| Popis: |
One of the most fascinating recurrent folklore charac-ters in medieval romance is the fairy mistress known by various names--Morgain la Fee, the Dame du Lac, Laudine, or the Chessboard Maiden. She has many identifiable qualities: great beauty; an "other world" abode usually under water; powers of healing, shape-shifting, and prophesying; and generosity. Although her aims are sexual, the fay inspires her lover to heroic deeds and quests. Her most puzzling quality is her inconsistency; she is the helpful and maternal Dame du Lac but also the sinister and scheming Morgain. Many scholars trace the folklore origins of the fay to Celtic myth, but comparative studies do not explain the compelling attraction of the fay for both author and audience. This study's thesis is that the fay is archetypal and that she strikingly resembles the Jungian archetype of the anima. The anima is the ever-evolving image of the other sex that men carry within their psyches. She is responsible for a variety of behaviors ranging from creativity to falljng in love at first sight. In her symbolic form she appears in folklore as goddess, witch, mermaid, or nymph; in literature as Circe, Helen of Troy, or Dante's Beatrice. This study demonstrated and concluded that the fay fits the pattern of the anima, Chapters II-VII comprehensively survey the appearances of the fay in the romance li tera-ture and inductively derive a model of the fay with three variants: (1) the fairy queen, (2) the helpful fay, and ( 3) the harmful fay. Chapters VIII and IX present the Jungian analysis of the fay. Chapter VIII generally de-scribes Jungian archetypes, and Chapter IX correlates the model of the fay with the character of the fay, revealing the fay's archetypal nature. In conclusion, the fay as anima explains her inconsistency, her multiple aspects, her legendary origins, her role as motivator of quests and trials, her widespread popularity among medieval authors and audiences, and gives us insights into the influence of the feminine on the literature and the culture of the twelfth century. |
