Author Type

Graduate Student

Date of Award

1975

Document Type

Thesis

Publication Status

Version of Record

Submission Date

October 2026

Thesis/Dissertation Advisor [Chair]

Pearce, Howard D.

Abstract

Adrienne Rich's androgyne is a fusion of archetypal primal myths and modern psychical concepts of androgyny focusing on the dual components--male and female--present in each psyche, departing from the polarized role myths heretofore influencing and dominating literature. Early mythic and literary examples of androgyny trace the development of androgynous primal beings in Genesis and the Upanishads, androgynous women in the mythology of virgin births, Sappho's bisexual poetry, Plato's Symposium and Er myths, and the hermaphrodite in Greek and Roman mythology. More recently the approach to androgyny has been Jungian, fusing dual elements in the psyche, manifesting itself in the works of Coleridge, Woolf, Whitman, Eliot and modern feminists. Rich considers the androgyne in its social context, exploring patriarchy, role consciousness and language power. Possessing a bardic vision enabling her to see beyond the traditional stereotyped roles of a polarized wasteland, Rich focuses on the androgyne as a survivor.

Extent

117 p.

Comments

Dorothy F. Schmidt College of Arts and Letters|Thesis (M.A.)--Florida Atlantic University, 1975.|FAU Electronic Theses and Dissertations Collection|Dorothy F. Schmidt College of Arts and Letters

Identifier

FADT13720

Format

pdf

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