A Study On Angela Carter’s Demythologizing Of Female Archetypes

Within the framework of feminism and archetypal criticism, this thesis, by taking The Passion of New Eve as its discourse, analyzes and discusses Angela Carter’s application of demythologizing as a feminist strategy. By rewriting and subverting those female archetypes, Carter aims to break the fetters and shackles of patriarchy, exploring the way to women’s liberation as well as the reconciliation between two genders.Believing that human society has been established on patriarchy, feminists endeavor to change women’s subordinate status and achieve gender equality. Archetypal criticism, as one of the most influential branches in literary criticism, regards myth as the origin of literature. Myths, especially the Bible, cover all the forms and motifs known as archetypes in literature. As a devoted pioneer and advocator of feminism, Carter realizes that those female archetypes are usually stereotyped and dogmatic, which is actually invented by patriarchy for the oppression and exploitation of women.Based on intensive reading and exhaustive textual analysis, this thesis illustrates Carter’s demythologizing of three female archetypes in The Passion of New Eve, which are "Temptress","Mother Goddesses" and "Eve" respectively. Firstly, the sufferings that Leilah encounter in the novel reveal that "Temptresses" are in fact victims of patriarchy instead of origins of disloyalty and disasters. While seen by men as objects of their sexual desires, they also risk self-objectification, which results in the deprivation of subjectivity as independent human beings. Secondly,"Mother" in Beulah is just an artificial myth, a consolatory tool fabricated by patriarchy, behind the glorification of which are patriarchal values and codes. Thirdly, the transformative journey Eve experienced from a chauvinist to a real woman demonstrates that femininity, rather than an inherent quality, is the result of social influence and persistent imitations. Through the demythologizing of those female archetypes, Carter overthrows the patriarchal hegemony as well as utopian matriarchal dreams, offering androgyny as a potential solution to the current sexual conflicts. In her opinion, the real reconciliation between two genders should be based on mutual respect and understanding, which is confirmed by the union between the new Eve and Tristessa in The Passion of New Eve.