The Archetypal Criticism By Sir Herman Northrop Frye : An Overview & Discussion.

Introduction : This blog is written as a response to the Thinking Activity assigned by my professor Dr Dilip Barad sir with reference to the Archetypal Criticism proposed by 20th century Canadian Literary Critic Sir Northrop Frye in his essay 'The Archetypes of Literature' and latter book 'Anatomy of Criticism' in 1957.

In this discussion we will deal with few questions to get more understanding of what the Archetypal Criticism is all about. 

(1) What is Archetypal Criticism? What does the archetypal critic do? What is Frye trying prove by giving an analogy of Physics to Nature' and 'Criticism to Literature'? 

Answer : First of all let us see the definition of the term 'Archetype' : 

• According to Merriem-Webster Dictionary : 'an inherited idea or mode of thought in the psychology of Carl Gustav Jung that is derived from the experience of the race and is present in the unconscious of the individual' 

Now what does the term 'Archetypal Criticism' mean in fact? Let us see : 

• According to 'A Glossary of Literary Terms' by M. H. Abrams : 

'In literary criticism, the term archetype denotes narrative designs, patterns of action, character types, themes, and images that recur in a wide variety of works of literature, as well as in myths, dreams, and even social rituals. Such recurrent items are often claimed to be the result of elemental and universal patterns in the human psyche, whose effective embodiment in a literary work evokes a profound response from the attentive reader because he or she shares the psychic archetypes expressed by the author. An important antecedent of the literary theory of the archetype was the treatment of myth by a group of comparative anthropologists at Cambridge University, especially James G. Frazer, whose The Golden Bough (1890–1915) identified elemental patterns of myth and ritual that, he claimed, recur in the legends and ceremonials of diverse and far-flung cultures and religions. An even more important antecedent was the depth psychology of Carl G. Jung (1875–1961) who applied the term “archetype” to what he called “primordial images,” the “psychic residue” of repeated patterns of experience in our very ancient ancestors, which, he maintained, survive in the collective unconscious of the human race and are expressed in myths, religion, dreams, and private fantasies, as well as in works of literature. See Jungian criticism, under psychoanalytic

criticism. 

Archetypal literary criticism was given impetus by Maud Bodkin’s Archetypal Patterns in Poetry (1934) and flourished especially during the 1950s and 1960s. Some archetypal critics dropped Jung’s theory of the collective unconscious as the deep source of these patterns; in the words of Northrop Frye, this theory is “an unnecessary hypothesis,” and the recurrent archetypes are simply there, “however they got there.” 

Among the prominent practitioners of various modes of archetypal criti-

cism, in addition to Maud Bodkin, were G. Wilson Knight, Robert Graves,

Philip Wheelwright, Richard Chase, Leslie Fiedler, and Joseph Campbell.

These critics tended to emphasize the persistence of mythical patterns in liter-

ature, on the assumption that myths are closer to the elemental archetype than

the artful manipulations of sophisticated writers (see myth critics). The death/rebirth theme was often said to be the archetype of archetypes and was held to be grounded in the cycle of the seasons and the organic cycle of human life; this archetype, it was claimed, occurs in primitive rituals of the king who is annually sacrificed, in widespread myths of gods who die to be reborn, and in a multitude of diverse texts, including the Bible, Dante’s Divine Comedy in the early fourteenth century, and Samuel Taylor Coleridge’s “Rime of the Ancient Mariner” in 1798. Among the other archetypal themes, images, and characters frequently traced in literature were the journey underground, the heavenly ascent, the search for the father, the Paradise/Hades dichotomy, the Promethean rebel-hero, the scapegoat, the earth goddess, and the fatal woman. 

In his influential book Anatomy of Criticism (1957), Northrop Frye

developed the archetypal approach—which he combined with the typological

interpretation of the Bible and the conception of the imagination in the writings of the poet and painter William Blake (1757–1827)—into a radical and comprehensive revision of the foundational concepts of both the theory of literature and the practice of literary criticism. Frye proposed that the totality of literary works constitute a “self-contained literary universe,” which has been created over the ages by the human imagination so as to assimilate the alien and indifferent world of nature into archetypal forms that satisfy enduring human desires and needs. In this literary universe, four radical mythoi (that is, plot forms, or organizing structural principles), correspondent to the four seasons in the cycle of the natural world, are incorporated in the four major genres of comedy (spring), romance (summer), tragedy (autumn), and satire (winter). Within the archetypal mythos of each of these genres, individual works of literature also play variations upon a number of more limited archetypes—that is, conventional patterns and types that literature shares with social rituals as well as with theology, history, law, and, in fact, all “discursive verbal structures.” Viewed archetypally, Frye asserted, literature turns out to play an essential role in refashioning the impersonal material universe into an alternative verbal universe that is humanly intelligible and viable because it is adapted to universal human needs and concerns. Frye continued, in a long series of later writings, to expand his archetypal theory, to make a place in its overall scope and on different levels for including many traditional critical concepts and procedures, and to apply the theory both to everyday social practices and to the elucidation of writings ranging from the Bible to contemporary poets and novelists. See A. C. Hamilton, Northrop Frye: Anatomy of His Criticism (1990).' 

» Physics to Nature - Criticism to Literature : 

"Physics is an organized body of knowledge about nature, and a student of it says that he is learning physics, not nature. Art, like nature, has to be distinguished from the systematic study of it, which is criticism." 

Aforementioned quotation is taken from Frye's 'Anatomy of Criticism' wherein he truly claims that the study of Physics is nothing but the study of Nature itself and so is the study of Art, for Art is also the observation and study of Nature as alike the study of Science. In this analogy, s/he tells that as a stident of Physics studies different factors of a natural object which are causes of the compowition of the particular object taken to study, so is true and pertinent with the student of Literary Criticism, for s/he also does the same by analyzing the literary text and its various factors like plot, characters, spectacles, etc. by which the chosen text is composed. 

(2) Share your views of Criticism as an organised body of knowledge. Mention relation of literature with history and philosophy. 

Answer : In my view, 'Criticism' has always been an organized body of knowledge. 'Criticism' does not mean only to despise the chosen text or work of art, but it is about establishing an equilibrium of pros and cons of the chosen text. So, if one wants to critique a particular text or a work of art, one is expected to have a broader sense of the words and their meanings, various shades of interpretations, contextual reading, relation to philosophy and history, one is also supposed to have 'Historical Sense' while criticizing any text or work of art. 

History and Philosophy are the two firm polls upon which any literature or work of art builds its base. So, 'Historical Sense' is quintessential aspect for both - The Writer and The Critic. 

(3) Briefly explain inductive method with illustration of Shakespeare's Hamlet's Grave Digger's scene. 

Answer : Inductive Method in Criticism follows the below-mentioned steps : 

• Observation 》Pattern 》Tentative Hypothesis 》Theory. 

So, one who is doing Inductive Criticism goes from 'Particular to General.' 

For instance, we have the Grave Digger's scene from William Shakespeare's 'Hamlet' wherein two grave-diggers are shown having confab about the death of innumerable men on the earth :

So, we can make a fine critique of the scene aforementioned. Our general conclusion would be to see 'The Renaissance Spirit' even in the characters of laymen like those of the grave-diggers who communicate witty repartee with the protagonist.

(4) Briefly explain deductive method with reference to an analogy to Music, Painting, rhythm and pattern. Give examples of the outcome of deductive method.

Answer : Deductive Method is quite opposite of the Inductive Method of Criticism. It follows the below-mentioned steps:

• Theory 》Hypothesis 》Observation 》Confirmation.

It is like going from 'General to Particular' wherein one is given the theory or a specific object to criticize and one has to analyse several causes and factors which compose the text or theory presented to be criticized.

For instance, we have Robert Burns' poem 'A Red Red Rose' :

O my Luve is like a red, red rose
   That’s newly sprung in June;
O my Luve is like the melody
   That’s sweetly played in tune.

So fair art thou, my bonnie lass,
   So deep in luve am I;
And I will luve thee still, my dear,
   Till a’ the seas gang dry.

Till a’ the seas gang dry, my dear,
   And the rocks melt wi’ the sun;
I will love thee still, my dear,
   While the sands o’ life shall run.

And fare thee weel, my only luve!
   And fare thee weel awhile!
And I will come again, my luve,
   Though it were ten thousand mile.

(Source : Poetry Foundation)

If we go by the first step, that is 'Theoretical Reading,' then we will find that it is about the sentiment of Love, not a flickering one but an everlasting.

Then comes second step, which is 'Forming Hypothesis.' So, accordingly the poem can be categorized as the Love Poem.

Third is interesting step, that is 'Observing Factors.' The natural imagery such as Rose and Sea Gangs, musical component such as Melody and Tune - all are put together to form the poem and express the love of the speaker for his beloved.

Last comes 'Confirmation.' We can confirm that the poem is indeed a love poem by observing the factors used in composition of the poem.

(5) Refer to the Indian seasonal grid (below). If you can, please read small Gujarati or Hindi or English poem from the archetypal approach and apply Indian seasonal grid in the interpretation.

Answer :

(Source : Centre For Indic Studies)

For the Archetypal Criticism, I have chosen Ralph Waldo Emerson's poem 'The Snow Storm' :

Announced by all the trumpets of the sky,
Arrives the snow, and, driving o'er the fields,
Seems nowhere to alight: the whited air
Hides hills and woods, the river, and the heaven,
And veils the farm-house at the garden's end.
The sled and traveller stopped, the courier's feet
Delayed, all friends shut out, the housemates sit
Around the radiant fireplace, enclosed
In a tumultuous privacy of storm.

Come see the north wind's masonry.
Out of an unseen quarry evermore
Furnished with tile, the fierce artificer
Curves his white bastions with projected roof
Round every windward stake, or tree, or door.
Speeding, the myriad-handed, his wild work
So fanciful, so savage, nought cares he
For number or proportion. Mockingly,
On coop or kennel he hangs Parian wreaths;
A swan-like form invests the hidden thorn;
Fills up the farmer's lane from wall to wall,
Maugre the farmer's sighs; and, at the gate,
A tapering turret overtops the work.
And when his hours are numbered, and the world
Is all his own, retiring, as he were not,
Leaves, when the sun appears, astonished Art
To mimic in slow structures, stone by stone,
Built in an age, the mad wind's night-work,
The frolic architecture of the snow.

(Source : Poetry Foundation)

The archetypal observation gives the archetypes of 'Inactivity' is most probably symbolized by the Winter season. Another example is a poem 'Blow, Blow Thou Winter Wind' from William Shakespeare's 'As You Like It' :

Lord Amiens, a musician, sings before Duke Senior's company

Blow, blow, thou winter wind
Thou art not so unkind
As man's ingratitude;
Thy tooth is not so keen,
Because thou art not seen,
Although thy breath be rude.

Heigh-ho! sing, heigh-ho! unto the green holly:
Most freindship if feigning, most loving mere folly:
Then heigh-ho, the holly!
This life is most jolly.

Freeze, freeze thou bitter sky,
That does not bite so nigh
As benefits forgot:
Though thou the waters warp,
Thy sting is not so sharp
As a friend remembered not.

Heigh-ho! sing, heigh-ho! unto the green holly:
Most freindship if feigning, most loving mere folly:
Then heigh-ho, the holly!
This life is most jolly.

- William Shakespeare

(As You Like It_Act : 2 - Scene : 7)

Here in the aforementioned poem, the recurrence of Winter season denotes the Archetype to represent sorrows, the feeling of indignation, and gloomy surroundings.

Conclusions : The Archetypes are the cornerstone in composition of any literary work or work of art as well as of daily conversation amongst people around the glob; so to study these archetypal expression is nothing but to study the ways of human expressions find to be expressed through.

Thank you!