An Analysis of The Hairy Ape from the Perspective of Mythological Criticism

乔丹秋

【Abstract】This essay is about mythological criticism reflected in Eugene ONeills play-The Hairy Ape. The Hairy Ape documents the downward spiral of a fireman who works on a ship during the period of industrial prosperity in capitalist society. In fact， his degeneration is the miniature of the whole people of that age. Mythological criticism， especially the Jungian psychology and his archetypal insights， will help to understand how the theme is conveyed.

【Key words】mythological criticism， The Hairy Ape， Jungian psychology， archetypal insights

Introduction

Mythological criticism is an interdisciplinary approach which involves the views of anthropology， psychology， history， and comparative religion. Myth is said to embody the spirit of certain people under the joint influence of those elements. For people experience similar evolution in physics and mentality， as well as historical course， myths of different peoples resemble each other more or less. For instance， the gods in Greek mythology can find substitutes in eastern mythology. Both have a omnipotent god in the peak of the hierarchy of gods. In west he is the God， correspondingly， in east he is called the Jade Emperor. What is more， there are gods in charge of the same thing in both cultures. The god of ocean is Poseidon in western world while it is the Dragon King in Chinese legendary. The worship to gods implies hopes and fears of the whole people.

According to Jung， it can be explained that people of the same ethnic group or the same nation share a primeval， collective unconscious， for they own the same psychic inheritance. In Joseph Campbells classic case， a newborn chicken， who never gets hurt from a hawk， knows how to avoid the hawk. Explained in Jungs theory， the hawk is just a primeval and collective unconscious which will arouse panic in the species of chicken. Just as the hawk， these elements appear in the collective unconscious is called archetypes by Jung. Archetypes are universal symbols that evoke deep universal responses. More exactly， Dana Gioa and R.S. Gwynn （2001） have noted： “The late Northrop Frye defined the archetype in considerably less occult terms as ‘a symbol， usually an image， which recurs often enough in literature to be recognizable as an element of one's literary experience as a whole.” Archetypes such as the sun， the river or certain person in literary works bear symbolic meanings， by which the theme of the work will be displayed clearly.

In The Hairy Ape the protagonist Yank was the representative of his class， a proletarian oppressed by the bourgeoisie in the industrial society. His tragedy resulted from the external world， as well as his own failure of individuation. As to reveal the brutality of the industrial society and the regression of human beings in such society， many archetypes are applied in the expressionist play.

Archetypes symbolizing the external world

The setting was arranged in the cramped and hot forecastle and stokehole of a ship floating in the sea. Usually， the sea symbolizes the mother of all lives. It is broad and beautiful， but these firemen were limited in the dark stokehole. Here mothers love was cut off by the steel-made forecastle， the prison of these firemen. They could not enjoy the breeze and sunshine， instead， they were slaves of steel-made machines and black coal， working in the dark hole just like an ape.

Steel appears here and there in the play. It is a symbol of both power and oppression. While Yank exclaims in Scene One that he was steel， "the muscles and the punch behind it，" he was totally confined to a virtual cage of steel created by the ship around him. Steel creates other cages in the play—Yank's jail cell and the cell of the Ape. Steel also symbolizes the oppression of the bourgeoisie because it creates machines which control those workers. Steel embodied technology progress in industrial society， which forced the regression of Yank and the firemen. Controlled by the machine， they did the same work everyday. Day by day they lost the ability of thinking. They were just like apes， which were at the first stage in the course of human beings` evolution.

Individuals Failure of individuation

Yank appeared as the leader of those firemen in the forecastle. He was described by ONeill （1922） as “broader， fiercer， more truculent， more powerful， more sure of himself than the rest”. Both Yanks persona and anima were revealed from the description. According to Jung， persona is the mask which a person displays to others. It is a bridge to mediate the ego and the external world， while anima is the bridge between the ego and the inner world of the individual. Put simply， the former is the evaluation of others while the latter is that of ones own. Yank `s persona of a fierce and strong worker won him the leader among his circle， and brought him the sense of satisfaction that everyone feared him and he could control the situation. His anima seemed to have successfully linked his ego and his inner world. His psyche was in harmony at that time. However， the balance was an illusion. In that environment， he never recognized himself. He was in the statement of projection， which was an unconscious， automatic process whereby one can project his unconscious flaws and weakness on others much more easily rather than accept them as part of himself. The habit of projection was reflected in his self-asserted utterances that “Its me makes it hot！ Its me makes it roar！ Its me makes it move！ Sure， only for me everything stops！”， as well as his habitual curses on others.

The false balance was broken into peaces when Mildred appeared. They were astonished at each other at the first sight. Mildred， highborn and conceited， was a stimulus to Yanks anima， or even the opposite of his anima. She was totally different from Yank. When she saw Yank， shouting him beast， she was frightened to fainting. Her intuitively reaction irritated Yank. Here， Yank was put in a dilemma， whether to start an individuation or persist in projection. Melancholy， mechanized and oppressed by his father first then the industrial society immediately， Yank had degenerated to inability of thought. Irritation was the evidence of lacking thought. He was unaware of individuation. His flexible and false persona could not bring him into harmonious relationship with the external world. Meantime， his anima failed to beat the shadow in his mind. Both of them had been inadequate in his individuation. The lust to revenge gained the upper hand. Under the interaction of the external vicious world and his own incompetence， he ended in insanity. His running irritation， especially the absurd behavior on the Fifth Avenue， proved his failure of individuation.

Conclusion

In summary， Yanks regression not only belonged to him but the whole proletariat against the background when industry gained great development and the capitalist oppression intensified. ONeill depicted the gloomy and cruel environment through the use of archetypes， such as the dark stokehole and the steel-made cage. Yanks mental crisis implied mental crisis of the whole society， as Mildred， the daughter of a million capitalist， also looked for her belonging. The sense of loss infected people of different classes.

Myth is the embodiment of national spirit. The mythological approach puts emphases on the collective， rather than the individual. People will react to archetypes remaining in their national psyche， in which way people fear something， worship something， and shape the unique culture of human beings.

References：

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