Analysisof TheYellowWallpaper fromthePerspectiveofArchetypalCriticism天上掉下个猪八戒歌词
天干物燥HU Zi-yi
(School of Foreign Language,Anhui Normal University,Wuhu241002,China)
what is dancing 下载Abstract:The Yellow Wallpaper is an important early work of American feminist literature written by Charlotte Perkins Gilman.It exemplifies people’s attitudes towards women's physical and mental health in the19th century.The story attacks the evils of the rest cure and critiques the position of women within the jailed system of marital prison.Feminism is one of the themes of the story. From the perspective of archetypal criticism,this paper will analyze the recurring image in the story and interprets its relations with the awakening of female consciousness.
此生不换mp3Key words:Charlotte Perkins Gilman;The Yellow Wallpaper;archetypal criticism;the awakening of female consciousness
1Introduction
Gilman is a writer and a feminist.Most of her works are about feminism.The Yellow Wallpaper is one of her outstanding feminist works.It has established her fame and become one of her most fa⁃mous works.It is about a woman who suffers from mental illness and has a rest cure with her husband in a rent mansion.Closeted in a room by her husband for the sake of her health,she becomes ob⁃sessed with the room's wallpaper and gradually goes insane.As a masterpiece of feminism,basically all analysis has been related with its various themes from different aspects.This paper will ana⁃lyze it from the perspective of archetype.
2Phases of the Awakening of female consciousnessgearsofwar
According to the Anatomy of Criticism,Frye says,“The sym⁃bol in this place is the communicable unit,to which I give the name archetype:that is,a typical or recurring image”(Frye,99).“The recurring image”in this story is the image of sun and moon. Though it does not appear in the exact word of“sun”and“moon”, it is presented in the form of“daytime”,“daylight”and“night”, etc.The repetition of them cannot be coincidence.They symbolizes meanings that the writer intends to put.In A Handbook of Critical Approaches to Literature,the symbolic meanings of sun and moon are associated with patr
iarchy and matriarchy.It is obvious that their symbolic meanings cannot be randomly chosen.Based on the archetypal criticism,images are related with myths.And myths are not“merely primitive fictions,illusions,or opinions based on false reasoning”(Guerin,159).In William Blake:The Poetics of Vision, Schorer says,“Myth is fundamental,the dramatic representation of our deepest instinctual life,of a primary awareness of man in the universe”(Schorer,29).Accordingly,myth reflects a more pro⁃found reality.The recurring images“that recur in the myths of peo⁃ples widely separated in time and space tend to have a common meaning”(Guerin,160).Therefore,the patriarchy and matriarchy can be traced in myths of different cultures.In the ancient Greek mythology,Helios is the god of the sun,and Selene is the goddess of the moon.And in the ancient Egypt,king is represented as the sun and queen,as the moon.Hence,although they have different names,they have a common ground.Stated accurately,in different cultures,sun has the symbolic meaning of patriarchy and moon,ma⁃triarchy.And The Yellow Wallpaper use those images is intentional. They are articulated to the conscious mind by means of myths. They have appeared throughout the story.And it is described more and more with the awakening of the narrator’s female conscious⁃ness.In the light of their symbolic meanings of patriarchy and ma⁃triarchy,the narrator behaves differently by day and at night.And in view of the differences,the process of“my”awakening can be divided into three stages.Firstly,the indiscriminate day and night, also the stage of slumber;secondly,the alternating day
杨千嬅and night, namely the stage of half-awakening;and lastly,the converse day and night,namely,the stage of awakening.
2.1The stage of slumber
The awakening of“I”does not accomplish immediately.At the beginning,“my”female consciousness is in the condition of slumber.And the description of two images reveals“my”physical and mental conditions.As it is said that the image of sun is the symbol of patriarchy and moon,matriarchy.In the first stage,sun and moon does not been much described.The writer does it on pur⁃pose.The recycle of day and night is a natural course.In Anatomy of Criticism,Frye says,“In the middle of all this recurrence,howev⁃er,is the central recurrent cycle of sleeping and waking life,the daily frustration of the ego,the nightly awakening of a titanic self”(Frye,105).However,In the first slumber stage,day and night does not have much difference.The“titanic self”almost does not show itself.On the contrary,the“frustration of the ego”occupies day and night.According to Freud,the ego is“governed by the reality principle”(Guerin,130).And based on Sexual Politics,the realities in the19th century are cruel for women.In marriage,once women get married,they are entering“the death of citizens”.They almost
收稿日期：2019-04-15修回日期：2019-04-24
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