Jung and Shakespeare - Hamlet, Othello and the Tempest [Paperback]

Book excerpt: Three plays analyzed from a Jungian perspective and a fresh wit, catching many contemporary nuances in these well-loved plays and their continuing relevance for today. Barbara Rogers-Gardner has a Ph.D. in comparative literature from Rutgers University and has published two novels as well as numerous scholarly articles. She has taught at Ramapo College of New Jersey, the University of California, Santa Barbara, and is now a member of the faculty at Pacifica Graduate Institute, a center for the study of Depth Psychology. From the book: "A model of Jung's mature, harmonious self is to be found in Prospero, who trusts that death is an initiation into divinity. Prospero's shadow is recognized and embraced in Caliban, the poetic, sensual monster who grounds us in pig-nuts and music. Not in individualism, the sort of maladaptive bog in which Claudius, lago, and Stephano sink, but in accommodating the self to the social order does the Shakespearean hero find his peace." "Dr. Rogers-Gardner places Shake-speare's characters under the lens of archetypal theory, showing us eruptions from the unconscious, fragmentation of the ego, and finally the maturation pro-cess in which opposites are conjoined. In this brilliant blend of Depth Psychol-ogy and current literary criticism, we cannot help but see ourselves." -Dr. C. Edward Crowther, Jungian psy-chotherapist and author of "Intimacy: Strategies for Successful Relationships"