510: Thoughts on Frye and class

As I get deeper and deeper into Frye's book, I feel as though I'm addicted. I tried to get ahead on reading this week for next week and ended up reading all of next week's reading by Wednesday. Although I, like Ariana, was hesitant to categorize literature, I'm not as averse to it as I thought I would be. Although I don’t think categorizations work in every situation, because literature is a complex device, I am enjoying reading about archetypal criticism and the mythos of spring, summer and autumn (and soon winter). The more I read and think about the books I’ve read in recent past, including nonfiction books, the more I see how archetypal criticism works and the way the plot devices and characters in the different mythos function. I don’t know if I’ll ever read another book the same way.

The idea of everything being a displaced myth is also fascinating. When Dr. Sexson talked about it in class, I was skeptical at first. So after class I went home and thought about my favorite book and tried to see if I could connect my favorite book, Pride and Prejudice, to a myth or fairy tale. It only took me a minute to figure out that it could be another version of The Frog Prince (maybe I unconsciously picked that fairy tale to displace for that reason). Although Mr. Darcy isn’t ugly and actually from outward appearances seems an agreeable suitor, the story is the same. Elizabeth Bennett is prejudiced against Mr. Darcy from her first few encounters with him. It isn’t until she sees his true goodness that she realizes her first impression was mistaken. Of course, there are other plot points in the book that may not tie in directly, but I’m sure if I read up on more myths and fairy tales I could bring some more connections.