1st Edition
The Effective Protagonist in the Nineteenth-Century British Novel Scott, Brontë, Eliot, Wilde
By Terence Dawson
Copyright 2004
312 Pages
by
Routledge
312 Pages
by
Routledge
Also available as eBook on:
The Effective Protagonist in the Nineteenth-Century British Novel is an experiment in post-Jungian literary criticism and methodology. Its primary aim is to challenge current views about the correlation between narrative structure, gender, and the governing psychological dilemma in four nineteenth-century British novels. The overarching argument is that the opening situation in a novel represents... Read more
Introduction; 1: Anima Possession; 1: ‘A Victim of His Own Contending Passions': Ivanhoe, Cedric of Rotherwood and the Logic of Romance; 2: ‘Man's Deeper Nature is Soon Found Out': Psychological Typology, the Puer Aeternus, and Fear of the Feminine in The Picture of Dorian Gray; 2: Animus Possession; 3: ‘An Oppression Past Explaining': Wuthering Heights and the Struggle for Deliverance from the Father; 4: ‘Light Enough To Trusten By': Structure and Experience in Silas Marner
Biography
Terence Dawson
'In unusually strong, jargon-free prose, Dawson offers an innovative model for psychological approaches to literary interpretation, a new look at gender-based criticism, and startlingly original readings of four canonical British novels.' George P. Landow, Professor of English and Art History, Brown University 'In this provocative book, Dawson offers exciting new readings of four nineteenth-century British novels... Dawson's careful employment of Jungian analysis yields fascinating new interpretations of these works and encourages readers to use similar strategies in examining the psychological and structural complexities of the novel.' ELT 'The Effective Protagonist is a very impressive work of post-Jungian literary criticism. It deserves to be adopted as a key model for the development of the Jungian treatment of literature. Moreover, Dawson's pioneering work ought to be recognised by the whole discipline of literary studies as a major advance in the understanding of literary form. This book is an important addition to post-Jungian studies and an 'effective' argument for the greater inclusion of Jung in the humanities.' Harvest, International Journal for Jungian Studies
