Abstract
The archetype is a psychosomatic concept that links body, psyche, instinct and
image. Jung asserts that images evoke the aim of the instincts, implying that they
deserve equal significance. Archetypes are recognized in outer behaviours, namely
those that cluster around basic and universal experiences of life, like motherhood,
birth, death and separation. They are also part of the human psyche and are
observable to inner or psychic life such as anima, shadow, persona and so forth.
Archetypal patterns are realized in the personality and are capable of infinite
variations depending upon individual expression. To give archetypal expression to
something is to interact consciously with the collective unconscious ; i.e., to interact
with the historic image in such a way as to give opportunities to the play of
intrinsic opposing forces. In order to prevent psychic disproportions conscious and
unconscious states are harmonious in a balanced person. Dissolution of the
compromise between the conscious and the unconscious renders the opposition
even more intense and results in psychic disequilibrium. When this tension
becomes intolerable, a solution must be discovered and the only viable relief is a
reconciliation of the two at a different and more satisfactory level. Thus, Lily
Briscoe sees a harmony in Mrs. Ramsay that she would like to achieve but remains
unable to until she realizes and overcomes the shortcomings in her personality.
She achieves that harmony in her painting only when she imbibes the spirit of Mrs.
Ramsay, after much thought over her strict feministic stance.
Humaira Aslam. (2014) Virginia Woolf's To The Lighthouse: Lily Briscoe’s Archetypal Behaviour, The Journal of Humanities & Social Sciences, Volume-22, Issue-1.
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