Northrop Frye's Anatomy of Criticism: Four Essays (Princeton University Press, 1957) attempts to formulate an overall view of the scope, theory, principles, and techniques of literary criticism derived exclusively from literature. Frye consciously omits all specific and practical criticism, instead offering classically-inspired theories of modes, symbols, myths and genres, in what he termed "an interconnected group of suggestions," which informed a work that was highly influential in the decades before deconstructivist criticism and other expressions of postmodernism. Herman Northrop Frye (July 14, 1912 - January 23, 1991) was a Canadian literary critic, one of the most distinguished of the 20th century. ... Literary criticism is the study, discussion, evaluation, and interpretation of literature. ... This article needs a complete rewrite for the reasons listed on the talk page. ... This article needs to be cleaned up to conform to a higher standard of quality. ...

Frye's four essays are sandwiched between a "Polemical Introduction" and a "Tentative Conclusion." The four essays are titled "Historical Criticism: A Theory of Modes," "Ethical Criticism: a Theory of Symbols," "Archetypal Criticism: A Theory of Myths," and "Rhetorical Criticism: A Theory of Genres." Archetype is defined as the first original model of which all other similar persons, objects, or concepts are merely derivative, copied, patterned, or emulated. ... It has been suggested that this article or section be merged with Mythology. ... A genre is a division of a particular form of art according to criteria particular to that form. ...

Polemical Introduction

The purpose of the introduction is to defend the need for literary criticism, to distinguish the nature of genuine literary criticism from other forms of criticism, and to clarify the difference between direct experience of literature and the systematic study of literary criticism.

There are a number of reasons why the introduction is labeled as 'polemic.' In defending the need for literary criticism, Frye opposes a notion common to Tolstoy and Romantic thought that 'natural taste' is superior to scholarly learning (and by extension, criticism). Frye also accuses a number of methods of criticism (e.g. Marxist, Freudian, Jungian, Neo-classical, etc.) as being embodiments of the deterministic fallacy. He is not opposed to these ideologies in particular, but sees the application of any external, ready-made ideology to literature as a departure from genuine criticism. This results in subjecting a work of literature to an individual's pet philosophy and an elevation or demotion of authors according to their conformity to the pet philosophy.

Another point is to distinguish the difference between personal taste and genuine criticism. Personal taste is too easily swayed by the prevailing morals, values and tastes of the critic's society at that point in history. If taste succumbs entirely to such social forces, the result is the same as that of consciously adopting an external ideology described above. Yet even if there is a consensus among critics that the works of Milton more fruitful than Blackmore (to use Frye's example), a critic contributes little by saying so. In other words, value judgments contribute little to meaningful criticism.

In place of meaningless criticism, Frye proposes a genuine literary criticism which draws its method from the body of literature itself. Literary criticism ought to be a systematic study of works of literature, just as physics is of nature and history is of human action. Frye makes the explicit assumption that in order for systematic study to be possible, the body of literature must already possess a systematic nature. Frye claims that we know very little about this system as yet and that the systematic study of literature has progressed little since Aristotle.

Frye concludes his introduction by addressing the weaknesses of his argument. He mentions that the introduction is polemic, but written in first person to acknowledge the individual nature of his views. He concedes that the following essays can only give a preliminary, and likely inexact, glimpse of the system of literature. He admits to making sweeping generalities that will often prove false in light of particular examples. Finally, he stresses that while many feel an "emotional repugnance" to schematization of poetry, the schematization should be regarded as an aspect of criticism, not the vibrant, personal, direct experience of the work itself--much as the physicist turns away from her systematic work to enjoy the beauty of the mountains.

First essay - Historical Criticism: Theory of Modes

Frye's systemization of literature begins with three aspects of poetry given by Aristotle in his Poetics: mythos (plot), ethos (characterization/setting), and dianoia (theme/idea). Frye sees works of literature as lying somewhere on a continuum between being plot driven, as in most fiction, and idea driven, as in essays and lyrical poetry. The First essay begins with an exploration of fictional modes (subdivided into tragic and comic modes) and ends with treatment of the thematic modes. Aristotles Poetics aims to give an account of poetry. ...

Frye divides his study of the tragic, comic, and thematic modes into 5 literary epochs derived from the Ages of Man: myth, romance, high mimetic, low mimetic, and ironic. This categorization is a representation of ethos, or characterization and relates to how the protagonist is portrayed in respect to the rest of humanity and the protagonist's environment. The Ages of Man are the stages of human existence on the Earth according to Classical mythology. ...

Tragedy is concerned with the hero's separation from society. Myth deals with the death of gods. Romance gives elegies mourning the death of heroes such as Arthur or Beowulf. Classic tragedy of the high mimetic epoch presents the death of a noble human such as Othello or Oedipus. Low mimetic tragedy shows the death or sacrifice of a common human and evokes pathos as with Hardy's Tess or Daisy Miller. The ironic mode shows the death or suffering of a protagonist who is both weak and pitiful compared to the rest of humanity and the protagonist's environment; Kafka's works provide many examples.

Comedy is concerned with integration of society. Mythic comedy deals with acceptance into the society of gods, often through a number of trials as with Hercules or through salvation or assumption as in the Bible. In romantic comic modes, the setting is pastoral or idyllic, and there is an integration of the hero with an idealized simplified form of nature. High mimetic comedy involves a strong central protagonist who constructs his or her own society by brute force, fending off all opposition until the protagonist ends up with all honor and riches due him or her--the plays of Aristophanes or something like Shakespeare's Prospero are examples. Low mimetic comedy often shows the social elevation of the hero or heroine and often ends in marriage. Ironic comedy is perhaps more difficult, and Frye devotes a good deal more space to this than the other comedic modes. The ironic comedy borders on savagery, where inflicting pain on a helpless victim (whereas in ironic tragedy the victim endures the pain). Some examples of this include tales of lynch mobs, murder mysteries, or human sacrifice.

Finally, Frye explores thematic modes by epoch. Here, the intellectual content is more important than the plot, so these modes are organized by what is considered more authoritative or educational at the time. Also, these modes tend to organize by societal structure. In the mythical mode, scripture, divinely inspired literature, is prevalent. In the romantic, the gods have left and it is up to chroniclers in a nomadic society to remember the lists of names of the patriarchs, the proverbs, traditions, charms, deeds, etc. In high mimetic thematic modes, society is structured around a capital city, and nationalistic epics such as The Faerie Queen and The Lusiad are good examples. In the low mimetic, themes tend toward individualism and romanticism. The individual's thoughts and ideas are now the center of authority, and Wordsworth's Prelude is an example of this. Finally, ironic themes depart from the individual as having any authority and instead promote discontinuity and anti-epiphany. T. S. Eliot's Wasteland and Joyce's Finnegan's Wake demonstrate this thematic mode.

Second essay - Ethical Criticism: Theory of Symbols

Now that Frye has established his theory of modes, he proposes five levels, or phases, of symbolism, each phase independently possessing its own mythos, ethos, and dianoia as laid out in the first essay. These phases are based on the four levels of medieval allegory (the first two phases constituting the first level). Also, Frye relates the five phases with the ages of man laid out in the first essay. It is important to note Frye's definition of a literary symbol: "[A]ny unit of any literary structure that can be isolated for critical attention." Christs baptism in the bottom panel. ...

symbolic phases:

• literal/descriptive (motifs and signs)
• formal (image)
• mythical (archetype)
• anagogic (monad)

The descriptive phase exhibits the centrifugal, or outward, property of a symbol. For example, when a word such as 'cat' evokes a definition, image, experience or any property connected with the word 'cat' external to the literary context of the particular usage, we have the word taken in the descriptive sense. Frye labels any such symbol a sign. He does not define the sign beyond this sense of pointing to the external, nor does he refer to any particular semiotic theory. In opposition to the sign stands the motif which is a symbol taken in the literal phase. This phase demonstrates the inward, or centripetal, direction of meaning, best described as the contextual meaning of the symbol. To Frye, literal means nearly the opposite of its usage in common speech; to say that something "literally" means something generally involves referring to a definition external to the text. Instead, literal refers to the symbol's meaning in its specific literary situation while descriptive refers to personal connotation and conventional definition. Finally, Frye draws an analogy between rhythm and harmony with the literal and descriptive phases respectively. The literal phase tends to be horizontal, dependent on what comes before and after the symbol while the descriptive phase tends to be laid out in space, having external meanings that vary in nearness to the contextual meaning.

Frye next introduces the formal phase, embodied by the image, in order to define the layer of meaning that results from the interplay of the harmony and rhythm of the signs and motifs. The most frequently repeated imagery sets the tone of the work (as with the color red in Macbeth), with less repeated imagery working in contrast with this tonal background. This section of the essay gives a faithful representation of literary formalism (a.k.a. "New Criticism"). Frye's representation of formalism here is unique, however, in its setting as part of the larger system of literary criticism Frye outlines in the entire work. The notion of form (and perhaps Frye's literal phase) relies heavily on the assumption of inherent meaning within the text, however, a point contested by deconstructionist critics. Scene from Macbeth, depicting the witches conjuring of an apparition in Act IV, Scene I. Painting by William Rimmer This article is on the play Macbeth by Shakespeare. ...

The mythical phase is the treatment of a symbol as an archetype. This concept relates most closely with intertextuality and considers the symbol in a work as interconnected with similar symbolism throughout the entire body of literature. While Frye deals with myths and archetypes from a broader perspective in the third essay, in this section he focuses on the critical method of tracing a symbol's heritage through literary works both prior and subsequent to the work in question. Frye argues that convention is a vital part of literature and that copyright is deleterious to the process of literary creation. Frye points to the use of convention in Shakespeare and Milton as examples to strengthen his argument that even verbatim copying of text and plot does not entail a death of creativity. Further, Frye argues that romantic, anti-conventional writers such as Walt Whitman tend to follow convention anyway. In criticism, the study of the archetypal phase of a symbol is akin to the "nature" perspective in the psychological debate over nature versus nurture. Rather than viewing the symbol as a unique achievement of the author or some inherent quality of the text, the archetypeal phase situates the symbol in its society of literary kindred as a product of its conventional forebears. Intertextuality is a relationship between two or more texts that quote from one another, allude to one another, or otherwise connect. ... Nature versus nurture is a shorthand expression for debates about the relative importance of an individuals innate qualities (nature) versus personal experiences (nurture) in determining or causing physical and behavioral traits. ...

Finally, Frye proposes an anagogic phase wherein a symbol is treated as a monad. The anagogic level of medieval allegory treated a text as expressing the highest spiritual meaning. For example, Dante's Beatrice in the Divine Comedy would represent the bride of Christ. Frye makes the argument that not only is there a lateral connection of archetypes through intertextuality, but that there is a transcendent almost spiritual unity within the body of literature. Frye describes the anagogic in literature as "the imitation of infinite social action and infinite human thought, the mind of a man who is all men, the universal creative word which is all words." Dante shown holding a copy of The Divine Comedy, next to the entrance to Hell, the seven terraces of Mount Purgatory and the city of Florence, in Michelinos fresco. ...

Third essay - Archetypal Criticism: Theory of Myths

The third essay is the culmination of Frye's theory in that it unites the elements of characterization and each of the five symbolic phases presented in the first two essays into an organic whole. This whole is organized around a metaphor of human desire and frustration as manifested in the Great Chain of Being (divine, human, animal, vegetable, mineral) by analogy to the four seasons. 1579 drawing of the great chain of being from Didacus Valades, Rhetorica Christiana The Great Chain of Being is a classical and western medieval conception of the order of the universe, whose chief characteristic is a strict hierarchal system. ...

At one pole we have apocalyptic imagery which typifies the revelation of heaven and ultimate fulfillment of human desire. In this state, the literary structure points toward unification of all things in a single anagogical symbol. The ultimate of the divine is the deity, of the human is Christ (or any other being that embodies the oneness of humanity in its spiritual culmination), of the animal is the lamb, of the vegetable is the Tree of Life or vine, and of the mineral is the heavenly Jerusalem or city of God. The Tree-of-Life is a fictional plant (the ancestor of yams, with similar appearance and taste) in Larry Nivens Known Space universe, for which all Hominids have an in-built genetic craving. ...

At the opposite pole lies demonic imagery which typifies the unfulfillment, perversion, or opposition of human desire. In this state, things tend toward anarchy or tyranny. The divine is an angry, inscrutible God demanding sacrifice, the human is the tyrannical anti-christ, the animal is a predator such as a lion, the vegetable is the evil wood as found at the beginning of Dante's Inferno or Hawthorne's "Young Goodman Brown", and the city is the dsytopia embodied by Orwell's 1984 or Kafka's The Castle.

Finally we have the analogical imagery, or more simply, depictions of states that are similar to paradise or hell, but not identical. There is a great deal of variety in the imagery of these structures, but tame animals and wise rulers are common in strucutres analogical to the apocalyptic, while predatory aristocrats and masses living in squalor characterize analogy to the demonic.

Frye then identifies the mythical mode with the apocalyptic, the ironic with the demonic, and the romantic and low mimetic with their respective analogies. The high mimetic, then, occupies the center of all four. This ordering allows Frye to place the modes in a circular structure and point to the cyclical nature of myth and archetypes. In this setting, literature represents the natural cycle of birth, growth, maturity, decline, death, resurrection, rebirth, and the repetition of the cycle. The remainder of the chapter deals with the cycle of the four seasons as embodied by four mythoi: comedy, romance, tragedy, and irony/satire.

Fourth essay - Rhetorical Criticism: Theory of Genres

Frye makes three major points in his final essay of the work. First, he makes a summary of various triads (e.g. Poe's Pure Intellect, Taste, and Moral Sense; Aristotle's mythos, ethos, and dianoia) encountered or hinted at earlier in the work, arguing for a kind of unity, or trinity of these entities. Second, he explores the last three elements of Aristotle's poetics (melos, lexis, and opsis). Third (and for the greater part of the chapter), he proposes a more articulated categorization of genres based on rhetorical principles along with an exploration of each of the ideal categories.

Rhetoric, according to Frye, attempts to both please the ear with verbal ornamentation as well as convince the audience to some action or change in philosophical position. In this manner, the orientation of the author and the audience with respect to each other determines the genre.

Miscellaneous

• The latin dedication at the beginning, "Helenae Uxori" is to Northrop's wife, Helen.
• Frye's Green World Theory developed
• Bergson's Laughter may provide a complementary view on comedy.
• The book evolved out of an introduction to Spenser's The Faerie Queene: "the introduction to Spenser became an introduction to the theory of allegory" Frye allowed (p. vii).

Edmund Spenser Edmund Spenser (c. ... Una and the Lion by Briton Rivière The Faerie Queene is an epic poem by Edmund Spenser, first published in 1590 (the first half) with the more or less complete version being published in 1596. ... An allegory (from Greek αλλος, allos, other, and αγορευειν, agoreuein, to speak in public) is a figurative mode of representation conveying a meaning other than and in addition to the literal. ...

References

• Frye, Northrop. Anatomy of Criticism. New Jersey: Princeton U. Press, 1957.