From Ancient Greece To Modern America

The thesis employs archetypal criticism theory to analyze the tragedies composed by different dramatists in history, ranging from ancient Greece to modern America. All the tragedies in the thesis are based on the same Greek myth, i.e. the myth of Hippolytus and Phaedra. This thesis mainly concerns plot archetypes, character archetypes and theme archetypes. Some archetypes share the same pattern which goes through all the four tragedies, others are archetypes which only appear in one of the tragedies. By archetypal criticism, the thesis tries to point out that literature doesn't imitate nature but imitates literature itself. In addition, by detailed and insightful analysis of the four tragedies, the author further discusses the tragic greatness and enduring appeal of the main characters.The thesis includes five parts:Part One is a brief introduction to the profound impact of the Greek Myth on western literature and the significance of the thesis.Part Two is a historical retrospect to the myth of Hippolytus and Phaedra, and its four adaptations in history. The adaptations include Euripides' Hippolytus, Racine's Phaedra, Eugene O'Neill's Desire under the Elms and Robinson Jeffers' The Cretan Woman.Part Three is the theoretical perspective. First, it traces back the development of the archetypal criticism and introduces Frazer, Jung and Frye's contribution to the critical approach respectively. Then, it reveals the most important characteristic of archetypal criticism—literature is not an imitation of nature but an imitation of literature itself.Part Four studies the archetypes involved in the four tragedies. Each archetype is first explored from its cultural and social background, then the way how it is employed in each of the four dramas. Whether they are plot archetypes or character archetypes or theme archetypes, these archetypes are universally encountered all the time, for example, the archetype of scapegoat, the archetype of hostess'countercharge,the archetype of conflicting emotions.Part Five is a brief conclusion based upon the above parts. It consists of the summary of the critical approach and themes. As a result of the foregoing analysis, the four tragedies can verify the principles of archetypal criticism.