Literary Archetypes and Symbols Flashcards
What are Archetypes?
They are repeated patterns that recur in the literature of every age. Type of symbol. Universal symbols that evoke deep and sometimes unconscious responses in a reader.
Symbols Come From
- Inherited or invented.
- Most familiar symbols have been inherited, meaning, they have been handed down over time.
Carl Jung
Swiss psychologist/psychiatrist whose study of the human mind resulted in two basic concepts. Collective unconsciousness and archetypes.
The Star-Crossed Lovers
A young couple joined by love but parted by fate.
Unfaithful Wife
Married to a man she sees as a dull and unimaginative. She is physically attracted to a more desirable man.
Hero
The main character leaves his or her community to go on an adventure, performing deeds that bring honor to the community.
Devil Figure
Offers worldly goods, fame, offers knowledge to the protagonist in exchange for possession of his soul.
Villian
A cruelly malicious person who is involved in or devoted to wickedness or crime (usually the antagonist).
Scapegoat
The scapegoat figure is one who gets blamed for everything regardless of whether he/she is actually at fault.
Outcast
A figure who is banished from a social group for some crime against his fellow man. Destined to become a wanderer.
Trickster
Crosses physical and social boundaries-traveler breaks social rules, blurs the lines between right and wrong.
The Innocent
Child/youth or inexperienced adult.
The Great Teacher/Mentor
Wise old man represents knowledge, wisdom, spirituality of the soul, insight, protector or helps the main character when he or she faces challenges.
Earth Mother
Symbolic of fruition and abundance as well as fertility.
The Shrew
The nagging, bothersome wife always battering her husband with verbal abuse.
