‘THE DEATH OF THE MOTH’ BY VIRGINIA WOOLF FROM THE PROSPECTIVE OF ANALYTICAL PSYCHOLOGY
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.32782/upj/2025-3-2-6Keywords:
V. Woolf, C. G. Jung, symbolic image of a moth, life, death, analytical psychology, collective and individual unconscious, imagery of water, concept of beingAbstract
The article examines the essay ‘The Death of the Moth’ by the prominent British writer Virginia Woolf. Analyzed is the tragic event of the author’s death by drowning. The subject of the analysis areis Woolf’s ‘A Writer’s Diary’, her autobiographical work ‘Moments of Being’, and her novel ‘To the Lighthouse’. The authors demonstrates that the symbolic image of a moth appears in most of Woolf’s novels symbolizing life and death. The authors put forward a hypothesis that in the essay ‘The Death of the Moth’ the narrative about the moth conveys Woolf’s concept of being, which, in turn, provides an insight into her own trajectory towards death. The authors refer to the study of the moth image by C. G. Jung, the founder of analytical psychology. Arguments are provided that Jung’s assertion is unfounded that the moth imagination in his patient’s unconscious reflects a conflict from the early Christian era. Further, it is proposed that C. G. Jung’s unconscious reflects his own conflict with his father. It is argued that his theory mistakenly identifies the content of the collective and the individual unconscious. The essay ‘Death of the Moth’ is analyzed in the context of a creative dialogue with C. G. Jung, who in his patient’s unconscious unveils water imagination, which serves as the cornerstone in V. Woolf’s novels. In the essay, water remains unnamed, yet the writer specifically approaches the water ... In the present article it is contended that the image in the unconscious of C. G. Jung’s patient, of Jung himself, and of V. Woolf reveal their concepts of being. The authors repudiate a theoretical approach seeking the foundation of V. Woolf’s concept of being on the theory of A. Bergson. In contrast, they highlights the affinity between Woolf’s ideas and the philosophy of M. Heidegger: in her writings, the words of an indirect inner monologue have their individualized expression. The analysis of the text of the novel ‘To the Lighthouse’ suggests that V. Woolf’s individual unconscious has culture-specific content, where due to the English landscape ‘visual diet’, the image of water is dominant. The figurative content of the writer’s concept of being, embedded in her unconscious, guides her onto the path she must follow to escape the state, which it is unbearable for her to live in. Analytical psychology employs metaphors, hence, justification of this study’s hypothesis necessarily is presented in terms of metaphors.
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