By UBATA MP 044214030 ERS STUDY T OF ENGL TY OF LET HARMA UN GYAKART 2009
TH HE SIGN
IFICANC CE OF TH HE COMB BINATION N
OF COM MIC AND TRAGIC MYTHO OS AS REP PRESENT TED BY
AL LEXANDR RA BERG GSON AND D EMIL B BERGSON N
O PIONEE ERS!
IN WI
ILLA CAT THER’S O
AN UNDER A RGRADUAT TE THESIS Presented d as Partial F Fulfillment o of the Requir rements for the Deg gree of Sarja ana Sastra The image c cannot be display ed. Your computer may not hav e enough memory to open the image, or the image may hav e been corrupted. Restart y our computer, and then open the file again. I f the red x still appears, y ou m may hav e to delete the image and then insert it again. in E English Lette ers
By
KR RISTIANU US PAMA JU UBATA MP PAT KA’ G GANTEKNG G
044214030
ENGLIISH LETTE ERS STUDY Y PROGRA AMME DEPA ARTMENT T OF ENGL
ISH LETTE ERS
FACULT TY OF LET TTERS
SA ANATA DH HARMA UN NIVERSITY Y
YO GYAKART TA
TH HE SIGN
IFICANC CE OF TH HE COMB BINATION N
OF COM MIC AND TRAGIC MYTHO OS AS REP PRESENT TED BY
AL LEXANDR RA BERG GSON AND D EMIL B BERGSON N
O PIONEE ERS!
IN WI
ILLA CAT THER’S O
AN UNDER A RGRADUAT TE THESIS Presented d as Partial F Fulfillment o of the Requir rements for the Deg gree of Sarja ana Sastra The image c cannot be display ed. Your computer may not hav e enough memory to open the image, or the image may hav e been corrupted. Restart y our computer, and then open the file again. I f the red x still appears, y ou m may hav e to delete the image and then insert it again. in E English Lette ers
By
KR RISTIANU US PAMA JU UBATA MP PAT KA’ G GANTEKNG G
044214030
ENGLIISH LETTE ERS STUDY Y PROGRA AMME DEPA ARTMENT T OF ENGL
ISH LETTE ERS
FACULT TY OF LET TTERS
SA ANATA DH HARMA UN NIVERSITY Y
YO GYAKART TA
T Utv Ut r All, on Ear
Tw|Ä ^ vâÜtÅ| UtáxÇzt
(Dayak rth as It is in
^tË g |Ç ^t tà ^t k’s Philoso
- * * Justice for
Heaven, Fe gtÄ|ÇÉ ^tË ft
^tË ]âut ophy) ear of God
É ftÜâzt utàt= This the sis is d e d ic a te d to My beloved parents And
The spirit of Dayak’s Anchestor and Borneo’s Forest
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
I would like to express my greatest gratitude to my Lord, my true Teacher, my Brother, my best Friend ever: Jesus Christ, who always accompanies and gives me strength and blessing so that I can finish this thesis. “O Lord! I am very proud and grateful to be one of Thy sheep.”
My sincere gratitude goes to Dewi Widyastuti, S.Pd., M.Hum., my advisor, for her guidance, advice and assistance in completing this thesis. My sincere gratitude also goes to Drs. Hirmawan Wijanarka, M. Hum., my co- advisor, for giving some corrections and advices to make my thesis better.
Also, I would like to express my greatest gratitude to, the best gift given by God, my beloved family: my father, Vinsentius Jian, my mother, Deltina
Titin, for their love, patience and support. “Thanks mum, thanks dad, I am very
proud to become your son”. My greatest gratitude also goes to my brother,
Valentinus Panyugu Mpat Ka’ Gantekng, my sister, Elizabeth Talu Lanjani
Mpat Ka’ Gantekng, my sister-in-law, Peggy, and my nephew, Christian
Valentino Panawakng, for their love and support.I am grateful to all of my best friends: Edward, Ison, Jojo, Itonk, Budi,
Ucok, Andre, Martha, Tita and many others that I could not mention one by one
down here, for their support, assistance and their true-friendship, “thanks pals, I am going to miss you all”. I also would like to thank all of my cousins, Olen,
Abet, Liber, Rio, Ares, Fausta, Dopi, for their support.
I am also grateful to my true love: Novita Christina, for her love, support, and patience. “May God unite us sugar”. I also would like to thank all of Dayak fellows who study in Jogjakarta, for their guidance and support from the beginning to the end of my study.
Kristianus Pama Jubata MKG
TABLE OF CONTENTS
TITLE PAGE ................................................................................................. i
APPROVAL PAGE ...................................................................................... ii
ACCEPTANCE PAGE ................................................................................ iii
MOTTO PAGE ............................................................................................ iv
DEDICATION PAGE .................................................................................... v
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ......................................................................... vi
TABLE OF CONTENTS ........................................................................... viii
ABSTRACT .................................................................................................... x
ABSTRAK .................................................................................................... xi
CHAPTER I: INTRODUCTION ............................................................. 1 A. Background of the Study .............................................................. 1 B. Problem Formulation .................................................................... 4 C. Objectives of the Study ................................................................. 5 D. Definition of Terms ....................................................................... 5
CHAPTER II: THEORETICAL REVIEW .............................................. 7
A. Review on Related Studies ........................................................... 7 B. Review on Related Theories ....................................................... 101. Theory of Characters and Characterization ............................ 10
2. Theory of Archetypes and Mythos ......................................... 11
3. Theory of Meanings ................................................................ 18
C. Theoretical Framework ............................................................... 19
CHAPTER III: METHODOLOGY .......................................................... 21
A. Object of the Study ..................................................................... 21 B. Approach of the Study ................................................................ 23 C. Method of the Study .................................................................... 24CHAPTER IV: ANALYSIS ....................................................................... 25
A. The Description of Alexandra Bergson and Emil Bergson .......... 251. The Description of Alexandra Bergson ................................... 25
a. Strong ................................................................................. 25
b. Rational .............................................................................. 29
2. The Description of Emil Bergson ............................................ 34
a. Attractive ............................................................................ 34
b. Emotional ........................................................................... 39
B. The Comic and Tragic Mythos Represented by the Descriptions of Alexandra Bergson and Emil Bergson ............... 42
1. The Comic Mythos Represented by the Descriptions of Alexandra Bergson .............................................................. 42
C. The Significance of the Combination of the Comic and Tragic Mythos .............................................................................. 58
1. Meanings are Relational ........................................................... 59
2. Meanings are Attributed to the Object by the Human Mind .... 64
CHAPTER V: CONCLUSION ................................................................ 67
BIBLIOGRAPHY ....................................................................................... 71APPENDIX ...... ........................................................................ ....................72
ABSTRACT
KRISTIANUS PAMA JUBATA (2009). The Significance of the Combination
of Comic and Tragic Mythos as Represented by Alexandra Bergson and Emil
Bergson in Willa Cather’s O Pioneers!. Yogyakarta: Department of English
Letters, Faculty of Letters, Sanata Dharma University.
Traditionally, a literary work is classified under one mythos only, either comic or tragic, as exemplified in old Greek drama genres. However, the combination of the two mythoses in one work can be found in modern literary works. One of those works is the novel O Pioneer! by Willa Cather, which contains aspects of both the comic mythos and the tragic mythos. This study is aimed to examine the combination of the two mythoses, comic and tragic, which is represented by the two main characters, Alexandra and Emil Bergson, and tries to find the significance of the combination.
There are three objectives to be analyzed. The first objective is to discover the descriptions of Alexandra Bergson and Emil Bergson in Willa Cather’s novel
O Pioneers! . The second objective is to identify how the descriptions of
Alexandra Bergson and Emil Bergson represent the comic and tragic mythos respectively. The last objective is to discover the significance that can be derived from the combination of the comic and tragic mythos in the novel.
This study applies structuralism as the approach, because it examines the meaning of archetypes and mythos as codes in the novel under discussion. This is suitable with structuralism, which examines how the codes or components of a system work to form meaning. This study also applies the library research method in gathering the necessary data.
The first finding of the analysis shows that Alexandra Bergson is described as a strong and rational person, while Emil Bergson is described as an attractive and emotional person. The second finding of the analysis shows that Alexandra undergoes the phases of the comic mythos, namely the birth of the hero who gets the quest, revival and resurrection by undergoing excruciating ordeals, defeat of the power of darkness, culmination of life, marriage, and entering into paradise, which are supported by Alexandra’s strong and rational characteristics. While Emil undergoes the phases of the tragic mythos, namely the highest dignity, the protagonist’s fall, isolation of the hero, violent death and sacrifice, darkness, dissolution, and defeat of the hero, which are supported by Emil’s attractive and emotional characteristics. The third finding of the analysis shows that based on Saussure’s idea that meanings are relational, the meanings or significance of the story is obtained from the relation between all the phases in both mythoses. If any phase or mythos is missing, the relation will be broken and the story will be comprehended differently. While based on Saussure’s idea that meanings are attributed by the human mind, the meaning of this story or narrative depends on how the reader wants to view the story. A reader can view this story as a narrative
ABSTRAK
KRISTIANUS PAMA JUBATA (2009). The Significance of the
Combination of Comic and Tragic Mythos as Represented by Alexandra
Bergson and Emil Bergson in Willa Cather’s O Pioneers!. Yogyakarta:
Jurusan Sastra Inggris, Fakultas Sastra, Universitas Sanata Dharma.
Dahulu, sebuah karya sastra hanya bisa diklasifikasikan kedalam satu mitos saja, antara comic atau tragic, contohnya pada drama Yunani kuno. Tetapi, kombinasi kedua mitos ini didalam satu karya dapat kita temukan pada karya-karya sastra modern. Salah satunya adalah novel O Pioneers! karya Willa Cather, yang berisi aspek-aspek mitos baik comic maupun tragic. Penelitian ini bertujuan untuk meneliti kombinasi dari kedua mitos ini, yang direpresentasikan oleh dua karakter utama yaitu Alexandra dan Emil Bergson, dan mencoba mencari makna dari kombinasi itu.
Ada tiga pertanyaan untuk dikaji. Yang pertama adalah mencari deskripsi dari Alexandra Bergson dan Emil Bergson di novel O Pioneers!. Yang kedua adalah mengidentifikasi bagaimana deskripsi Alexandra Bergson dan Emil Bergson merepresentasikan mitos comic dan tragic. Pertanyaan terakhir adalah untuk mencari makna yang dapat diambil dari kombinasi mitos comic dan tragic di dalam novel.
Penelitian ini menggunakan pendekatan strukturalisme, karena penelitian ini mencoba meneliti arti dari archetypes dan mitos sebagai sebuah kode pada novel yang dibahas. Ini sangat cocok dengan strukturalisme, yang mana memang meneliti bagaimana kode atau komponen dari suatu sistem bekerja untuk membentuk sebuah arti. Penelitian ini juga menggunakan metode studi pustaka dalam mengumpulkan data yang diperlukan.
Analisis pertama menunjukkan bahwa Alexandra Bergson digambarkan sebagai seorang yang kuat dan rasional, dan Emil Bergson digambarkan sebagai seorang yang menarik dan emosional. Analisis kedua menunjukkan, Alexandra mengalami fase-fase pada mitos comic, seperti lahirnya sang pahlawan, bangkit dan menjadi baru setelah melewati cobaan berat, kehancuran kekuatan gelap, mencapai titik tertinggi dalam hidup, pernikahan dan masuk ke dalam surga, yang didukung oleh karakter Alexandra yang kuat dan rasional. Sementara Emil mengalami fase-fase pada mitos tragic, seperti harga diri yang tinggi, kejatuhan, isolasi, kematian dan pengorbanan, kegelapan, musnah, dan kekalahan sang pahlawan, yang didukung oleh karakter Emil yang menarik dan emosional. Analisis ketiga menunjukkan bahwa berdasarkan teori Saussure bahwa makna itu saling berkaitan, makna dari cerita didapat dari keterkaitan antara semua fase di kedua mitos. Jika ada fase atau mitos yang hilang, keterkaitannya akan putus dan cerita akan dipahami secara berbeda. Sementara itu, berdasarkan teori Saussure bahwa makna ditentukan oleh pikiran manusia, makna cerita ini atau jalan cerita tergantung pada sudut pandang pembaca nya. Seorang pembaca dapat melihat cerita ini sebagai sebuah jalan cerita dari mitos comic berdasarkan deskripsi dari
CHAPTER I INTRODUCTION A. Background of the Study Literature has a universal nature. Since the beginning of human
civilization, various cultures around the world have produced their own forms of literary works, from Greek drama and poetry, which have existed since centuries B.C., folk tales which can be found in traditions all around the world, Western literature, to post-colonial literature and women’s literature, which has been proliferating recently, and many more.
It is highly interesting that despite vast differences in culture, location, and time backgrounds, there are some certain images, characters, plots, or patterns which occur repeatedly among stories from various places and eras. For example, there is a type of character known as femme fatale, namely the woman who causes disastrous events or the downfall of the other characters, such as Eve from the story of Genesis in the Bible or Pandora from Greek mythology. This type of character can be found in many modern works today. As another example, there is a type of plot depicting a journey or a quest, where the main character must overcome a series of obstacles before reaching his or her goal. This kind of quest can be found from Homer’s Odyssey in the ancient Greek era, King Arthur legend, to J.R.R. Tolkien’s The Lord of the Rings trilogy.
These recurrent images, characters, plots, or patterns, which takes on a universal quality through its repetitions throughout the centuries in various works, are known as archetypes (Leitch, 2001: 1443). In other words, archetype is “a universal symbol” (Guerin, 1992: 149), or “a symbol which recurs often enough in literature to be recognizable as an element of one’s experience as a whole” (Frye, 1957: 99).
The theory of archetype itself originates from the fields of mythology and psychology (Guerin, 1992: 147). James Frazer, a Scottish anthropologist, was the first to write about mythologies and archetypes in late nineteenth century. Carl Jung, a Swiss psychologist specializing in psychoanalysis, wrote about archetype in relation to the unconscious mind (Walker, 1995: 4). Archetypal theory became incorporated as a literary criticism in the theories of Northrop Frye, a Canadian literary critic who was also Jung’s follower (Leitch, 2001: 1443). Frye focuses on the function and effect of archetypes in literature. According to Frye, literary archetypes “play an essential role in refashioning the material universe into an alternative verbal universe that is humanly intelligible and viable, because it is adapted to essential human needs and concerns” (Abrams, 1993: 224-225).
According to Frye, all archetypal narratives can be classified into one of the four mythos, namely comic, romantic, tragic, and ironic (Frye, 1957: 366).
Each mythos has its own traits, types of characters, plot, and so on. In terms of genre, comic and romantic mythos are often combined as comedy, while tragic and ironic mythos are combined as tragedy. It is in accordance with the division of genres in Greek drama, tragedy and comedy (Jacobus, 2001: 1051).
In modern works, the boundaries between the two genres become more Jacobus, successive ages have added the genre called tragicomedy, a mixed form between tragedy and comedy, and the Elizabethan stage added histories and romances, which sometimes combined tragedy and comedy” (2001: 1051). Therefore, a work may contain some aspects of comedy as well as tragedy.
The novel O Pioneers!, which was first published in 1913, is one such novel which contains aspects of comedy and tragedy. The novel was “a semi- autobiographical novel about the early Scandinavian and Bohemian settlers of Nebraska” (Cather, 2003: x) and written by Willa Cather, an American novelist who got inspiration from her own life and her hometown in the American Midwest farming community, including the Agricultural Depression of 1893-1896 which she experienced (2003: v).
Besides telling about the struggles and the life of settlers at that era, this novel also tells about the personal life of the characters, especially the Bergson family as the major characters. Furthermore, the characters and the events they undergo in this novel reflect the archetypes described by Frye, so this novel can be regarded as an archetypal narrative. Based on the theory, all archetypal narratives can be classified as one of the four mythos, namely comic, romantic, tragic, and ironic (Frye, 1957: 366), but some of the archetypes in this novel are recognizable as comic, while some other archetypes are recognizable as tragic.
Therefore, this novel can be viewed as a combination of two mythos, comic and tragic mythos.
Among others, this combination is represented by two of the major Bergson. Alexandra represents aspects of comic mythos, while her youngest brother, Emil, represents aspects of tragic mythos. Each mythos has its own plot, traits, and significance, so when two opposing mythoses are combined, of course the combination will produce a new significance, which is different from the significance of each individual mythos. It will be interesting to discover the significance produced by the combination of the comic and tragic mythos as represented by the two major characters in this novel. Therefore, in this study, the writer will examine Willa Cather’s novel, O Pioneers!, for aspects of comic and tragic mythos represented by the description of Alexandra Bergson and Emil Bergson as theorized by Frye, so that the writer can discover the significance of the combination of the two mythoses.
B. Problem Formulation
In order to limit the subjects under discussion, the problems are formulated in the following questions.
1. How are Alexandra Bergson and Emil Bergson described in Cather’s
O Pioneers! ?
2. How do the descriptions of Alexandra Bergson and Emil Bergson represent the comic and tragic mythos?
3. What does the combination of the comic and tragic mythos signify?
C. Objectives of the Study This study aims to answer the questions in the problem formulation above.
The first objective of the study is to discover the descriptions of Alexandra Bergson and Emil Bergson in Willa Cather’s novel O Pioneers!. The second objective is to identify how the descriptions of Alexandra Bergson and Emil Bergson represent the comic and tragic mythos respectively. The last objective is to discover the significance that can be derived from the combination of the comic and tragic mythos in the novel.
D. Definition of Terms
1. Archetype
The word archetype is derived from Greek word archetypon, which means “beginning pattern” (Leitch, 2001: 1443). The idea of archetype is developed in literary criticism by Northrop Frye. Archetype in literary criticism refers to “a recurrent image, character, plot, or pattern that, through its repetitions in many works across the centuries, takes on a universal quality” (Leitch, 2001: 1443). In
Anatomy of Criticism , Frye defines archetype as “a symbol, usually an image,
which recurs often enough in literature to be recognizable as an element of one’s experience as a whole” (Frye, 1957: 99).
2. Mythos
Mythos is the “structural organizing principle of literary form” (Frye, 1957: 34), or the set of archetypes found in more complex combinations as major phases of the seasonal cycle, namely spring, summer, fall, and winter (Guerin, 1992: 154-155). In other words, all archetypal narratives can be classified as one of the four mythos, namely comic, romantic, tragic, and ironic (Frye, 1957: 366).
3. Tragic
Tragic is the adjective form of tragedy, one of the two genres which constituted the forms of drama known to the Greeks (Jacobus, 2001: 1051).
Tragedy is “serious in tone and importance” and tells about the fall of the hero who faced an unexpected fate, sometimes determined by inherent characteristics of the heroes, by the force of the environment, or by both (Jacobus, 2001: 1052). It usually ends with exile, death of the hero, or a similar resolution (2001: 1074- 5). This genre is used as a basic category in Frye’s framework of mythos (Guerin, 1992: 154).
4. Comic
Comic is the adjective form of comedy, another major dramatic genre which is the opposite of tragedy. Comedy is amusing and contains wit and humor; it starts with difficult situation but usually ends with a new beginning, such as a marriage or another chance (Jacobus, 2001: 1074-5). The subject of comedy is often the weakness of human ambition of the pretences of characters who think they are better than others (Jacobus 1064). This genre is also used as a basic category in Frye’s framework of mythos (Guerin, 1992: 154).
CHAPTER II THEORETICAL REVIEW A. Review of Related Studies In this part, the writer will discuss some related studies. The first related
study is a journal article entitled “Synchronicity and the Trickster in The
Importance of Being Earnest ” by Clifton Snider. It was published in The Wildean:
A Journal of Oscar Wilde Studies in 2005. In this article, Snider applies
archetypal literary criticism on Wilde’s play The Importance of Being Earnest.
According to Jung, archetypes, or “universal ideas, themes, patterns, characters that reside in and whose images stem from the collective unconscious”, are “the sources of synchronicity” (in Snider, 2005: 2). Wilde’s play contains archetypal character, namely the archetype of the Trickster. As an archetype, the Trickster character occurs repeatedly among various literary works, from the trickster myths of native North America to Hermes in Greek mythology (2005: 3).
Snider then draws some similarities between the Trickster characters in the archetypes and the characters in Wilde’s play. Hermes symbolizes the penetration of boundaries between villages, people, consciousness and unconsciousness. In Wilde’s play, there are boundaries between Algernon and Cecily and Jack/Ernest and Gwendolen due to different social class, identities, or parental disapproval, but the characters successfully penetrate those boundaries (2005: 3).
Snider also compares the main characters Algernon and Jack to the native North American trickster myth, who is described as: a hero who is always wandering, who is always hungry, who is not guided by normal conceptions of good or evil, who is either playing tricks on people or having them played on him and who is highly sexed. Almost everywhere he has some divine traits (Snider, 2005: 3-4). The North American trickster shares many common traits with Algernon and Jack, who both use a fictional personality they made up to wander away from their place. They have no conventional morality and do a lot of tricks in order to get the women they love. The “divine” trait comes from the magical quality and the characters’ and audience’s satisfaction when three couples are united in the unexpected happy ending (2005: 4-7).
The second related study is a review of the novel by Sarah Brood, which is published on her website. Brood compares the novel to My Antonia, which was written by Willa Cather five years before O Pioneers!. Although similar, Brooks considers O Pioneers! “more fantastic and formulaic” than My Antonia.
Everything is a little simpler and more straightforward in this book — the themes are more concrete, the storyline moves forward steadily, and the ending is clear-cut (http://seaswell.wordpress.com/2007/11/05/i-read-o- pioneers-by-willa-cather).
Brood also praises the plot as containing some “beautiful, wonderful” events, as well as the setting of the story. The “flat, blank unrelenting” landscape functions as a great setting because then the characters are on their own, affected only by the weather and by each other. In this novel, Cather successfully focuses on land and humanity (http://seaswell.wordpress.com/2007/11/05/i-read-o-
The novel O Pioneers! also reflects how ahead of her time Willa Cather was about matters like women, education, and religion. The novel features a woman as the protagonist, Alexandra Bergson. Although Alexandra is just an ordinary village woman, she is described as very strong, smart, determined, and a good leader. Those are traits that are usually assigned to men rather than women, especially in that era. The novel also features the character of an old man named Ivar. Although he is considered as eccentric with his habits of walking barefoot, living away from other people, and talking to animals, Ivar also shows good example of morality. He constantly reads the Bible, never harms anybody, and is very close with the nature. Thus, although he is not a model of perfect behaviour in the ordinary sense, Ivar still gives good example to people around him.
Like Snider’s “Synchronicity and the Trickster in The Importance of Being
Earnest ,” this study also identifies and examines archetypes found in Cather’s O
Pioneers! . On the other hand, this study differs from Snider’s study in that this
study examines two contrasting sets of archetypes as a whole, also known as mythos, namely the tragic and comic mythos in the novel. In addition, while Snider’s study only focuses on the characters in Wilde’s The Importance of Being
Earnest , this study focuses on two intrinsic elements of the novel, namely
characters and plot.B. Review of Related Theories
1. Theory of Characters and Characterization
According to Abrams, characters are the persons existed in literary works, such as drama, novel or short story. The type of the characters is usually different from each other and can be identified by the readers. Furthermore, the readers can also get certain moral values of such characters which are depicted from their utterance and behaviour (Abrams, 1993: 81). “Character” and “action” are identified by Aristotle in Poetics as the main elements in a story. Character must be revealed through action, or in other words, through aspects of the plot, which is defined as “the arrangement of incidents” in the story (in Barry, 2002: 224).
According to Holman in A Handbook to Literature, characters in literary works can be divided into two types based on the changes they undergo throughout the story, namely static characters and dynamic characters (1986: 83). Static characters undergo little change or no change at all. The pattern of action reveals the characters instead of showing the characters changing in response to the action. While dynamic characters are modified by their actions. The changes of their characteristics reveal the consequences of the actions (Holman, 1986: 83).
While in Understanding Unseen, Murphy listed nine ways by which an author may describe the characteristics of a character in a literary work, namely personal description, character as seen by another, speech, past life, conversation of others, reactions, direct comment, thoughts, and mannerism (1972: 161-171).
In personal description, the author describes the character’s appearance, describes the character through other characters’ point of views. In speech, the author describes the character through what he or she says. In past life, the author describes the character through his or her past life. In conversation of others, the author describes a character by presenting other characters having conversation about the character. In reactions, the author describes the character through his or her reaction in certain situations and events. In direct comment, the author describes the character directly by giving comment in the book. In thoughts, the author describes the character through his or her thoughts. In mannerism, the author describes the character through his or her mannerisms, habits, and peculiar behaviors. Thus, it can be concluded that an author may describe the characters in his or her work through a vast combination of means throughout the story.
The theories of character and characterization above are used in this study to identify aspects of tragic and comic mythos found in the characters of the novel, as one of the essential intrinsic elements of the novel.
2. Theory of Archetypes and Mythos
Despite vast differences in culture, location, and time backgrounds, there are some certain images, characters, plots, or patterns which occur repeatedly among literary works from various places and eras. Those repeated images, characters, plots, or patterns are known as archetypes. Guerin defines archetype as a universal symbol with a common meaning, or more accurately, with tendency to “elicit comparable psychological responses and serve similar cultural functions” recurs often enough in literature to be recognizable as an element of one’s experience as a whole” (Frye, 1957: 99).
Archetype is an idea from the field of mythology as well as psychology, especially psychoanalysis (Guerin, 1992: 147). James Frazer, a Scottish anthropologist, was the first to write about mythologies and archetypes in late nineteenth century. He identified shared practices and mythological beliefs between primitive religions and modern religions. Carl Jung, a Swiss psychologist specializing in psychoanalysis, wrote about archetype in relation to the unconscious mind (Walker, 1995: 4).
Archetypal theory became incorporated as a literary criticism with Northrop Frye, a Canadian literary critic who was also Jung’s follower (Leitch, 2001: 1443). Frye was “the primary advocate of the principles of archetypal criticism in literary theory” (Bressler, 1999: 155). In a review of Jung’s Two
Essays on Analytical Psychology and Psychology and Alchemy, Frye describes
archetypal literary theory as that mode of criticism which treats the poem not as an imitation of nature but as an imitation of other poems. It studies conventions and genres, and the kind of recurrent imagery which connects one poem with another (1957: 616). Different from Frazer and Jung, Frye focuses on the function and effect of archetypes in literature. According to Frye, literary archetypes “play an essential role in refashioning the material universe into an alternative verbal universe that is humanly intelligible and viable, because it is adapted to essential human needs and concerns” (Abrams, 1993: 224-225).
As shown in the definition in the first paragraph, archetypes consist of an unlimited number of various images, characters, plots, and patterns. So many things can be considered as instances of archetypes, from the color red (and other colors), number seven, snakes, trees, to the Good Mother figure. When a set of archetypes with similar or related characteristics is grouped together as a literary genre, the group is known as a mythos. As defined by Guerin, mythos is the set of archetypes which are also found in more complex combinations as literary genres, namely comic, romantic, tragic, and ironic (1992: 154-155). Frye relates the four mythos to the four seasons, namely spring, summer, autumn, and winter, and states that all archetypal narratives can be classified as one of the four mythos (1957: 366). Frye also identifies the five spheres which can be found in each mythos, namely human sphere, animal sphere, vegetation sphere, mineral sphere, and water sphere (in Leitch, 2001: 1452). Thus, each mythos has its own plot, typical characters, and setting.
Comedy, or the mythos of spring, contains the following main phases: first, there is the birth of the hero. Second, there is revival and resurrection.
Lastly, there is creation and the defeat of the power of darkness (Frye in Leitch, 2001: 1452). Those phases are closely related to traditional hero archetypes as discussed by Guerin in A Handbook of Critical Approaches to Literature, which consists of the following aspects.
a. The quest: the hero undertakes some long journey during which he or she must perform impossible tasks, battle with monsters, solve unanswerable riddles, and overcome insurmountable obstacles in order to save the kingdom. achieving maturity and becoming a full-fledged member of his or her social group. The initiation most commonly consists of three distinct phases: (1) separation, (2) transformation, and (3) return (1992: 154). Frye’s birth of the hero corresponds to the beginning of the quest; the revival and resurrection correspond with the hero’s process of initiation, while the creation and defeat of darkness correspond to the hero’s success in saving the kingdom in the end of his or her quest.
When going through the quest and initiation, the hero is sometimes aided by the traditional archetypal figures of The Wise Old Man and The Soul Mate. As personification of the spiritual principle, the Wise Old Man represents “knowledge, reflection, insight, wisdom, cleverness, and intuition on the one hand, and on the other, moral qualities such as goodwill and readiness to help” (1992: 153). When the hero is in a “hopeless and desperate situation” (1992: 153), which he or she cannot overcome due to internal or external obstacles, the Wise Old Man always appears to help the hero. The Soul Mate is described as “incarnation of inspiration and spiritual fulfilment” (1992: 153), or in Jungian theory, the anima. Anima is “the contrasexual part of a man's psyche”, or the image of the opposite sex that he carries in his personal and collective unconscious as the “soul-image,” or the spirit of a his life force or vital energy. In the female psyche, this archetype is called the animus (1992: 170-171). Examples of personifications of the anima in literature are heroines such as Helen of Troy, Dante’s Beatrice, and Milton’s Eve.
Romance, or the mythos of summer, contains the following main phases:
1452). The last phase is closely related with traditional archetype of immortality, which is described by Guerin as a fundamental archetype which may take the basic narrative form of “return to paradise”, or “the state of perfect, timeless bliss enjoyed by man and woman” (1992: 153). The paradise in the last phase also corresponds with traditional archetypal images of garden, which represents “paradise; innocence; unspoiled beauty (especially feminine); fertility”, and tree, which represents “life’s consistence, growth, proliferation, generative and regenerative processes” and “stands for inexhaustible life, and is therefore equivalent to a symbol of immortality” (1992: 153). Life and marriage also correspond to the traditional archetypal image of The Good Mother, which represents “the life principle, birth, warmth, nourishment, protection, fertility, growth, abundance” (1992: 152).
The mythos of comedy and romance are classified together as the comic
mythos, since the phases in both mythos tend to be lighter and end with happy
ending. In the comic mythos, “the human world is a community, or a hero who represents the wish-fulfilment of the reader” (Frye in Leitch, 2001: 1455). The animals are docile and pastoral, for example sheep. The vegetation is pastoral, also represented by gardens, parks, and roses. The minerals are represented by cities, a temple, or precious stones. The water is represented by rivers (2001: 1456). Water and river also correspond to the traditional archetypal images. Water represents “the mystery of creation; birth-death-resurrection; purification and redemption; fertility and growth” while river represents “death and rebirth
(baptism); the flowing of time into eternity; transitional phases of the life cycle; incarnation of deities” (Guerin, 1992: 150).
Tragedy, or the mythos of autumn, contains the following main phases:
the fall of the protagonist, violent death and sacrifice, and isolation of the hero (Frye in Leitch, 2001: 1453). The phase of violent death corresponds with the traditional archetypal image of setting sun, which represents death (Guerin, 1992: 151). While sacrifice and isolation of the hero correspond to one of the motifs in traditional hero archetype, namely “the sacrificial scapegoat”, in which the hero, with whom the welfare of the tribe or nation is identified, must die to atone for the people's sins and restore the land to fruitfulness (Guerin, 1992: 154). In Anatomy of Criticism, Frye relates the mythos of tragedy to Aristotle's theory. In Poetics, Aristotle lists three key elements in a plot, namely the
hamartia , the anagnorisis, and the peripeteia. The first element, hamartia, means
"a sin or a fault" that brings about the hero’s fall. According to Frye, the phase of the protagonist’s fall is caused by “tragic flaw”, which is identical to Aristotle’s
hamartia . It might refer to the character's internal weakness, but it might also refer
to the character's mistake due to circumstances outside his or her personality and control (1957: 366-367).
The fall of the protagonist is related with the traditional archetypal figure of the Terrible Mother, or the negative aspects of the Earth Mother, which represents “the witch, sorceress, siren, whore, femme fatale — associated with sensuality, sexual orgies, fear, danger, darkness, dismemberment, emasculation, death” (Guerin, 1992: 152). Sometimes, the Terrible Mother may become the cause of the protagonist’s fall.
Satire, or the mythos of winter, contains the following main phases:
darkness, dissolution, the return of chaos, and defeat of the hero (Frye in Leitch, 2001: 1453). The phases of darkness and the return of chaos correspond with the traditional archetypal image of the color black or darkness, which represents “chaos, mystery, the unknown; death; primal wisdom; the unconscious; evil; melancholy” (Guerin, 1992: 151). Darkness is the opposite of the sun, which represents “creative energy; law in nature; consciousness (thinking, enlightenment, wisdom, spiritual vision); passage of time and life” (1992: 150).
The mythos of tragedy and satire are classified together as the tragic
mythos, since the phases in both mythos tend to be darker and end with sad
ending. In tragic mythos, the human world is comprised of isolation, tyranny, and the fallen hero. The animals are predatory and hunters, for example wolves. The vegetation is either barren or represented by wild forests. The minerals are represented by a desert, ruins, or “sinister geometrical images”. The water is represented by the seas and especially floods (2001: 1456). As a traditional archetypal image, desert represents “spiritual aridity; death; nihilism, hopelessness”, while geometrical images are the opposite of circle, which represents “wholeness and unity” (Guerin, 1992: 151-153).
3. Theory of Meanings
Ferdinand de Saussure was a Swiss linguist and philosopher in the nineteenth century, who was considered as “a key figure in the development of modern approaches to language study” (Barry, 2002: 41). Saussure concentrated on the patterns and functions of language in use. One of his main concerns is about how meanings are maintained and established (2002: 41).
Saussure’s idea about linguistic structures can be summarized into three points. Firstly, meanings are arbitrary. It means that there is no inherent connection” between a word and the object or concept described by that word. Or, in Saussure’s terms, words are “unmotivated signs” (Barry, 2002: 41). For example, the word house does not actually have any relation with, or “is not in any way ‘appropriate’” to the meaning of that word. The meaning is only maintained by convention, or in other words because all speakers of a language already assign such meaning to such word.
Secondly, meanings are relational. It means that the definition of any word depends on its relation with other “adjoining” words, or words with related concept or categories. No word can be defined in isolation from other words. For example, the meanings of the words house, mansion, palace, and building are related to each other. Mansion is defined as a building which is bigger than a house, but smaller than a palace. If one of the words above does not exist, the definition will also change. In the paired opposites, the relation is even clearer since one word is defined against its pair. For example, it will be difficult to have
Thirdly, meanings are attributed to the object or idea by the human mind; language serves as the means to construct and express the meanings. For example, both the words “terrorist” and “freedom fighter” describe the same person. There is no neutral or objective way to describe such a person. It is just a choice of two terms which “construct that person in certain ways” (Barry, 2002: 43). The choice of term used by any individual may indicate his or her position, way of thinking, and so on. Thus, language does not just record or label our world, but also constitutes our world (Barry, 2002: 43).
In this study, this theory is used as the foundation when trying to discover the meanings that can be derived from the combination of two contrasting mythos, namely the tragic and comic mythos, in the novel.
C. Theoretical Framework
This part will discuss the contribution of the theories to answer the problems in the problem formulation. Abrams, Holman, and Murphy’s theories of character and characterization are used in answering the first problem, to discover the descriptions of Alexandra Bergson and Emil Bergson in the novel.