A Study Of Archetypes In E. M. Forster's Short Stories

E. M. Forster is a great British novelist and critic. His writing covered the period of late Victorian and early Modern Ages, when great social and economic revolutions took place. The declining of the British Empire and the flourishing of Industrial Revolution brought about dramatic changes to British society, most catastrophic of which was isolation, isolation from Nature, isolation of human beings. Under such circumstances, he put forward"only connect"as a remedy. Although Forster only began to mention connection in his later work, readers may still find it essential to his short stories. This paper attempts to probe into the connection theme in Forster's short stories from the perspective of myth-archetypal criticism.This paper is divided into five chapters. Chapter 1 gives a brief introduction to E. M. Forster and Forsterian studies at home and abroad, as well as to the myth-archetypal criticism. Chapter 2 examines archetypal images and myths involved in the first collection The Celestial Omnibus. In this part apocalyptic imagery of tree and garden shows the vitality of an idyllic world and conveys Forster's hope for man's ideal relation with Nature. Chapter 3 explores the tragic connection between man and man involved in The Eternal Moment, and demonic imagery, myths and symbols that contribute a great deal to the Forsterian style. Chapter 4 discusses the natural imagery and myths in his posthumous collection The Life to Come, which help to present a realistic picture of the society in an ironic way and universal archetypes which spread the ironic sense to the whole universe. The development of archetypes in these stories corresponds to the cyclical movement of four mythoi. This cyclical movement represents the change of Forster's vision from optimistic to realistic. Therefore in the last chapter, the author draws the conclusion that archetypes record Forster's changing vision of connection.