Archetypes of Literature by Northrop Frye

In literary criticism the term Archetype is used to show the recurrent narratives, designs, pattern of action, character types, themes and images which can be seen in wide variety of other literary works as well as in myths, dreams and even social rituals. And after much time reoccurred in works they become universal forms of pattern and symbols. And thus when the attentive reader read it, he finds that pattern. The archetypal critic tries to find this pattern, symbols and myths in present literary works.

In this Fry is trying to prove that literature can be study systematically, and criticism can be the organized body of knowledge.  As physics as a branch of knowledge learns Nature, but only partially, and not in totality. The same thing is criticism do with the literature and art. It learns literature but not the really literature itself, means it also like the physics learn partially. So criticism also can be called science, and it tries to learn literature systematically, but literature can’t be study systematically. Thus the relation between criticism and literature is that of physics to nature.

To support his view that criticism is an organized body of knowledge he says that“literature is the division of the ‘Humanities’ and it has two pillar philosophy and history, and for any literature both of them are necessary. And criticism is the only subdivision of literature, and so that, for the systematic organization of subject, one has to turn to historians for events and to that of the philosopher to ideas. And thus criticism would be to art what philosophy to wisdom and history to action. As we know that criticism learned journals and Scholarly monograph has every characteristics of science. In which all the things are doing scientifically, so we can say that criticism is organized body.

To learn literature systematically Fry mentioned two tools/methods. In inductive method first the data is collected and then try to see pattern in them and then turns towards a right conclusion. Inductive method is systematic method, that from particular to universal or larger vision. There are many examples of archetypal found in grave digging scene by verbal and textual study 1st is of dance of death, macabre 2nd corruption and decay 3rd is that of  Liebestod, so in the last we can say that this is the archetype of the hero who is always ready to die for love for anything.. 

In the Deductive method a proposition is given and according to it moves from general to particular as he says in the third part of the essay “some art moves in time, like music. Other presented in space, like painting. In both cases the organizing principle is recurrence which is called rhythm, when it is temporal and pattern when it is spatial. All art conceive as both temporal and spatially. The score of musical composition may be studied all at once and a picture may be seen as the track of an intricate dance of eyes. Literature seems to be intermediate between music and painting. Its word for rhythm and which can produce a musical sequence of sound and it also forms pattern or pictorial image. We hear or listen to narrative, but when we grasp a writer’s pattern we “see” what means. One who is well read, can easily find the pattern with a single look.

In this Gujarati lyric we found that the season of monsoon is archetypal of happiness for love birds, also the season of monsoon is also the season of romance according to Indian seasonal grid. Whereas the season of summer is denote romance in western countries, instead of romance Indian summer is boring. Even in some western countries there is no season like monsoon….    

પાન લીલું જોયું ને તમે યાદ આવ્યાં

જાણે મૌસમનો પહેલો વરસાદ ઝીલ્યો રામ

એક તરણું કોળ્યું ને તમે યાદ આવ્યાં

ક્યાંક પંખી ટહુક્યું ને તમે યાદ આવ્યાં

જાણે શ્રાવણના આભમાં ઉઘાડ થયો રામ

એક તારો ટમક્યો ને તમે યાદ આવ્યાં

જરા ગાગર છલકી ને તમે યાદ આવ્યાં

જાણે કાંઠા તોડે છે કોઇ મહેરામણ હો રામ

સહેજ ચાંદની છલકી ને તમે યાદ આવ્યાં

કોઇ ઠાલું મલક્યું ને તમે યાદ આવ્યાં

જાણે કાનુડાના મુખમાં બ્રહ્માંડ દીઠું રામ

કોઇ આંખે વળગ્યું ને તમે યાદ આવ્યાં

કોઇ આંગણે અટક્યું ને તમે યાદ આવ્યાં

જાણે પગરવની દુનિયામાં શોર થયો રામ

એક પગલું ઉપડ્યું ને તમે યાદ આવ્યાં…