An Interpretation Of Jane Austen's Novels From The Perspective Of Archetypal Criticism

Jane Austen?1775-1817?is an eminent British female writer in the 18-19^thcentury.She has published six well-known works in total,which are popular till today.For more than 200years after her death,scholars at home and abroad have never stopped studying her works,but the study from the perspective of Frye's archetypal criticism is not quite much and deep enough,so this thesis will study from the perspective of archetypal criticism.The purpose is to excavate the deep cultural structure and significance of Austen's works by using Frye's theory of"Myth-Archetypal”Criticism.The body of this thesis is mainly divided into three chapters.Chapter one clarifies the connotation of archetypal characters and archetypal structures of“Myth-Archetypal”criticism.Archetypal characters refer to typical or recurring character images,and archetypal structures refer to the narrative structure that can appear recurrently in different literary works.This thesis mainly explains two kinds of narrative structures.One is the“U-shaped structure",as the main narrative structure of the Bible;and the other is the“Four-Season”Modes,regarding spring,summer,autumn and winter as comedy,romance,tragedy and satire of literary genre.Chapter two mainly explores the typical archetypal characters contained in Austen's novels,which can arouse readers'resonance greatly.In addition,this thesis classified them into two types:the pursuers for the ideal society and the defenders of patriarchal society.Jane Austen adopted the image of Orpheus unconsciously to shape the images like Anne Elliot,Elinor and Fanny by displacement deformation,and used Odysseus to shape the images like Wentworth,Catherine and Elizabeth Bennet.They are as intelligent and determined as Orpheus,to pursue their beloved bravely.They're the promoters of social progress,the ideal embodiment of a more equal and fair society.She also used Narcissus to shape Sir Walter and Easun to shape William Elliot unconsciously.They are owners of vested interests in the patriarchal society,but some indulged in the glory of the past and unwilling to face the reality,some took every opportunity to satisfy their own interests by sacrificing others'.They are obstacles and stumbling blocks to the progress of society.Chapter three analyzed the archetypal structures of Austen's novels and found that Austen's novels are good at using the U-shaped narrative structure.Such as the plot of the novel Persuasion,it contains the U-shaped structure from"Paradise Lost"to"Paradise Regained".Pride and Prejudice and Northanger Abbey and so on have also adopted the U-shaped structure.This structure not only conveys Austen's vision of an ideal society,but also enables her to create infinite works within the seemingly simple and limited structure.In addition,the narrative structure of Austen's novels also contains the modes of"Four-Season”.The novels often has a comic ending and depict one or more pairs of young couples who pursue for love and eventually get married in romantic style.The process not only reflects the tragic confinement of women's rights and status,but also satirizes the hypocritical villains in the society at that time.Through the analysis of Austen's novels by Archetypal Criticism theory,this thesis found that Austen's works contain two main types of characters,that is,pursuers for the ideal society and defenders of patriarchal society.Besides,through the application of"U-shaped structure"and"Four-Season”Modes,Austen's novels further present her criticism of the feudal backward patriarchal society and her pursuit for the ideal society of equality,fairness and beauty between men and women.