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By the end of the play, he has brought down his world around him with the relentless force that made him a great general turned inward, destroying both what he loved best in another and in himself. The tragedy of Othello, written by William Shakespeare, presents the main character Othello, as a respectable, honorable, and dignified man, but because of his insecurities and good nature, he is easily taken advantage of and manipulated by his peers and alleged friends. In Shakespeare's Othello, Iago is one of the most compelling villains in English literature. Frye frequently acknowledged his debt to Jung, accepted some of Jungs specifically named archetypes persona and anima and counsellor and shadow and referred to his theory as Jungian criticism (Anatomy 291), a practice subsequently followed in some hand books of literary terms and histories of literary criticism, including one edited by Frye himself, which obscured crucial differences and contributed to the confusion in terminology reigning today. Shakespeare shifts the action from Venice to Cyprus. 2. Othello was crafted at the dawn of the 17th century, shaped by complex social and geopolitical issues that new historicist critics, who seek to place literary works within a historical framework, have recently sought to unravel. The concept of the archetype is a venerable philosophical principle that came into new prominence and usage in the twentieth century with the development of archetypal literary criticism through the theories of psychologist C. G. Jung and literary theorist Northrop Frye. Bettina Knapps 1984 effort at an authoritative demonstration of archetypal literary criticism exemplified this pattern. What makes Othello so unique structurally (and painful to witness) is that it is a tragedy built on a comic foundation. Othello sends Emilia outside to guard the door. Due to the Moor, my lord. Iago's intelligence and wit allows him to make good sport of the protagonists of the play, sending Othello to his doom and that of his family. Mythological literary critics look for archetypes, characters and/or symbols with traits that are seen throughout literature regardless of time or place. Othello, though, decides to kill her. Othello: Damn her, lewd minx! At mid-century, Canadian critic Northrop Frye (1912-91) introduced new distinctions in literary criticism between myth and archetype. This passage reveals how much Othello has deteriorated as far as his ability to reason. Some of these include the downfall from high position Othello goes from being the general, to being convicted of being a murderer. He carries out his own execution for a violation that threatens social and psychic order. His expression of his jealousy quickly devolves from the conventional"Farewell the tranquil mind"to the absurd: Farewell the plum'd troops and the big wars. In this play there are only three women in the entire play. The key to extremely detrimental jealousy lies within one's ability to recognize it or deny it. At the center of the plays intrigue is Shakespeares most sinister and formidable conceptions of evil in Iago, whose motives and the wellspring of his villainy continue to haunt audiences and critics alike. 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 . Cultural criticism is exploring or examining the relationship of dominant role based on ethnicity, and sexual identity of person, also a great understanding of yourself. The term archetype can be traced to Plato (arche, original; typos, form), but the concept gained currency in twentieth-century literary theory and criticism through the work of the Swiss founder of analytical psychology, C. G. Jung (1875-1961). Van Meurss bibliography conveys the great variety of Jungian writings on literature even within one language, the increasingly recognized potential for further development and use of Jungs ideas, and the growth in numbers of literary scholars falling under the influence of Jung. (V.2.316, 323) It is beyond a doubt Othello's fault that all of this wreckage befalls him, and his still has not had a moment of recognition of his failures at reasoning and understanding. This article, then, treats the only form of literary theory and criticism consistent with and derived directly from the psychological principles advanced by Jung. Further, myth critics, aligned with writers in comparative anthropology and philosophy, are said to include Frazer, Jessie Weston, Leslie Fiedler, Ernst Cassirer, Claude Lvi-Strauss, Richard Chase, Joseph Campbell, Philip Wheelwright, and Francis Fergusson. Witness that here Iago doth give up Othello is now reduced to questioning his wife's maid, Emilia, looking for evidence of Desdemona's infidelity. They're not intended to be submitted as your own work, so we don't waste time removing every error. Othello is a man of high rank in Venice. Shakespeare on the other hand has portrayed women as both object and subject. Othello is characterized by his plainspoken read analysis of Othello Iago Othello's disloyal standard-bearer and the villain of the play. This causes him to lose his ability to make good judgments and decisions. To furnish me with some swift means of death The major work of Frye's to deal with archetypes is Anatomy of Criticism but his essay The Archetypes of Literature is a precursor to the book. (And nope, we don't source our examples from our editing service! An archetype is universal; it is generated by man's psyche regardless of time of place. Essays and criticism on William Shakespeare's Othello - Criticism . The traits of the tragic hero lead the audience to feel compassion for the helpless victim. 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. After Othello was convinced that Desdemona was cheating on him, Othello had started to show his disappointment with her. Thus criticism evolving from his work is more accurately named archetypal and is quite distinct from myth criticism. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press, 1994. 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. Even when Desdemona was found after Othello strangles her, she still believed that her death was not the fault of Othello. As he attempts to carry out his execution of Desdemona, she for the first time realizes his charges against her and his utter delusion. The three fundamental qualities of an archetype are: An archetype is a preconscious, instinctual expression of man's basic nature. Archetypal criticism, then, construed as that derived from Jung's theory and practice of archetypal (analytical) psychology, is a fledgling and much misconstrued field of inquiry with significant but still unrealized potential for the study of literature and of aesthetics in general. Frye, however, notably in Anatomy of Criticism, essentially redefined and relocated archetype on grounds that would remove him unequivocally from the ranks of Jungian critics by severing the connection between archetype and depth psychology: This emphasis on impersonal content has been developed by Jung and his school, where the communicability of archetypes is accounted for by a theory of a collective unconsciousan unnecessary hypothesis in literary criticism, so far as I can judge (m-12). Here are some examples of archetype in Shakespearean works: Lover: Romeo ("Romeo and Juliet"), Juliet ("Romeo and Juliet"), Antony ("Antony and Cleopatra") Hero: Othello ("Othello"), Hamlet . Like the base Indian, threw a pearl away That not another comfort like to this Nor set down aught in malice. Frye's work helped displace New Criticism as the major mode of analyzing literary texts . (2023). Archetypal analysis is an appropriate model for customer heterogeneity whenever the underlying structure is best defined by the extremes. Archetypal criticism focuses on such things in a work. "Othello", by William Shakespeare, is a story of jealousy's potential to manipulate thoughts and eventually lead to ultimate demise. My life and education both do learn me Marxist criticism would also have offered a distinctive way of looking at Othello. Joseph P. Strelka, 1976); Karin Barnaby and Pellegrino DAcerino, eds., C. G. Jung and the Humanities: Toward a Hermeneutics of Culture (1990); Martin Bickman, The Unsounded Centre: Jungian Studies in American Romanticism (1980); Maud Bodkin, Archetypal Patterns in Poetry: Psychological Studies in Imagination (1934); Northrop Frye, Anatomy of Criticism: Four Essays (1957); Albert Gelpi, The Tenth Muse: The Psyche of the American Poet (1975); Naomi Goldenberg, Archetypal Theory after Jung, Spring (1975); Julia Kristeva, Stabat Mater (1977, The Kristeva Reader, ed. Nothing extenuate, Archetypal criticism proceeds from the initial assumption that every work of literature can be categorized and fitted into a large framework that encompasses all literature. norwegian cruise line dining menus archetypal criticism in othello. (3.3.54) Ex. . Othello falls in love with Desdemona and they secretly marry; later, he leaves to Cyprus to stop the Turks. The next significant development in archetypal theory that affected literary studies grew out of the effort made by U.S.-born, Zurich-trained analyst James Hillman (b. No products in the cart. Egypt) and titles (e.g. To you I am bound for life and education; James Baird, Jungian Psychology in Criticism: Theoretical Problems, Literary Criticism and Psychology (ed. Using an archetypal literary criticism, Harry Potter can be analyzed by focusing on different archetypes, such as, symbols, images, and character types in the text. However, for Othello this is not the case. Archetypal criticism ensures the efforts of all these concerned faculties to analyse of a text hence archetypal criticism is of immense significance. The romantic climax comes in the trial scene of act 1, in which Othello success-fully defends himself before the Venetian senate against Brabantios charge that Othello has beguiled his daughter, stoln from me, and corrupted / By spells and medicines bought of mountebanks. Calmly and courteously Othello recounts how, despite the differences of age, race, and background, he won Desdemonas heart by recounting the stories of his exotic life and adventures: She loved me for the dangers I had passed, / And I loved her that she did pity them. Wonder at Othellos heroic adventures and compassion for her sympathy have brought the two opposites togetherthe young, inexperienced Venetian woman and the brave, experienced outsider. QAFQAZ UNIVERSITY SPRING, 2013. Cinthios version of Iago is conventionally driven by jealousy of a superior and lust for his wife. archetypal criticism in othello As the pair kneels together, they exchange vows: Iago: Witness you ever-burning lights above, Desdemona and Othello, therefore, face the usual challenges of the lovers in a Shakespearean comedy who must contend with the forces of authority, custom, and circumstances allied against their union. However, the Moor and Alfiero join forces to kill Disdemona, beating her to death with a stocking filled with sand before pulling down the ceiling on her dead body to conceal the crime as an accident. The three women are Desdemona, Emilia, and Bianca. Finally, Othello arrives giving him the opportunity to renew his marriage vows to Desdemona: It gives me wonder great as my content The example essays in Kibin's library were written by real students for real classes. Othello must now face the realization of what he has done. Othello is a complex play that deals with issues such as jealousy, gender, and race. They were built to defen the city of Nicosia during the Otto-man Venetian war. For more information on choosing credible sources for your paper, check out this blog post. This last text explicitly named the movement and demonstrated its appropriation of archetypal theory for feminist ends in aesthetics, analysis, art, and religion, as well as in literature. Desdemona replies that it was her fault: Nobody I myself. Given this background, it is not surprising to find in a 1976 essay entitled Jungian Psychology in Criticism: Theoretical Problems the statement that no purely Jungian criticism of literature has yet appeared (Baird 22). : In this quote, Othello is stating that his wife's supposed infidelity has ruined his name and turned it "black" and dirty like his own face, showing that a woman's fidelity was linked to a man's honor. However, Othello's words give a deeper insight into how he still misunderstands the situation. To protect the anonymity of contributors, we've removed their names and personal information from the essays. In addition, many powerfully heuristic Jungian concepts, such as synchronicity, have yet to be tested in literary contexts. (V.2.320-322) Giving up is hardly Othello's style, but this is how a noble and true man should react when he has mistakenly killed his wife. Placing responsibility in the stars - he calls Desdemona an "ill-starred wench" - is hardly a gallant course of action. This allows our team to focus on improving the library and adding new essays. Thus archetype is recognized as the tendency to form and reform images in relation to certain kinds of repeated experience, which may vary in individual cultures, authors, and readers (Lauter and Rupprecht 13-14). 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. And concomitantly, on which of these levels was the reader affected? William Shakespeare utilized archetype frequently as a literary device in his plays. This is not a satisfactory frame of mind for an investigator, and it is certainly not an . If it were now to die The story opens on Briony Tallis, a 13-year-old growing up in the upper-middle class in England in 1953 with . Commend me to my kind lord. Kibin, 2023, www.kibin.com/essay-examples/an-archetype-criticism-of-othello-a-play-by-william-shakespeare-yJF4zltX. Herbert Read, Michael Fordham, and Gerhard Adler, 20 vois., 1953-79), Letters (trans. The Women of Othello There are only three female characters in Othello, and each plays a critical role in Shakespeare's artfully crafted plot of jealousy and retribution. 3. In Re-Visioning Psychology, the published text of his 1972 Yale Terry Lectures (the same lecture series Jung gave in 1937), Hillman locates the archetypal neither in the physiology of the brain, the structure of language, the organization of society, nor the analysis of behavior, but in the processes of imagination (xi).