An archetypal analysis of E. M. Forster's fiction

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2004

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Madran, Cumhur Yılmaz

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The present analysis is intended to shed some light on Forster̕s use of myth, recurrent mythical images and archetypal patterns in his works. This study analyses Forster̕s archetypal images making particular references to his major works namely, short stories, Where Angels Fear to Tread, A Room with a View, The Longest Journey, Howards End and A Passage to India. The study is confined to the functions and significance of the mythical images and archetypal patterns represented in the aforementioned works. Forster tried to reflect the insecurity and rootlessness of modern life through mythical motifs; he showed a modern man who has become alienated from himself and nature. Forster̕s most obvious use of mythology is found in the short stories, which are fantasies. It is a mythology which stems from earth and nature, the two elements which act as unifying forces throughout his fiction. It is interesting to note further that this preoccupation with earth and nature is carried into all the other novels before A Passage to India. Forster̕s use of classical myth and his general attitude toward nature and earth are found in all his fiction. The method used is archetypal criticism; it deals with archetypes which are primordial images perceived across cultures, inherited from time immemorial, issuing from a ءcollective unconscious̕. An archetype is a mythic symbol, which is deeply rooted in the unconscious, more broadly based on a foundation of universal nature than an ordinary literary symbol, and is more generally expressive of the elemental in man and nature. Chapter one identifies the dominant archetypal approaches and further selects the most appropriate framework for a study of myth and archetypes in Forster̕s work. Chapter two deals with nature archetypes which find their best expression in Forster̕s short stories. Chapter three and four focus on Forster̕s character

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English literature.

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http://etd.lib.metu.edu.tr/upload/3/12605507/index.pdf
https://hdl.handle.net/11511/14565

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Graduate School of Social Sciences, Thesis

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Citation Formats

C. Y. Madran, “An archetypal analysis of E. M. Forster’s fiction,” Ph.D. - Doctoral Program, Middle East Technical University, 2004.