A Study Of Cold Mountain From The Perspective Of Myth-Archetypal Criticism

American writer Charles Frazier won the National Book Award(1997)with his first book Cold Mountain(1997).The novel has a staggering sales volume,and the film adapted from it has won awards frequently,resulting in a good social response.From the perspective of Northrop Frye’s myth-archetypal criticism and Joseph Campbell’s archetypal theory,this thesis will discuss the archetype of motif,archetypes of mythos and archetypes of image in Cold Mountain,aiming to reveal the spiritual path of characters’ return.The first part employs Campbell’s theory about the hero’s homecoming archetype to analyze Inman’s journey to home,excavating that the hero’s journey through separation,initiation and return.The ultimate sacrifice does not point towards the end of life and the failure of self quest,but indicates the rebirth of hero’s return to the earth.The second part analyzes the life experiences of four characters from the perspective of Frye’s theory of four seasons.Ruby’s optimism is revealed through comedy;Ada’s independence is described in romantic stories,Inman’s perseverance is shown through tragic stories;and Veasey’s freedom is reflected in irony.Finally,all of them achieve the fulfillment of life from the land and nature.The last part focuses on the hope and the death archetypes of crow image,the life and the disaster archetypes of water image and the earth mother archetype of Cold Mountain image to further study how the three nature images signal the way forward for characters’ inner growth and the self-pursuit.This thesis attempts to explore the motif,mythoi and image through Frye’s and Campbell’s myth-archetypal criticism,revealing the fact that the healing power of nature plays emphasis on characters’ growth,and finally helps them to achieve their ultimate redemption.