the archetype of the wasteland · title: the archetype of the wasteland author: nhrhs created date:...
TRANSCRIPT
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The Archetypes of the Fisher King and the Wasteland
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"One does not simply walk into Mordor.
Its black gates are guarded by more than
just Orcs. There is evil there that does not
sleep. The great Eye is ever watchful. It is a
barren Wasteland, riddled with fire, ash,
and dust. The very air you breathe is a
poisonous fume."
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The story of the Fisher King comes out of
Arthurian legend.
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Characteristics of the myth:
The Fisher King • Married to the landwhat happens to the “King”
(modern incarnations: CEO, president, famous person)
happens to the land and its people
– If the King suffers, the land suffers
– If the King heals, the land prospers
• Responsible for the future of the kingdom
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The Wound
• The king suffers in some way /
is rendered impotent or sterile,
incapable of leading his people
• The wound (a blight) serves as
a reminder of his greed or
misguided priorities and
contributes to the infertility of
the land, hindering the progress
of his people or culture.
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The Abode
• A castle in traditional
texts
• Often made of gray
stone
• Place associated with
the grail
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The Wasteland
• A “dead” land, filled with suffering and
despair.
• In modern times, the Wasteland can be a
metaphor for modern apathy or it can
symbolize
– social and moral decay
– a barren, desolate place, incapable of sustaining
life
– the psychological wounding of a culture (ex., the
Lost Generation).
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• Where have we seen Wasteland
imagery thus far
in Lord of the Rings?
in Slaughterhouse Five?
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The “Dead Marshes” of WWI
In the Dead Marshes of Mordor
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Isengard
The Gardens of Isengard
(before) (after)
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Mordor
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The Wasteland as metaphor
for World War I • T.S. Eliot - perhaps most
famous modernist poet
• Wrote “The Waste Land” about the destruction of European culture and the desolation of the landscape after WWI
• Like Nietzsche and Tolkien, Eliot looked to ancient myth to address modern despair
• Like Tolkien, religious.
The White Tree of the
King of Gondor
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What are the roots that clutch, what branches
grow
Out of this stony rubbish? Son of man, 2
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You cannot say, or guess, for you know only
A heap of broken images, where the sun
beats,
And the dead tree gives no shelter, the cricket
no relief,
And the dry stone no sound of water. Only
There is shadow under this red rock, 2
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(Come in under the shadow of this red rock),
And I will show you something different from
either
Your shadow at morning striding behind you
Or your shadow at evening rising to meet you;
I will show you fear in a handful of dust. 3
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