Unceasingly Exploring In Mysteries

The British post-modern novelist John Fowles demonstrated many of his writing techniques and ideas in The Magus, his first written novel. His other works harked back to the themes and images that shaped in The Magus. His protagonists always try to find authentic self and to understand the world in uncertainty or labyrinth, a maze with no center or exit. After The Magus was published, it was an immediate success, arousing more interest than anything else he had written. However, many readers, including some literary critics, were confused about the novel. In fact, The Magus belongs to what Carl Jung would call the visionary type of literary works. Writers of these works assumed the responsibility of their times and resorted to their collective unconsciousness to meet the psychological needs of their peers.Compared with psychological type, visionary type arouses more interest among psychologists. They take it for granted that the more personal an art is, the less artistic it is. Thus, to achieve a better understanding of The Magus, archetypal criticism is adopted, from the perspective of narrative structure, image, myths and character. And the thesis is structured as follows:Introduction briefly presents first the life of John Fowles and The Magus, next sums up home and abroad researches on the novel, then introduces archetypal criticism, and lastly depicts the arrangement of chapters of the thesis.Chapter One focuses on the archetype in narrative structure. According to Frye, the earliest myths are tales about self-losing and self-regaining. These myths are likely to contain such phases as initiating, proceeding, returning, and resuming. The narrative structure can be well adapted to The Magus, as Nicholas leaves London for Greece and returns to London in the end.Chapter Two explains the meaning of some mysterious symbols, ritual and gods or goddesses in the novel. Some of the main characters in The Magus correspond very well to certain Greater Arcanas in the Tarot. The mandala can mean a need for self-knowledge or the current psychic state of a particular person. Nicholas experiences mandala several times in Greece and back in London in the end. The mimic trial (a mysterious ritual) on Nicholas is also highly religious and mysterious. In addition, some gods and goddesses in ancient Greek myths"reappear"in the novel.Chapter Three depicts the characters one has to confront with on the process of individuation, such as anima or animus, wise old man. Alison (the primary anima), Julie-Lily (the secondary anima), Conchis (the first wise old man), and Mrs. Lily de Seitas (the second wise old man) make their distinct contributions to Nicholas's self-discovery.To sum up, The Magus, though confusing, is actually a great novel. The experience at Bourani for Nicholas is not only confusing but also torturous. But the ordeal is worthwhile in that he changes his attitude toward himself, the relationship with others, especially with women, and the whole world.