An Archetypal Study Of Christopher Newman's Initiation In THE AMERICAN

The American is one of Henry James' s early works.Its story can be seen as a displacement of the Adam myth in the Bible from the perspective of archetypal criticism;and the protagonist Christopher Newman's various experiences in Europe make him mature.He gains a better understanding of the Europeans,the Americans,and his own identity.Therefore,the initiation theory can be applied to the study Newman's spiritual growth.Besides introduction and conclusion,there are three chapters in this thesis.In introduction,Henry James and the main content of The American are briefly introduced.And following a careful literature review,it presents the feasibility of applying archetypal criticism and the initiation theory to the study of Christopher Newman's spiritual growth;it also introduces the main content,some basic views and the structure of the thesis.Chapter One mainly introduces archetypal criticism and the initiation theory,and discusses how to apply the two theories to analyzing the archetypes of the main characters as well as Newman's initiation.Chapter Two studies the archetypal features of the main characters in The American,and their influences on Newman's spiritual growth.Christopher Newman is a figure of the American Adam and a scapegoat.He is a “new man” from the new world.And he is endowed with some typical characters of the Americans.He is innocent,diligent and self-reliant.His success in business is achieved by diligence and shrewdness,which is different from European aristocrats.Newman is also a figure of the scapegoat.He has not intentionally done anything wrong to others,but he suffers a lot.He is a victim of the Bellegardes' sins and cultural bafflement.Madame de Bellegarde is a figure of a “terrible mother”.Being the head of the family,she firmly controls her daughter.Her behavior is decided by the collective unconscious,which restricts and regulates her concepts and manners.Madame de Bellegarde is a maker of Claire's two tragic marriages and the biggest obstacle to Newman's engagement.Mrs Tristram is a satanic figure.Her evil intention causes Newman to suffer.Chapter Three studies the theme of Newman's spiritual growth.His journey in Europe is a journey of cultural cultivation and a quest for his identity.Being a new man from the new world,he is eager to learn in Europe and desires to find his identity there.He admires the superior European culture and wants to be accepted by Europeans.Newman's revenge is a process of his spiritual growth.When he is cheated by the Bellegardes,Newman intends to revenge.He tries hard to get the evidence of Madame de Bellegarde and her son's crime from Mrs Bread,and plans to threaten them to save his hurt pride.However,Newman does not publish the note immediately.He is filled with self-conflicts and hesitates to revenge.His good nature makes him realize how evil he is to revenge;and his nature of businessman makes him realize that it is meaningless and profitless to revenge.He gives it up at last.Newman has strong national consciousness.Through contacts with Europeans,he finds American's cultural confidence.This thesis concludes that Newman achieves spiritual growth through his adventures in Europe.He can rationally treat the differences between Americans and Europeans,and finds his identity.He is not shamed of being an American merchant anymore,but is proud of being one.What's more,he becomes more confident in his own culture.