Abstract

THE ARCHETYPAL SHADOW OF THE TEACHER IN IONESCO’S THE LESSON AND MAMET’S OLEANNA

Maysoon Taher Muhi

Volume: 7 Issue: 4 2017

Abstract:

The present paper is concerned with the concept of the teacher as an archetypal shadow in the dramatic plays by Eugene Ionesco’s The Lesson (1951) and David Mamet’s Oleanna (1992). The shadow represents the negative tendencies and the animal aspects that are rejected by the persona (the public image) and they are supposed to be permanently hidden and dominated by several factors like ethics and social standards. Losing the control over one’s shadow will definitely lead to reveal and expose unaccepted behavioural features. This has obviously been noticed in these selected plays. The mythical image of a teacher as being a philosopher, a prophet, or a priest has been totally demolished when the dark side of the teacher character has governed him, i.e. when his shadow finds a way to be out of the unconscious that leashes it. Needless to mention that literature is a significant vehicle for delivering social messages; so, it is a vital to understand the shadow side of teachers, and examines significantly the dramatists’ portrayal of the teacher as well as the pedagogical and cultural messages that these plays might imply about teacher’s social and moral relationship with their students. By utilizing the psychological approach of C G Jung and his concepts of the Shadow and the Archetype, this paper discerns that the teachers in these plays have failed to recognize their shadow and consequently their self-conscious is controlled by it, incorporating in losing their mental integrity and moral principles.

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