When we talk about critically examining literature we should first define what we mean by critical.  Critical means:
inclined to criticize severly and unfavorabley, or exercising or involving careful judgement or judicious evaluation; we will use the later definition when when critically analyzing literature.

Critical analysis on literature means using careful judgement and making judicious evaluation of the work at hand.  It can be done in a variety of ways, including the textual-linguistic approach, the historical-biographical approach, the feminist approach, the psychological approach and many others.  These notes explain how to use the Archetypal Approach.  This approach is based largely on the work of psychologist Carl Jung and critics Northrup Frye and Joseph Campbell.
To read more about Archetypes click on the link below.

http://archetype.webjump.com/

Although every people has its own distinctive mythology which may be reflected in legend, folklore, and ideology, myth is, in the general sense, universal.  Similar motifs or themes may be fround among many different mythologies, and certain images that recur in the myths of people widely separated in time and place tend to have a common meaning.  A universal and recurring image, pattern, or motif representing a typical human experience is called an  ARCHETYPE.  They are often represented in literature and in art by symbols.  Some examples of these archetypes and the symbolic meanings with which they tend to be universally associated are listed below:

The Archetypeal Woman:
1.  The Great Mother, Good Mother, Earth Mother:  associated with birth, protection, warmth, fertility, growth, abundance, the unconscious
2.  The Terrible Mother:  the witch, sorceress, siren; associated with fear, danger and death
3.  The Soul-Mate:  the princess or "beautiful lady"; incarnation of inspiration and spiritual fulfillment
Archetypal Criticism
 

The Hero Archetype
1.  The Quest:  The Hero (Savior or Deliverer) undertakes some long journey during which he must perform impossible tasks, battle with monsdters, solve unanswerable riddles, and overcome insurmountable obstacles in order to save the kingdom and perhaps marry the princess.
2.  Initiation:  The hero undergoes a series of excruciating ordeals in passing from ignorance and immaturity to social and spiritual adulthood (achieving maturity and becoming a full-fledged member of his social group.  The initiation most commonly consists of three stages (1).  separation  (2) transformation and (3) return.  Like the quest, this is a variation of the Death and Rebirth archetype.
3.  The Sacrificial Scapegoat:  The Hero, with whom welfare of the tribe or nation is identified, must die to atone for the people's sins and to restore the land to fruitfulness.

Archetypes may be found in even more combinations which conform with the major phases of life and the season cycle.  For example,

1.  Birth Phase, Dawn or Spring:  myths of the birth of the hero, myths of revival and resurrection, or creation and of the defeat of the poser of darkness, winter, and death.  Suborndinate characters inculde the mother and the father
 

        In The Count of Monte Cristo we see a mythic cycle of resurrection when Dantes, the innocent, is jailed and imprisioned in the Chateau d'If he suffers a fall and symbolic death.  He is baptised when his body hits the waters outside the prison as he escapes in Farria's death shroud.  His resurrection is complete when he "comes back to life" as Monte Cristo.

3.  The Sunset, Autumn, and Death Phase:  Myths of fall, of the dying God, of violent death and sacrifice, and of the isolation fo the hero;  subordinate characters include the traitor ad the siren.  This is the archetypal pattern of tragedy and elegy.

4.  The Darkness, Winter and Dissolution Phase:  mythos of thr truimph of these powers, myths of floods and the return of chaos, of the defeat of the hero.  Subordinate characters include the ogre and the witch. This is the archetypal apttern associated with satrire.
 

More Notable Archetypes

A.  Water:  the cycle of life, creation, birth, and death, resurrection, purification, rebirth (like baptism), growth
        1.  the sea- mother of life, timelessness/eternity/unconsciousness

        2.  the river, (sometimes the sea)- baptism- the flowing of time into eternity

B.  Colors
        1.  Red- blood, passion, anger, disorder
        2.  Green- hope, growth, fertility
        3.  Blue- very positive, truth, religion, spirituality
        4.  Black- death, disease, sin
        5.  White- light, purity, innocence

C.  Wise Old Man Figure- older, experienced, teacher or mentor who becomes a guide to the hero.  Often a magician, seer, or philospoher.

D.  Shadow- the "darker" side of all humans.  Represented by the subconscious. Rage, hostility, chaos.  The destructive qualities in us all, hidden and controlled by our conscious/civilized nature.

E.  Desert-  opposite of  water.  Infertility, death, and dying.

F.  Guide/Herald- similar to Wise Old Man figure but the "guide" can be any human, animal, or object (tornado in the Wizard of Ox).

G.  Serpent (snake, worm)- symbol of energy and pur force. Evil, corrupt, sensual, destructive.  Also, it paradoxically can represent mystery, wisdom, or the unconscious

H.  Numbers
        1.  Three- light, spiritual awareness, and unity (the holy Trinity), the male principal
        2.  Four- associated with the circle, the life cycle, four seasons, the female principal, four elem
        3.  Seven- the most potent of all symbolic numbers.  Signifying the union of three and four, the completion of a cycle,    perfect order.

I.  Circle- wholeness, unity, the female
J.  Sun- creativity, thinking (intellect), the passage of time and life (sunrise/sunset)
 

© Notes adapted from Beardall and D. Williams
"Notable Archetypes" adapted from Geri Stephenson and Karla Owens by Lee Ann Spillane
Last Updated: 6 December 2000