追溯自我：对D·H·劳伦斯《羽蛇》的原型解读

王 玮

追溯自我：对D·H·劳伦斯《羽蛇》的原型解读

王 玮

内容提要：本文借助心理学家荣格的原型理论来解读D·H·劳伦斯的《羽蛇》。劳伦斯笔下的羽蛇神和荣格的自我原型在其诞生环境以及本质上的双重性等方面均存在对应关系，而小说主人公凯特、拉蒙和西比阿诺等人用传统神袛羽蛇神来取代耶稣基督的奋斗历程，即他们发现自我、获得精神上的和谐的蜕变过程。这一点充分印证了劳伦斯一直以来孜孜以求的写作目标——人类心灵的健全与和谐是化解现代社会诸多精神危机的唯一途径。

羽蛇神 原型 自我

D. H. Lawrence， a controversial writer who vibrated the literary circles of Britain even the whole world in the early 20century， has established his reputation mainly for his chief masterpieces such as Sons and Lovers， The Rainbow， Women in Love and Lady Chatterley's Lover. In contrast with these widely accepted novels， The Plumed Serpent proves obscure， although Lawrence himself claimed that it is "my chief novel so far". However， one could still easily locate a common feature shared by The Plumed Serpent and Lawrence's other highly acclaimed works—during his whole literary career， the writer has showed a constant interest in exploring the human psychological world. Although Lawrence himself rejected any interpretation of his works in terms of "popular" Freudianism， he did not deny his indebtedness to "psychoanalysis": he acknowledged debts both to Freud and to Jung in the foreword to Fantasia of the Unconscious. "In a letter written in 1918 to Katherine Mansfield"， he told his correspondent that "he was impressed by 'the Jung book'". His journey to New Mexico in 1920s enabled him to know Jaime de Angulo， the anthropologist and linguist who had the experience of going to Zurich to work with Jung and who apparently influenced the novelist with Jung's archetypal theory—among all his works in this period（Mornings in Mexico， St. Mawr， The Woman WhoRode Away， the revised The Plumed Serpent）， Jung's archetypal theory projects from time to time between the lines.

The term "archetype" was first mentioned by Jung in 1919 in his study Instinct and the Unconscious. Although the specific definition， types and expressions of this term has been kept in constant evolution， its basic ideas does not vary much: it is no other than a psychic form or pattern "that constantly recurs in the course of history and appears wherever creative fantasy is freely expressed" and "the psychic residua of innumerable experiences of the same type"passed down from our common primitive ancestors through heredity. The well-known expressions of archetypes are tribal lore， myth and fairytale； in which we find "countless typical experiences of our ancestors". Once triggered by certain typical primordial images such as sun， moon， mother，archetypes are capable of bringing humans back to their primitive memories and experiences， thus returning to the collective unconscious， the deepest layer of human psyche and the very beginning of all human races. In From Aion: Researches into the Phenomenology of Self Jung presents the most important archetypes from the outset toward the inner of human psyche: the persona， the shadow，anima and animus， the self. The archetype of the self is generally regarded as one of Jung's key archetypes. Jung provides an ambiguous definition for it， "I have suggested calling the total personality which， though present， cannot be fully known，the self". In this sense the archetype of the self could be identified as the whole personality which includes both the conscious and the unconscious. As the unity and totality of the personality， the self is the undeniable supreme ruler of the whole human psychological world. It serves as the mediator and bridge between the conscious and the unconscious， maintaining the balance of human psyche. Due to Jung's own preference of it and however， its ambiguous definition， the self remains a highlight of Jung's theories and keeps attracting scholars to conduct further researches. Among those writers who are influenced by Jung， the archetype of the self is definitely the focus of their attention. They try to expound this complicated term in terms of literature，and D. H. Lawrence is among them. In The Plumed Serpent Lawrence provides readers with his own interpretation of the self—Quetzalcoatl.

"Quetzalcoatl's name combines quetzalli， 'tail feather'， and coatl， 'serpent'. He is the plumed serpent and also the serpent with head upraised."Whereas Rosenberg provides a more detailed explanation of this word: "The quetzal is a rare， green-feathered bird found in the land of the Maya， particularly in Guatemala. Co is the Maya word for serpent， and atl is the Nahuatl word for water. Coatl is the Nahuatl word for snake."In a simple term， Quetzalcoatl is no other than "the feathered snake"， a plumed serpent god created by the ancient natives in Mesoamerica. According to the ancient Aztec myth， Quetzalcoatl is the son of Sun and the goddess Coatlicue， and he possesses the great power of creation and wisdom. "As the creation of the cosmos unfolds， Quetzalcoatl invents agriculture and the calendar， and restores human life through a cosmic descent into the underworld where he outwits the lord of the dead". But this god does not always put on a benevolent face. In Aztec's myth， Quetzalcoatl has a formidable rival who tried to destroy him by all means—Tezcatlipoca. Once seduced by Tezcatlipoca， Quetzalcoatl gets drunk with wine and has sex with his sister. That horrible sin "brought about the destruction of paradise and his own downfall"， and he finally vanishes "over the ocean on a raft formed by a sea-serpent".

It is no haphazard for people to seek outsufficient affinities between Lawrence's plumed serpent god Quetzalcoatl and Jung's archetype of the self. The chaotic Mexico shaken by the revolution is a hint of the dark and unknown field of human's inner world—the former gives birth to Quetzalcoatl，the saviour of the Mexican people； while from the latter we expect a mysterious power to light human's psychological darkness， and Jung calls this power the archetype of the self. Another affinity between the two is also traceable. Quetzalcoatl is seen as a combination of the snake and eagle， a mixture of death and life； while the archetype of the self is regarded as possessing the power both in destruction and construction， in other words， a power coming from both Devil and God. Thus Quetzalcoatl and the self possess the same dual nature. In this sense，when the protagonists （Kate， Ramón and Cipriano） in The Plumed Serpent fight to replace Jesus （the white people's god） with Quetzalcoatl （the Mexican people's own god）， they are in a pursuit of the self which promises the harmonious spiritual life. That is exactly what D. H. Lawrence manages to accomplish during his whole literary career—searching for the sound unity of human psyche to ease all modern spiritual pains.

Kate Leslie， an Irish widow， is the heroine of The Plumed Serpent. She was relatively young （fortyyear-old）， rich， independent and strong-willed， but she had been haunted by spiritual emptiness. Feeling suffocated in Europe， Kate escaped by traveling aimlessly. Then she reached Mexico. For this newcomer， Mexico was no other than a miniature of the decayed Europe， a high plateau of death which was in need of rebirth. Kate's first impression on Mexico resulted from the bull-fight she watched in Mexico City. From the disgusting bull-fight performance， Kate concluded that she had witnessed the ugly nature of man， a death-like evil hidden in all humans. For her， Mexico was a wretched land covered with obscenity and despair. But Mexico is Mexico. On this ancient yet sacred land， the great myth of Quetzalcoatl was born and it had ruled the Aztec and Maya for more than one thousand years. Although with the invasion of some alien civilization Quetzalcoatl was forced out of its temple， it still exists in the soul of all Mexicans. Kate had felt this more or less since she reached this country. Besides desperation and animosity， there wassomething more，mysterious but unspeakable: "Something so heavy，so oppressive， like the folds of some huge serpent that seemed as if it could hardly raise itself."Here for the first time Kate sensed the oppressed yet living god and its huge agony of being exiled out of its own realm.

This double-edged new face of Mexico attracts her， urging her to make a decision. "She wanted to go to Sayula. She wanted to see the big lake where the gods had once lived， and whence they were due to emerge" （53）. So she set for Sayula， the location which the local newspaper declared Quetzalcoatl was reborn. From then on， she has taken a different road，beginning to approach the pagan god and pursue her true self. At this time Kate was still an outsider of Quetzalcoatl's kingdom， and that means the "process is long， slow， dangerous， and painful". After a hard journey Kate finally reached the lake region. With a strange feeling of relaxation and expectation，Kate even felt a "frail， pure" （89） sympathy growing between her and the native boatman. The first touch of Sayula and her own inner world endowed Kate with a tender love and care for others. For the first time she began to understand the unthinkable power of the native Mexicans and the hidden myth in Mexico.

By touching Sayula Kate found the access to her self. It was on Sayula "Kate matures slowlyinto the knowledge of Quetzalcoatl: the insight that spirit infuses nature rather than transcending it or disappearing altogether". Human spirit and the nature became one unity. That was the knowledge Kate learned from Sayula， from Quetzalcoatl. When she settled down just beside Sayula as a tourist，Kate came nearer and nearer to Quetzalcoatl. One Saturday night， Kate and the wandering Mexicans were attracted by the poundings of drum to the center of the plaza. There Quetzalcoatl's worshippers were drumming， hymning and dancing. Kate joined them in the ritual， and sensed a connection between Quetzalcoatl and her. She was no longer a lonely outsider of this mysterious world， and for the first time she touched her true self， the harmonious unity between human and nature. It was Don Cipriano who helped her back to the very origin of her true self. When they first met at the tea-party in Tlacolula， "Instantly Kate and he， Europeans， in essence， understood one another" （36）. Such a mutual understanding kept a reciprocal wonder between the two: Don Cipriano was interested in Kate's wisdom and he intended to dig out her true soft， sweet self under her stony will， while Kate was extremely fascinated by his particularly powerful calmness and his ambition to revive Quetzalcoat in Mexico. It was Cipriano who encouraged "the opening of Kate's inner eye" and kindled her "inner light". Only with her inner eye opened and her inner light flickering coul Kate feel a dim hope in driving her spiritual emptiness away. The possible answer came from herself， Cipriano， Ramón and their ancient plumed serpent god， Quetzalcoatl.

Her later travel to Sayula certified such a presumption. After she witnessed the local Mexicans piously and passionately attended the primordial rituals for Quetzalcoatl， Cipriano proposed to her，wanting her as his bride goddess. This queer religious proposal "made her see the physical possibility of marrying him"， while the woman who would marry him seemed not to be Kate， but "some curious female within her， whom she did not know" （235）. What woken up by Cipriano's proposal is just the deeplyresiding self in Kate， the true face even she herself did not know. In completing him she gained the new identity of an ancient Aztec goddess， a wonderful exertion of her spiritual potentiality and fertility. That was also a newly born unity and a completion of her self which was represented by Quetzalcoatl. Once her true self was aroused， it would show her its magnificent power in guiding her: she exhibited amazing courage and intuitive counterattacks in Jamiltepec when Don Ramón was endangered by the killers.

Cipriano understood where such a religious marriage between him and Kate would take them，but he worried Kate had not recognized this as he did.So he was kept to wait for her final awareness which would result in the absolute triumph of Quetzalcoatl in Mexico and the definite return of her true self. But Kate was still reluctant to marry Cipriano in the secular sense. Clinging to her own will and independence， Kate refused Cipriano and the promising new life ahead of her. This was a denial of the happy unity between a white woman and a local Mexican man who shared mutual physical and spiritual attractions. Kate at this moment lingered on the threshold of the new world， with Cipriano patiently waiting for her coming-in to gain the truth in herself and life.

But when Kate witnessed the strong-willed and possessive Carlota finally failed to win her husband，Ramón， and died of extreme disappointments as a complete loser， she seemed have seen through her own useless volitive power and foreseen the depressing future of attaching to it. With the deathof her "old self"， pressing down her strong will for possession temporarily， in sheer gentleness， love and obedience Kate gave herself up to Cipriano on Huitzilopochtli's Night. "So he sat in silence on his throne， holding her hand in silence， till the years reeled away from her in fleeing circles"； "and when they looked at one another， and their eyes met， the two flames rippled in oneness"（392）. Such a sweet unity between the two came on the night of Quetzalcoatl's return to its temple， with Kate giving up her "old self" and following the call of her true self. Kate herself could not deny the eternity and peace out of such a harmonious unity between her and Cipriano， but she was still in a dilemma of changing her present life or maintaining it. Leaving or not， secularly marrying Cipriano or not， those questions kept troubling her.

It was Ramón's new wife， Teresa， who eventually woke up the true self in Kate by her sharp words， "And you are a soldier among women，fighting all the time"， "You would fight with yourself，if you were alone in the world"（434）. Kate suddenly realized why she could not decide whether to marry Cipriano in the real sense: she had been in constant struggle with herself. She was unwilling to give up her once powerful will to follow the call of nature，for a fear that she could not handle and possess everything in Quetzalcoatl's new world. She was afraid of losing， losing herself to a Mexican man with "the old， antediluvian blood"（415）. How greedy and selfish she had been， keeping Cipriano in the agony of waiting. In the ecstasy of understanding herself thoroughly， Kate hastened to tell Ramón and Cipriano her final decision. She would stay in Mexico to marry Cipriano and continue their common course of reviving Quetzalcoatl. With a complete giving up to natural intuitions， true love and her true self， Kate gained her triumph after a long-period struggle under the guidance of Quetzalcoatl. This end symbolizes the return of Quetzalcoatl's organic unities， the unity between human's intuitions and the call of the nature，the unity between man and woman， the unity between different races and cultures.

By borrowing such an aged tale from the Mexican people， Lawrence continued his study in human psychological world and reached an unprecedented height. He has held a lifetime belief since the beginning of his literary career—the possible solutions to the crises in modern society can only lie in human themselves， their deep-residing underworld which they might have ignored. With different masks on， people have long forgotten their true faces and selves. Lawrence is keen enough to recognize the necessity of resuming the true self during people's campaign to free themselves from the modern nightmares. Only with the return of the self can people enjoy the real fulfillment of life. Such is the significance carried by the myth of Quetzalcoatl. Hence the end he devised for this novel proves quite symbolic: Quetzalcoatl's triumph in Mexico means much more than its simple victory over Christianity， and it could not even be called a "triumph" or "victory" in real sense， because the opposites come into a unity finally. Quetzalcoatl and Jesus Christ become equal deities in the eyes of people by addressing each other "brother"； Jesus，Mary and other Christian gods are not forced out of the church， for they are just sent "back to heaven" to rest by his brother Quetzalcoatl until they gain their own rebirths to return to the world， just as Quetzalcoatl has done. Here "god" this word covers all the deities in the world， alluding to a unity of different religions from different cultures. While in the sense of politics， Don Ramón and Cipriano united all Mexicans around President Montes in the name of Quetzalcoatl， and established a new political order in Mexico. Then the once opposite political sides comeinto a unity， and that iss a political unity which has been based on the same goal. They all fight for their country， a stable， rich， powerful new Mexico. Besides all these achievements， by following the call of their ancient plumed serpent god， the once opposite man and woman equally enjoy the harmonious marital unity by identifying their respective "manhood" and "womanhood". Kate and Cipriano， Ramón and Teresa serve as excellent examples for all Mexicans， for they direct the road to a happy marriage. As a result，religion， politics and secular marriage， which cannot be separated from each other， also come into a unity，a unity created and signified by the same thing—the return of Quetzalcoatl， the finding of one's true self. Accordingly， The Plumed Serpent as D. H. Lawrence's another masterpiece is defended， and it deserves the novelist's own praise—"my 'Quetzalcoatl' novel lies nearer my heart than any other work of mine".

【Works Cited】

［1］ D. H. Lawrence. The Selected Letters of D. H. Lawrence. James T. Boulton（ed.）. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press，1996， p.298.

［2］ Jos Van Meurs. "A Survey of Jungian Literary Criticism in English"， Carl Gustav Jung: Critical Assessments. Vol.4. Renos K. Papadopoulos （ed.）. London: Routledge， 1992， p. 292.

［3］ C. G. Jung. "On the Relation of Analytic Psychology to Poetry"， The Critical Tradition: Classic Texts and Contemporary Trend. David H. Richter （ed.）. Boston: Bedford Books， 1989， p. 665.

［4］ C. G. Jung. "On the Relation of Analytic Psychology to Poetry"， The Critical Tradition: Classic Texts and Contemporary Trend. David H. Richter （ed.）. Boston: Bedford Books， 1989， p. 665.

［5］ C. G. Jung. "From Aion: Researches into the Phenomenology of the Self"， The Critical Tradition: Classic Texts and Contemporary Trend. David H. Richter（ed.）. Boston: Bedford Books， 1989， p. 668.

［6］ Erich Neumann. The Great Mother: an Analysis of the Archetype. Ralph Manheim（ trans.）. Princeton: Princeton University Press， 1991， p. 202.

［7］ Donna Rosenberg. World Mythology: an Anthology of the Great myths and Epics. Lincolnwood: National Textbook Company， 1987， p. 483.

［8］ John R. Hinnells （ed.）. The Penguin Dictionary of Religion. London: Penguin Books Ltd.， 1984， p. 263.

［9］ Erich Neumann. The Great Mother: an Analysis of the Archetype. Ralph Manheim （trans.）. Princeton: Princeton University Press， 1991， p. 207.

［10］ D. H. Lawrence. The Plumed Serpent. New York: Vintage Books， 1959， p.19.

［11］ Robert E. Montgomery. "The Science of the Soul: Lawrence and Boehme"， The Visionary D. H. Lawrence: beyond Philosophy and Art. New York : Cambridge University Press， 1994， p. 195.

［12］ K. J. Phillips. "Celebrating Sexuality with Isis"， Dying Gods in Twentieth-century Fiction. London and Toronto: Associated University Presses， 1990， p. 141.

［13］ Robert E. Montgomery."The Science of the Soul: Lawrence and Boehme". The Visionary D. H. Lawrence: beyond Philosophy and Art. New York : Cambridge University Press， 1994， p. 203.

［14］ D. H. Lawrence. The Selected Letters of D. H. Lawrence. James T. Boulton（ed.）. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press，1996， p.297.

This paper aims at an archetypal interpretation of D. H. Lawrence's The Plumed Serpent. Based on Jung's archetype theory，the present study identifies Quetzalcoatl as the archetype of the self and illustrates the affinities between the two. When the protagonists Kate， Ramón and Cipriano in The Plumed Serpent fight to replace Jesus with Quetzalcoatl， therefore， they are in a pursuit of the self which promises the harmonious spiritual life. That is exactly what Lawrence manages to accomplish during his whole literary career—searching for the sound unity of human psyche to ease all modern spiritual pains.

Quetzalcoatl archetype the self

Wang Wei is from The School of Foreign languages， Fudan University； mainly engaged in British and American Theatre.

王玮，复旦大学外文学院，研究方向为英美戏剧。

Title: A Pursuit of Self: An Archetypal Interpretation of The Plumed Serpent by D. H. Lawrence