A Myth And Archetypal Analysis Of Ian%Mcewan's Atonement

Ian McEwan is one of Britain's most highly regarded contemporary writers.Atonement which was first published in2001was regarded as the best of IanMcEwan's books, and was shortlisted for the Booker Prize. It has won the WH SmithLiterary Prize, National Book Critics Circle Award, Los Angeles Times Prize forFiction and Santiago Prize for the European Novel. Time magazine includes it in theAll-time100novels. John Updike considers it "a staggering book—something noAmerican could have published." This novel was adapted for the screen, and the filmreleased in2007also received widespread acclaim.This thesis aims to analyze the novel based on myth and archetypal criticism.This thesis analyzes the archetypal characters, archetypal motifs and archetypalimagery in Atonement. Readers are motivated to "stand back" and reflect on therelationship between the novel and the literary history.This thesis consists of five parts. Introduction presents the literature review onAtonement both at home and abroad and justifies the approach it intends to apply. Themyth and archetypal analysis of Atonement can further interpretation of McEwan'sstudies. Chapter One, Two, Three are respectively about the archetypal analyses ofcharacters, motifs and imagery. Conclusion highlights the significance of applyingmyth and archetypal criticism on Atonement. By using the archetypes, Ian McEwan isable to transcend the limitations of time and space and enhance his work's readabilityand artistic charm.