Archetypes In Literature

The archetypal approach to literary criticism is based on the idea that all human stories across cultures are connected by universal myths and tropes that stem from a collective ancient human memory. According to this approach, certain archetypes, themes, and narratives recur throughout literature, symbolizing the shared human experience. These recurring patterns reflect what Carl Jung called the "collective unconscious," a communal reservoir of universal human memories and instincts.

One of the most influential contributors to this field is Joseph Campbell. His analysis of the hero's journey has had a massive effect on modern storytelling. In his seminal work The Hero with a Thousand Faces (1949), Campbell outlines a universal narrative arc known as the monomyth. This structure follows a hero who embarks on an adventure, undergoes trials, achieves transformation, and returns home changed. Modern films such as Star Wars, The Matrix, and The Lion King owe much of their narrative devices to Campbell’s ideas.

In this article, we discuss the definition of archetypes and how they are used in myths and ancient and modern literature. In particular, we look at archetypes associated with myths and legends of King Arthur and the Greek epic, The Odyssey.

Tapestry showing Arthur as one of the Nine Worthies, wearing a coat of arms often attributed to him,[1] c. 1385

What are archetypes?

Archetypes can be described as universal symbols that occur across times and cultures. They include concepts, such as the hero, the mentor, the witch, the crone, and so on. The Hero's journey has become so common and mainstream that it has even been criticized as being hackneyed and predictable. However, archetypes have been successfully used throughout human history and classical literature.

The most famous example of it is The Odyssey, which is the epic tale by Homer based on a series of Ancient Greek myths that explains the return of the hero Odysseus from the ten-year Trojan War back home to Ithaca. one of the most common archetypes in myths and literature is that of "the mentor."

The word itself developed from a character taken from the Odyssey who played the role of mentor to the son of Odysseus, Telemachus. Mentor is the name given to an old friend of Odysseus who stands up for and defends Telemachus against a group of princes trying to replace his father and marry his mother. For most of the Odyssey, Mentor is really no one less than the Goddess Athena, who acts as a guardian spirit to both Odysseus and Telemachus.

In Book 3, she takes the form of Mentor and offers Telemachus advice on how to prepare a ship and ask for help to find out about his father's return to Ithaca:

Telemachus walked to the shore, alone, and washing his hands in the grey salt water prayed to Athene: ‘You, Divine One, who yesterday came to my home, and suggested I sail over the misty sea to search for news of my long-lost father’s return, hear me. The Achaeans obstruct me, the evil and insolent Suitors most of all.’

He prayed, and Athene approached him, in the form and with the voice of Mentor: and she spoke to him winged words: ‘Telemachus, if your father’s fine spirit is found in you, you will be neither a fool nor a coward in the time to come, and this journey of yours will be no idle failure. But if you are not Odysseus’ and Penelope’s son, then I have no hopes of you achieving your end. There are not many sons, indeed, who resemble their fathers: most are worse, and only a few are better. But since you will be neither a fool nor a coward in the time to come, nor are you wholly lacking in Odysseus’ wisdom, there is every hope of you achieving your goal. So forget the Suitor’s plans and intentions, they are fools, neither sensible nor just, nor are they thinking of death and the dark fate that is truly near, and will one day strike them. Nor will the journey you set your heart on be delayed, since I a true friend of your father’s house will ready a swift ship and sail with you. Go home now, and join the crowd of Suitors: then assemble provisions: the wine in jars, the barley meal, that nourishes men’s marrows, in tough skins. Meanwhile I will gather a volunteer crew in town. And there are plenty of ships, old and new, in sea-faring Ithaca. I will choose one of the best for you, and we will prepare her swiftly, and launch her in open water.’

The Odyssey is chockful of characters who can be seen as interesting characters in and of themselves and also as satisfying universal archetypes. The table below shows a list of common archetypes from both modern literature and The Odyssey:

Archetype	Definition	Example from Literature	Example from Myths
The Hero	The protagonist who embarks on a transformative journey or quest.	Hamlet in Hamlet	Odysseus in the Odyssey
The Mentor	A wise figure who guides and aids the hero in their journey.	Gandalf in The Lord of the Rings.	Mentor from the Odyssey. The word mentor was named after him.
The Femme Fatale	A seductive woman whose charm leads men to danger or downfall.	Lady Macbeth in Macbeth.	Circe from the Odyssey
The trickster	A person or spirit who creates chaos and confusion	Iago in Othello	Odysseus in his attempt to escape the Cyclopse

Nonetheless, it retains alot of its power. A good example of this power is seen in the movie Excalibur (1981), directed by John Boorman:

In the clip above, Arthur and his throne are sick and blighted and the land with him. The land has been experiencing a never-ending winter for years. After drinking from the chalice or the Holy Grail, he is healed. With his healing, the King is invigorated to fight against evil, winter disappears from the land, and flowers begin to bloom.

A lot is going on here, and more background is needed to explain it. The kingdom of Arthur is under attack from his own illegitimate son, Mordred, his own sister Morgana. His kingdom suffers from the crime that he has committed by sleeping with his sister. A sacrifice has to be paid, and the king himself has to pay it. He eventually meets Mordred in battle and slays him, dying in the process.

Excalibur is full of classical tropes and archetypes. The most obvious is the trope of the hero, in particular, the sacrificial hero. Arthur sacrifices himself to restore the land and to pay for his sins. The sin in question is sleeping with his half-sister Morgana. Morgana can be described as satisfying the archetype of the femme fatale. This is teh seductress who leads the hero into transgression and sin. Let's look at one more example of the femme fatale in a poem by John Keats, "La Belle Dame sans Merci."

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La Belle Dame sans Merci: Poem summary and analysis

La Belle Dame sans Merci is French for "beautiful lady with no mercy." It describes an unfortunate knight who is seduced by a beautiful lady or spirit who seduced him and left him lost and wandering the wild meadows.

Keats, "La Belle Dame sans Merci" (1819):

O what can ail thee, knight-at-arms,

       Alone and palely loitering?

The sedge has withered from the lake,

       And no birds sing.

O what can ail thee, knight-at-arms,

       So haggard and so woe-begone?

The squirrel’s granary is full,

       And the harvest’s done.

I see a lily on thy brow,

       With anguish moist and fever-dew,

And on thy cheeks a fading rose

       Fast withereth too.

I met a lady in the meads,

       Full beautiful—a faery’s child,

Her hair was long, her foot was light,

       And her eyes were wild.

I made a garland for her head,

       And bracelets too, and fragrant zone;

She looked at me as she did love,

       And made sweet moan

I set her on my pacing steed,

       And nothing else saw all day long,

For sidelong would she bend, and sing

       A faery’s song.

She found me roots of relish sweet,

       And honey wild, and manna-dew,

And sure in language strange she said—

       ‘I love thee true’.

She took me to her Elfin grot,

       And there she wept and sighed full sore,

And there I shut her wild wild eyes

       With kisses four.

And there she lullèd me asleep,

       And there I dreamed—Ah! woe betide!—

The latest dream I ever dreamt

       On the cold hill side.

I saw pale kings and princes too,

       Pale warriors, death-pale were they all;

They cried—‘La Belle Dame sans Merci

       Thee hath in thrall!’

I saw their starved lips in the gloam,

       With horrid warning gapèd wide,

And I awoke and found me here,

       On the cold hill’s side.

And this is why I sojourn here,

       Alone and palely loitering,

Though the sedge is withered from the lake,

       And no birds sing.

This is an innovative use of the concept of archetypes. Yeats uses the story as a demonstration of the power of poetry. Men who submit to the call of the muse are portrayed as being the victim of a fatal mistress and these men are fated to suffer eternally and die early. Their poetic talent and sensibilities make them liable to a range of suffering that non-poets would not have to worry about. This is ironic as Yeats was also to die young.

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Cite this EminentEdit article

Antoine, M. (2024, December 8). Archetypes in Literature. EminentEdit. https://www.eminentediting.com/post/archetypes-in-literature