What do Great Expectations and the myth of “Daphne and Apollo” have in
common when comparing the archetypes of unrequited love and the maiden goddess?
An archetype is a symbol or idea present in the collective unconscious of all
humans. The collective Unconscious being the body of thought shared by all
humans though not consciously. The Psychoanalyst Carl Gustav Jung developed this
idea. He was the first to introduce this concept of archetype. The two
archetypes in this essay are maiden goddess and unrequited love. A definition of
maiden goddess is a person who will not or cannot love. A definition of
unrequited love is love that is given but not returned for any number of
reasons. The two archetypes of maiden goddess and unrequited love are evident in
both the ancient myth “Daphne and Apollo” and Charles Dickens novel Great
Expectations. The myth of “Daphne and Apollo” is about many things. In the
myth, a nymph Clytie fell in love with Apollo, the sun god, Apollo did not ever
return her love. Apollo was in love with Daphne, a daughter of a river god.
Apollo fell deeply in love with Daphne, however she did not return his love. She
did not return his love for one reason. She vowed to live an unmarried life like
Artemis, the goddess of the hunt. She had felt no more love for him than he had
felt for Clytie. The myth has both archetypes appearing throughout it, and has a
strong meaning to its plot. The archetypes of unrequited love and maiden goddess
appear in this myth. Daphne is the maiden goddess in this myth. The maiden
goddess being someone who will not or cannot love. Therefore, Daphne was the
maiden goddess. She was a large influence on Daphne. Daphne had vowed to live
like Artemis -- so she would never love. Apollo was a recipient of unrequited
love. Unrequited love is love that is given but not returned. Apollo experienced
this because he loved Daphne, but she did not return his love. Daphne did not
love Apollo making her the maiden goddess. Apollo still loved Daphne, but she
did not love him. Therefore, Apollo experienced unrequited love. Many of the
archetypes also appear in the novel By Charles Dickens, Great Expectations. In
Great Expectations, Miss Havisham was left by her Bridegroom and has had a
hatred towards men ever since. When Estella began to live with Miss Havisham,
Miss Havisham began to take her hatred of men through Estella. She taught
Estella to be mean to men and everyone who likes her. When Pip first saw Estella
he began to like her, Estella faced her hatred of men towards Pip. Pip had
always loved Estella but she never loved him. This highlights many of the
archetypes that have been discussed in this essay. There are many similarities
between the myth of Daphne and Apollo and Great Expectations. The two archetypes
of Maiden Goddess and Unrequited love appear in Great Expectations. Estella was
the maiden goddess because she cannot love. She has taught Estella was to be
like this because Miss Havisham has influenced her anger towards men on Estella
all throughout her life. A maiden Goddess is someone, who can or will not love,
that is what Estella turned out to be. She influenced Estella. This forced
Estella to not ever fall in love with Pip. Pip had unrequited love for Estella.
Unrequited love is love that is given but not returned for any number of
reasons. Pip began to like Estella ever since he saw her for the first time. All
throughout the time Pip has loved Estella, she has never returned an ounce of
his love. This is called unrequited love. Pip had unrequited love for Estella.
The archetypes Maiden Goddess and Unrequited love also appear in Great
Expectations. They appear throughout the story in a not so obvious way. The myth
of Daphne and Apollo and Great Expectations has many things in common when
comparing the archetypes of maiden goddess and unrequited love. Daphne and
Estella gave no love in return to their lovers. They both had someone who
influenced them to do this. They both were part of someone’s unrequited love.
Daphne and Estella are the maiden goddess’. Pip had an unrequited love for
Estella, as did Apollo for Daphne. They received no love in return form the
people who they loved. Daphne and Estella are the maiden Goddess'. Estella and
Daphne were the people who will not and cannot love. Them being the maiden
goddess is partially why there was an unrequited love for Daphne from Apollo and
an unrequited love from Pip towards Estella. Great Expectations and the myth of
Daphne and Apollo have many things in common when comparing the archetypes
maiden Goddess and unrequited love. The myth of Daphne and Apollo has the two
archetypes of maiden goddess and unrequited love. Daphne was the maiden goddess
in the in the myth of “Daphne and Apollo.” Apollo was the person who had an
unrequited love for Daphne. The novel Great expectations also have the two
archetypes of maiden goddess and unrequited love. Estella was the maiden goddess
in Great Expectations and Pip had an unrequited love for Estella. In both
stories, the archetypes appear often. Many people have seen these archetypes
appear in our society for centuries, and if people will not be so influential
and weak hearted these archetypes will cease to exist.