Jungian Shakespeare is an original work of Jungian literary criticism, examining the psychological expression within three plays from different times in Shakespeare's career through a Jungian framework.
The book focuses on King John, Cymbeline, and Twelfth Night. Each play is explored both as a dramatic work meant to be fully realized onstage and as an expression of deep psychological processes. The eternal boy archetype and its relationships with father, mother, and trickster are examined through King John; Twelfth Night helps to unpack performance and the histrionic personality, while Jungian personality typology illuminates Cymbeline's remarkable psychological wholeness. Rather than merely applying theory to text, the analysis reveals what Shakespeare's works inherently understand about psyche. The two fields-Shakespearean and Jungian-are brought together in a way that not only keeps the work of art intact but attempts to enrich both art and psychology.
This interdisciplinary work appeals to Jungian analysts, psychotherapists, theatre practitioners, Shakespeare scholars, and enthusiasts of literature and theatre, as well as anyone interested in the connections between Jungian psychology and Shakespeare.
Rezensionen / Stimmen
'A captivating book that manages to bridge the distance between theory and practice in a carefully studied and personal reading of three of Shakespeare's most enigmatic plays. Crichton's application of Jungian analysis offers the reader many neglected entry points into the texts, as well as into their value beyond the stage. Jungian Shakespeare is a thoughtful reminder that these works reveal their meaning reluctantly. I shall welcome this book to my own library and certainly recommend it to my students - it provides so many untouched keys to meaning and power in a play we know a little about, another we know quite well, and a third we hardly know at all. It rewards anyone dedicated to thinking about Shakespeare in new ways, and exploring their potency through their mystery.'
Peter Hinton-Davis, O.C., is a stage director and educator. Since 1985 he has directed over 250 productions of classical and contemporary work. In 2009 he was made an officer of the Order of Canada
'Joel Crichton constructs from Shakespeare's opus a trilogy of plays and writes a commentary that illuminates the plays and the Jungian notion of individuation as incarnating archetypes in the here and now. The argument consists in part in wonderful story-telling, also in an evocative gathering of associations and amplifications, and in hard-won brilliant insights about grounding light in darkness, embodying idealism into sensibility, and rendering what functions demonically into forms that can nourish a just society.'
Craig E. Stephenson, author of Possession, Anteros: A Forgotten Myth, and Ages of Anxiety
'As a playwright, this immensely readable book gave me new tools for approaching Shakespeare's text; it also provided insight into how a play may be considered a character itself: a complex psychology that is, through its structure and action, engaged in the messy struggles of being human. Beyond its obvious value to Shakespearean and Jungian scholars alike, this is a tremendous resource for theatre practitioners - especially directors and actors - who are tackling the challenging works of King John, Twelfth Night or Cymbeline. But the insights provided here may reframe an artist's approach to any of Shakespeare's plays, transforming perceived "bugs" in any play's structure, narrative or formal devices into "features" that can hint at the play's own internal psychology.'
Kevin Kerr, University of Victoria; Playwright and Co-Founder of the Electric Company Theatre
'With a witty and multifaceted grasp of the complexities of marrying two jealously different endeavors, Crichton offers a stunningly compelling way into Shakespeare's most enigmatic plays while redeeming the lenses provided by the heritage of Jungian depth psychology.'
Susan Rowland, PhD, Pacifica Graduate Institute, author of Jungian Literary Criticism
'This book is a must-read for teachers, directors, actors, and all "students of Shakespeare." While critically informed, it takes us on an accessible journey, full of discovery. It encourages rich engagement with-even celebration of-the dissonances of character, theme, and story in Shakespeare's work. I am inspired to dig into the play I barely know in a new way, and for those I know well, I revel in "reconsideration." For theatre artists, embracing the ideas here will lead us toward robust, active productions, full of characters' foibles, layers, passions, and guts. I'll engage with this book again as I reconnect with other plays-as director or as audience!'
Jan Selman, FRSC (Fellow of the Royal Society of Canada), Professor and past Chair, Department of Drama, University of Alberta
'As a trained performer, Crichton understands that Shakespeare's text is not the be all and end all, but a blueprint for performance. If you are a lover of the Bard (or hell, even if you hate the guy), Jungian Shakespeare shines a light on the sheer humanness of these plays and makes them more accessible and just more fun than any Shakespeare book I've encountered. This is a book about bringing life to Shakespeare: the messy, joyful, devastating, ambitious, beautiful complication of it all.'
Edmund Stapleton, MFA, Actor/Director/Teacher; PhD Candidate at The Centre for Drama, Theatre, & Performance Studies, University of Toronto
'Engaging and vivid, Joel Crichton's Jungian approach to Shakespeare takes us on a rewarding intellectual adventure. With an eye to theatre and performance, he draws on his own impulse for play (Spieltrieb) to open three intuitively selected dramas to fresh and creative interpretations. In doing so, he sheds light on how Shakespeare becomes every audience's man for all seasons: on the stage, on the page, and on the broad canvas of our own individual experience. His focus on lived reality and its expression in the dramas gives the study both soul and substance. Whether speaking of psychoanalysis or of modern literature, he delights in showing us that Shakespeare got there first. Judiciously woven from many threads-Western thought and literary criticism, biblical lore, the Confucian classic I Ching, and with frequent dramatic asides to modern history and the whole Shakespearean oeuvre-Crichton's rich narrative sparkles with perceptive insights. Jungian Shakespeare is a bracing read, and a brilliant achievement.'
Michael L. Hadley, CD, PhD, Fellow of the Royal Society of Canada, Emeritus Professor of Germanic Studies, University of Victoria, Canada. Author of Boxing the Compass: A Life of Seafaring, Music and Pilgrimage
Joel Crichton, BFA, MPS, is a Jungian Analyst and theatre professional with a Diploma in Analytical Psychology from the C.G. Jung-Institut in Zuerich and a Master of Psychotherapy and Spirituality from St. Stephen's College. He has worked in the performing arts for over twenty years.
1. "A strange beginning": Introduction to King John 2. The Faithless Eros of King John 3. "Smiling at grief": Introduction to Twelfth Night, or What You Will 4. The Histrionic Pattern in Twelfth Night 5. "But what's the matter?": Introduction to Cymbeline 6. The Achievement of Normality in Cymbeline 7. Postlude: Good (Enough) Ground
