A Study On The Lord Of The Rings From The Perspective Of Myth-archetypal Criticism

J.R.R Tolkien is hailed as “father” of modern fantasy literature, whose masterpiece The Lord of the Ring has inspired a fantastic enthusiasm since its publication in 1954. Even though fantasy novels had long existed, Tolkien led a resurgence of the genre by The Lord of the Rings. Thereafter, fantasy has been one of the most popular literature genres. Tolkien’s works have an impact on Harry Potter series and breed the Oscar winning films of The Lord of the Rings around the world. In academic fields, the novel has been studied for a long time. International study of The Lord of the Rings started very early with rich achievements. In China, critics are comparatively delayed and require further studies. Based on Northrop Frye’s myth-archetypal criticism, the thesis attempts to analyze the archetypal motif, archetypes of characters and mythoi in The Lord of the Rings and probes Tolkien’s writing intention and his exploration in human nature. By analyzing The Lord of the Rings, this paper attempts to deduce a conclusion: Tolkien’s application of archetypes is really rich and skillful in the novel, which enriches the connotations of The Lord of the Rings and reflects his profound knowledge in literature and ingenuity in artistic creation. Therefore, The Lord of the Rings can be affirmed as a fiction with lasting artistic charm.The thesis is composed of six chapters. Chapter one gives brief introductions to motivation and significance of the study, J.R.R Tolkien and The Lord of the Rings, and structure of the study. Chapter two is the literature review on The Lord of the Rings at home and abroad. Chapter three briefly introduces myth-archetypal criticism and explains the definition of archetype and mythoi. Chapter four emphasizes on the analysis of the motif of The Fall of Man, archetypes of main characters of Aragorn, Frodo and Gandalf in The Lord of the Rings. First, Tolkien is familiar with Holy Bible whose archetypal elements are applied to express the motif of The Fall of Man in The Lord of the Rings. Second, this part discusses the archetypes of characters in The Lord of the Rings, among whom Aragorn has the features of the epic hero, Frodo is the Christ in Middle-earth, and Gandalf is characterized as archetype Odin and angel. According to the analysis, Tolkien’s theme of good and evil in human nature is demonstrated. Chapter five discusses Frye’s four narrative pregeneric elements can be applied in the plots of The Lord of the Rings, which demonstrates Tolkien’s theme on human nature again. The sixth chapter is a conclusion to the study.