본문 바로가기
  • Home
Basic Search

The Archetype of the Terrible Mother in The Glass Menagerie

  • Journal of Modern English Drama
  • Abbr : JMBARD
  • 2011, 24(3), pp.97-123
  • Publisher : 한국현대영미드라마학회
  • Research Area : Humanities > English Language and Literature > English Literature > Contemporary English Drama

EUNJOO LEE 1

1성결대학교

Accredited

ABSTRACT

This study focuses on the matriarchal role of Amanda, a character in Tennessee Williams’ play The Glass Menagerie. Her character is analyzed according to Carl Gustav Jung and Erich Neumann’s concept of the ‘archetypal mother’. In particular, Neumann’s notion of the Great Mother is explained in terms of the Uroboros, an ancient symbol representing cyclicality. According to Neumann, the Great Mother has two forms: the Good Mother and the Terrible Mother. This notion can be applied to the case of Amanda, in that she tries to provide for her children’s domestic needs, although her daily harpings and excessive expectations stifle their development and push them away from her. As a result, Tom retreats into movies, while Laura retreats into her glass menagerie. Amanda, who in her youth was a feted belle living in America’s Old South, is obsessed with the glorified past. She is unable to face the harsh reality of the present, and passes this tendency on to her children, especially Laura, in whom she tries to implant her thoughts and values. In fact, Amanda’s memories of her own past have a harmful effect on Laura. Amanda’s inability to consider her children as grown-up individuals makes her a negative and cruel mother. She tends to dominate her children as her will dictates because she is unable to acknowledge the development of the conscious ego of her children and their independence from her. In conclusion, she can be said to exemplify the Terrible Mother in Neumann’s terms.

Statistics

  • 362 Viewed
  • 2 Downloaded

Tools

Issue List

Citation status

* References for papers published after 2023 are currently being built.

Basic Search Advanced Search