| Ana Maria Matute has for half a century figured among the most outstanding writers of the post-civil war period in Spain, and continues to prove her claim to that distinction. Matute does not confine her fiction to a single category or style; rather it has developed with the woman, the changes in literary modes and myriad changes in Spain. Matute, who was ten years old at the outbreak of the Spanish civil war, lived through the devastating events not only of the war but also of the oppressive regime that followed. Writing was not merely her means of financial support but also her psychological support. She has participated in a narrative dialogue with the ghosts that lingered from her experiences through the war and the resulting years of chaos afterward.; Many of Matute's characters are recurring types found throughout the span of her publication, for over fifty years. The figures that her characters represent are intriguing, universal in nature, and timeless, fitting well into most ages and cultures. The present study will use Carol Pearson's six archetypes defined in The Hero within: Six Archetypes We Live By. The archetypes examined are the Innocent, the Orphan, the Wanderer, the Martyr, the Warrior and the Magician. These archetypes appear most clearly in the epic novel of Matute, however her earlier works demonstrate the birth and development of the archetypes. This work discovers Matute's multiple application of archetypes as characters transition from one archetype to the next throughout her characterization development in her novels both individually as well as in succession collectively. |
