disastrous end in his or her confrontation with a superior force but also comes to understand the meaning of his or her deeds and to
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.
“We meet ourselves time and time again in a thousand disguises on the path of life” (Jung). Writer’s usually have archetypes in their stories to engage the reader's understanding. Throughout the book Wild by Cheryl Strayed, she encounters several archetypes both positive and negative. She was impacted by the people, which made her accomplish her journey hiking the Pacific Crest Trail alone and getting herself back together. There are various archetypes that play a big role in Cheryl's physical and emotional journey. The archetypes make her who she is today and without them she wouldn't be able to transform.
Furthermore, Campbell explained such patterns by using Carl Jung's theory of the collective unconscious, which he was strongly influenced with. Psychological organs that developed through the evolution, is the idea Jung gave of archetypes (Jung 81). To him they are recurring patterns, images and ideas which all humans inherited in their unconsciousness (Volgar 23). In addition, Campbell described his theory as a reoccurring cycle of pattern consisting of three phases: Departure, Initiation and Return, which he calls The Monomyth (Campbell 28), a deep inner journey of transformation that every hero must go through in order to grow (Voytilla vii).
... typical archetype. These characters are obviously supposed to mirror the archetypes that are common in fairy tales, but their flaws are contradictions to the archetypes that they are supposed to represent; through this Goldman mocks typical and standard fairy tales.
In literature, Archetypal Criticism is a critical approach where the reader interprets the meaning of a story by looking at the archetypal characters, events, and symbols that it contains. In general, an archetype is a universal, primordial representation of an event or character that is seen as a general blueprint for stories and myths, such as the Hero or Death and Rebirth (Meyer 1587). Archetypes can be very important in identifying and supporting a theme by giving us background and references for aspects throughout the story. Carol Joyce Oates uses a couple vital archetypes in her short story, “Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been,” a tale about Connie, a teenage girl, who goes through an innocence to experience situation, signifying a transition from childhood to adulthood.
In the Jungian analysis of a character, there are three archetypes that must be considered. Carl Jung believed that the three archetypes that made up a person are the shadow, the anima or animus, and the persona (Dobie 64). In “Reading the Brothers Grimm to Jenny,” the narrator first introduces readers to Jenny’s shadow and animus. Jung saw the shadow as a human’s “darker side,” and the “part of ourselves we would prefer not to confront” (Dobie 64). Whereas the animus or anima is the “the life force within an individual,” and “life itself and the
Carl Jung was a Swiss psychologist and psychiatrist who developed many theories concerning the unconscious mind. Jung’s theories state that the unconscious part of a human’s psyche has two different layers, the personal unconscious and the collective unconscious. The personal unconscious is unique to every individual; however, the collective unconscious “is inborn.” (Carl Jung, Four Archetypes, 3) The collective unconscious is present in everyone’s psyche, and it contains archetypes which are “those psychic contents which have not yet been submitted to conscious elaboration” (Jung, Archetypes, 5); they are templates of thought that have been inherited through the collective unconscious. Jung has defined many different archetypes such as the archetype of the mother, the archetype of the hero, the archetype of the shadow, etc. These Jungian archetypes are often projected by the collective unconscious onto others. If the novel A Prayer for Owen Meany by John Irving is examined through a Jungian archetypal lens it is possible to discern different archetypes projected by the protagonist’s unconscious self to illustrate the effects of the collective unconscious on character and plot analysis.
An archetype in literature is defined as a typical example of a certain type of person. A character in a poem or play can be placed into many different archetype categories. Archetypes help a reader to gain a better understanding of who a character in the work is on the inside. This deeper insight into the character allows the reader to follow the flow of the story easier and more effectively. There are many different archetypes that can help to advance the story. One of the most useful in advancing this story is the typical powerful character. Whether it be supernatural or cunningness this character always comes out on top in the situation and holds the most control over others and their actions. “Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been?”,
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.
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.