Archetypal Analysis: The Lady and the Tiger

Archetypal analysis is a type of literary criticism that interprets a piece of literature by analyzing and understanding the reappearing narratives, character types, and symbols. Archetypes can be found in stories throughout history and across genres. These myths are common and recurring supposedly due to them being so basic and fundamental to human nature, that they are ingrained into each of us from birth. Psychoanalyst Carl Jung describes this as the “collective unconscious”.  Take, for example, the “chosen one” overcoming the great evil or a “rags to riches” story. I am sure certain stories or legends are currently running through your mind. As all fictional literature is written by people, and all people are subject to the collective unconscious, The Lady and the Tiger is no exception for exhibiting archetypes. In The Lady and the Tiger, there are common character types and narratives that qualify as archetypes.

 

In The Lady and the Tiger, there are five characters (including the tiger): The king, princess, lady, courtier, and the tiger. The “semi-barbaric” king is the typical tyrant/ villain, standing in the way of the protagonist and his goal. The princess is a twisted version of her archetype. She is not exactly like the princesses we are familiar with as she is imperious and jealous. Once distraught, she takes things into her own hands and manipulates the situation to her benefit. The Lady is the “innocent”. She is not responsible for her attractiveness. She is just a prize for the protagonist. The man/ courtier is the hero. He is faced with a challenge that he must overcome. Lastly, the tiger is the monster. The tiger represents death hidden behind the door (fate). The characters in this short story appear in other literary works, just under different names. The Lady, for example, is an innocent beautiful woman like Snow White, the courtier like Hercules, as he must fight monsters and face trials to reach his goals, the princess is like Lady Macbeth, and the tiger is like the Kraken or Rancor; creature kept captive to feast on the prisoners. As you can see, some character archetypes made it into The Lady and the Tiger.

 

The plot of  The Lady and the Tiger is fairytale-like. The parts of the plot similar to a fairytale are the hierarchy and conflict. There is a kingdom ruled by a king with a desirable daughter in love with a commoner. A forbidden love occurs between the two people who “should not” be together (hero and princess). The hero is faced with a barrier between him and his love. The hero overcomes the challenge to then live happily ever after with his princess. The twit with The Lady and the Tiger is there is no happily ever after. We are not privy to the outcome of the hero’s fate in the arena. This cliff-hanger ending appears in many stories like The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers, Kill Bill: Volume 1, The Empire Strikes Back, and more. In this short story, the plot almost completely follows a fairy tale story.