Himanjali Gollapinni

Archetypes of Blyton

Himanjali Gollapinni

Abstract:

This article intends to perceive literary texts from the lenses of a popular form of literary criticism known as the archetypal theory of literary criticism. Webster‘s dictionary defines archetypes as the original pattern or model of which all things of the same type are representations or copies. For further understanding of the concept of an archetype let‘s take certain familiar terms for example, such as a hero, a quest, a wish granting tree, the image of the endless sea, the rising sun and so on, the above terms all sound strangely familiar and seem to be embedded into our subconscious mind, they are also frequently found in literary texts and folktales across cultures and continents, for example literary texts such as Homer‘s ―Iliad‖ and ―Beowulf‖ were both composed simultaneously around the eighth century across two different regions of the world, and yet contain similar symbols and patterns, such as the journey of the hero, the quest myth, a fatal tragedy and so on, these repeating patterns of symbols myths and images are termed as archetypes. Critiquing a literary text based upon the presence of these repeating symbols, patterns and images is what forms the basis of archetypal criticism. This form of criticism was popularized by the Canadian literary critic Northrop Frye in his popular essay titled ―Archetypes of Literature‖. This article intends to throw light upon the archetypal form of literary criticism taking Northrop Frye‘s article titled archetypes of literature as the main concept. This article will also view the works of the famous children‘s author Enid Blyton in the light of Frye‘s theory of archetypal criticism.

Key words: Archetype, Quest Myth, Author‘s Mythology,

Every human society possesses a mythology which is inherited, transmitted, and diversified by literature. - Northrop Frye

Enid Mary Blyton, the celebrated children‘s author was born on August 11th 1897, in East Dulwich, London to a cutlery salesman Thomas Carey Blyton and his wife Theresa May. At the age of ten Blyton attended St Christopher‘s school for girls where she also went on to become the ‗head girl‘. When she was fourteen years old she won her first award for poetry

and encouraged by this success she began to send in her articles and stories to various magazines across the state. She finally had her first published poem ―Have You?‖ which appeared in Nash Magazine in 1917. Her first book is a collection of verses titled Child Whispers appeared in 1922 and this twenty four pages long work was followed by Real Fairies in 1923 which also contained poems, Responsive Singing Games in 1923, The Enid Blyton Book of Fairies in 1924, Songs of Gladness in 1924, The Zoo Book in 1924 and other works. Blyton‘s prolific output mainly involves escapist children‘s fantasy where children are in a world of their own. She has written over seven hundred books and ten thousand short

stories where her famous book Noddy Goes to Toyland was also adapted as a television show and claimed worldwide success.

Enid Blyton is known to have written and published over seven hundred books and sold over six hundred million copies, with her books being translated into ninety languages. Another striking point about her literary works is that she wrote in a wide range of genres, right from fairy tales to stories about animals, nature to circus themed novels and so on. This makes it easier for readers to identify patterns in her writing which literature terms as ‗archetypes‘.

Applying Frye‘s critical theory of Archetypes to Blyton‘s works, will show us how archetypes have evolved over the ages and how each writer uses his/her own private mythology to evolve from the pre existing archetypes and create new ones on the way. This article will closely look at certain selected works of Blyton such as The Famous Five series, The Secret Seven series amongst her adventure series. This is an attempt to draw a parallel between the Archetypes mentioned by Frye and the evolved ones used by Blyton in her works. This article also analyses her texts such as The O’Sullivan Twins, The Enchanted Wood series and The Adventures of the Six Cousins. These texts cover major patterns and symbols that Blyton uses in most of her works. Extracts from the above mentioned literary works have also been cited as examples in explanation to the various archetypes under discussion used by Blyton in her works.

Northrop Frye was one of the most influential Canadian literary critic and literary theorist of the twentieth century. Inspired by his research on the works of William Blake, Frye went on to question the dichotomy that exists in the critical analysis of a literary text, namely the centrifugal and centripetal approaches of looking at a text. He wanted there to be a single

method of literary criticism along with wanting to establish literary criticism as a science, almost as if he wanted to train a reader‘s mind while they analyse a literary text. His research was based on total coherence of critical theories, according to Frye there must be only one method of analyzing a text which takes into account all the various critical aspects present in the literary text.

In his popular essay titled as ―Archetypes of Literature‖, Frye talks about archetypal symbols present in literature. In literature an archetype can be defined as a typical character, an action or a situation that seems to represent universal patterns of human nature. An archetype, also known as a universal symbol may be a character, a theme, a symbol or even a setting. Frye wanted to establish an archetypal form of literary criticism where a text is analyzed based on the literary archetypes it contains. He mentions in his article, archetypes of genres as well as of images. This search for archetypes in literature brings us into close contact with the myths, folktales and rituals of several cultures across the globe. According to Frye every author has a private mythology unique to himself or herself which appears in their works and is transmitted to an entire reading audience. He mentions in his essay;

We say that every poet has his own peculiar formation of images. But when so many poets use so many of the same images, surely there are much bigger critical problems involved than biographical ones‖ ( -Archetypes of Literature )

Hence based upon Frye‘s concept of using archetypes as the basis of critiquing a literary text it would be interesting to analyse certain popular archetypes by taking a particular author under discussion. The author under discussion belonged to the twentieth century and has written under the pen name of Mary Pollock, she was in many ways underrated for her writings and fell into a considerable number of controversies. She was criticized for many of her works and was strangely accused of employing an army of ghost writers as she produced such a large body of works in such a short span of time. In spite of all this Enid Mary Blyton was dearly loved by children, Blyton unknowingly created a literary kingdom where children were free to take their own decisions and adult figures were never really given too much thought. She was recorded quoting in an interview;

I‘m not really much interested in talking to adults, although I suppose practically every mother in the kingdom knows my name and my books, it‘s their children I love. (Interview)

On closely analyzing her works it can be noted that her works consist of certain recurring literary symbols and images which went on to became her signature style of writing and in Frye‘s language her private mythology as an author. Some of the most popular symbols and images from her works are worth discussing.

Archetypes are of various kinds and each author incorporates a mixture of different types of archetypes in their writings. For the purpose of this article we will be broadly classifying archetypes into situational and symbolic archetypes. Starting with situational archetypes under which the most important type being the quest myth.

The Quest Myth:

The quest myth on further research appears almost in every genre and is seen across cultures, starting from ancient Greek literature its modified form has been passed down through the ages but its essence still remains the same. The actual concept of the ‗quest myth‘ involves the protagonist undertaking a physical, spiritual, mental or emotional journey and emerging victorious towards the end. Quests serve as a symbol for the search of the ultimate truth and are often considered to be life changing. In Blyton‘s works however the ‗quest myth‘ has been modified for young readers as embarking upon adventures. In her most popular novel the Famous Five series, the five young protagonists solve a number of mysteries and in the process make new friends and learn from their experiences, this involves victorious endings where the protagonists have new experiences with life and situations and they ultimately save the day. One of the best examples of emotional and personal growth of the protagonists can be seen in her boarding school series called The Twins at Saint Clare’s, when the O‘Sullivan twins undergo the emotional turmoil of shifting to a new school and are determined not to like the new one, one of the twins called Patricia says ―We‘ll both hate it, and what‘s more, I‘m jolly well going to turn up my nose at everything there!‖ , when they do finally enter into the school they encounter a whole new world where they grow as human beings amongst the other children, towards the end they emerge as strong confident young girls with sound characters.

The Sea:

Symbolic archetypes contain more than one meaning, the textual meaning and the interpretative meaning that the readers visualize after reading the text. Blyton uses a number of symbolic archetypes the major one being the sea.

The sea as an archetype can again be traced back to the ancient times when Greek writers used the sea as an important symbol in their storyline. The sea as a symbol on one hand represents life in itself due to its unpredictable nature which just like real life can change anytime. On the other hand it serves as a symbol of mysteriousness and darkness and instills a sense of fear in the reader. In Blyton‘s popular famous five series the sea is almost always the centre of all action but it‘s also portrayed in a joyful and playful light. When Julian, Anne and Dick visit their cousin Georgina at Kirrin Bay, they find out about the beautiful Kirrin Island in the middle of the sea and they cannot wait to explore the place. It‘s the holidays as usual and the cousins go for a swim in the sea, laze around enjoying ‗ice lollies‘ on the beach, marvel at Georgina‘s excellent rowing skills when she cleverly avoids the rocks jutting out from the sea on the way to Kirrin Island. In another sequel to the Famous Five series, the sea turns into a trap for the five protagonists when Georgina‘s father a clever scientist turns the island into a laboratory for his scientific experiments not realizing that there are goons after his research waiting to blow up the whole island if not given the secrets of the outcomes of his research.

The sea for Enid Blyton, is an unexplored territory and the children imbibe the qualities of courage, planning and initiative in the various discoveries around this. The sea is what surrounds the structured society in which the children live. Since structured doesn‘t leave room for learning, they explore the nature and sea, the unstructured, and hence, hold the promise of new experiences and learning.

Nature :

Blyton‘s father inculcated a love for nature in his daughter by passing on the knowledge he had of natural history and the surrounding wildlife. When the Blyton family moved to a bigger house on ―Clockhouse Road‖ in England after her father‘s increased fortune, Blyton recollects memories of the house where she recounts the house having a spacious garden, a

small patch of which was allotted by her father to young Enid to grow her own flowers. In her autobiography ―The Story of My Life‖ she writes;

I had patches of gay candytuft, spires of graceful brilliant clarkia, dancing poppies of all colours, sweet smelling mignonette and many hardy nasturtiums that climbed high over the wall, thick with orange flowers. That was my first garden.(- The Story of My Life )

Primroses, tulips, snowdrops, daisies, willow trees, oak trees, sparrows and robins are a constant in Blyton‘s novels, her love for nature and her efforts at passing on her love and knowledge to young readers is evident in her writings, and the protagonists in her novel represent her idea of being closer to nature. She goes the extra mile to develop a love for nature within children when she redefines the concept of ―the woods‖ by attributing the woods with a cozy and inviting nature where the characters in her novels find either shelter or a new friend each time.

In her adventure series titled Well Done Secret Seven, the seven young protagonists tired of the hot summer decide to shift their meeting place from the hot garden shed and go in search of a new place to hold their regular meetings when they suddenly decide to build their very own tree house. They venture into the woods in search of a suitable tree to do so when they come across a huge oak tree with broad flat branches fit enough to be converted into a tree house, one of the characters called Jack is seen exclaiming ―Its fine! There are about six branches here, all on the same level, and there‘s a hole in the trunk too. It would make a fine cupboard.‖ The concept of having a garden outside every home is another striking symbol in her works where the protagonist always come across an enchanted creature or encounter a whole new magical world at the bottom of their gardens this also reflects her childhood memories and personal experiences with nature.

Enchanted Creatures:

It‘s a funny tree. It may grow acorns and oak leaves for a little way and then suddenly you notice that it‘s growing plums. Then another day it may grow apples

or pears. You just never know. But it‘s all very exciting. (The Magic Faraway Tree)

Mythical and enchanted creatures are Blyton‘s forte. They appear to be almost real with individual personalities and in Blyton‘s world are visible only to children. These characters are extremely well written and thoughtfully crafted. The paragraph above is an extract from her award winning novel titled The Magic Faraway Tree where the three siblings Joe, Beth and Frannie come across an enchanted wood where they discover the ancient faraway tree that goes up to the clouds and has a new exciting land at the very top which keeps changing every now and then. Not only does the tree grow a different fruit at every elevation but it also houses a number of enchanted creatures. The most interesting ones being the tiny fairy silky who gets her name from her mop of golden hair which falls across her face like golden mist, the funny Mr Saucepan Man who always has kettles and saucepans hanging off his body and Dame Washalot who always poured her dirty laundry water down the tree. Apparently she derives the idea of the faraway tree from Norse mythology, according to Wikipedia, ―Yggdrasil‖ is an immense mythical tree that plays a central role in Norse cosmology where it connects the nine worlds. It‘s an immense Ash tree that is centre to the cosmos and

considered very holy. The Gods go to Yggdrasil daily to hold assemblies. The branches extend far into the heavens and the tree is supported by three roots that extend far away into other locations. Creatures live within Yggdrasil including the dragon and the stags, it‘s interesting to note how she adapts and incorporates these deep concepts into simple stories for children.

Family:

The last important symbol would be Blyton‘s family centred stories, she always asserts the importance of a stable family in the lives of her protagonists and almost all of her protagonists are either siblings or cousins and uphold strong family values. She also educates while entertaining through her stories, her novels contain a strong sense of morals and always encourage young readers to be truthful and honest. The best example of a strong family bond would be her novel titled ―Adventures of the Six Cousins‖ where the country kids take in their newly arrived cousins from the city into Mistletoe Farm since the city kids have had their house burned down in an unfortunate fire accident. Their journey together as a family

and their growth separately as individuals is worth a read. She also mentions in an article published in ―The Author‖ that amongst all the stories written for children, her favorites were the ones with a family at the centre.

Conclusion:

Blyton‘s archetypes fall under Frye‘s comic vision of the archetypes of the human world, the animal world and the vegetable world. Frye mentions that in the comic vision the human world is a community who represents the wish fulfillment of the reader and consists of archetypes of order, friendship and love. In the comic vision of the animal world Frye mentions domesticated animals usually a flock of sheep, or gentler birds like doves. The vegetative world on the other hand represents gardens, grove or parks or even a tree of life and delicate flowers like lotuses and roses as the comic vision of archetypes. Frye also mentions archetypes as expanding from an unseen centre in space and he stresses that all the literary texts that mention his specified set of archetypes come under magnificent literature while those that don‘t are not considered as important by Frye. Although classifying a text based upon the availability of a particular set of archetypes may not do justice to every text but Frye‘s concept of archetypes gives a new dimension to literary criticism.

Works cited:

 Blyton, Enid. Five on Kirrin Island Again. London: Hodder Children's, 2004. Print.  . The Adventures of the Six Cousins. London: Award, 2005. Print.  . The Folk of the Faraway Tree. London: Dean, 2019. Print.  . The Twins at St Clare's. N.p.: Egmont Limited, 2008. Print. First.  . Well Done, Secret Seven. London: Hodder Children's, 2004. Print.  Dua,Shyam . The Luminous Life of Enid Blyton. Delhi: Tiny Tot, 2006. Print.  Frye, Northrop. Anatomy of Criticism: Four Essays. Toronto: U of Toronto, 2006.

Print.

 "Northrop Frye." Wikipedia. Wikimedia Foundation, 25 Apr. 2020. Web. 02 Mar. 2020.