Inner players: A Jungian reading of Shakespeare\u27s problem plays

The question of what makes great art has intrigued us for nearly as long as the art itself has cast its peculiar spell over our minds and souls. Only recently have we begun to understand something of the way in which the human psyche works, thanks to the work of Dr. Freud and those who came after him. According to Carl Jung, consciousness is a relatively recent part of human evolution. We are still evolving into conscious beings, so that each individual\u27s progress is a microcosm of the whole of humankind. Shakespeare and other great artists tap into the collective unconscious, the place where all our archetypes are stored, waiting to be brought to light and integrated into our conscious mind. His work is so powerful because it is a reinactment of the inner drama that all of us experience on an unconscious level, in the process of individuation. The problem plays present an unusually fertile field for Jungian tillage. Like a face glimpsed in a crowd and then lost, these plays seem to hint at truths that cannot quite be grasped. Viewed through Jung\u27s lens, the puzzles fall into place with remarkable clarity, each revolving around a specific critical axis that allows us to see the form and structure that elude us in other readings. My argument is that, from a psychological view, Jung furnishes us with what is, to date, the best map of Shakespeare\u27s work in these plays. Shakespeare, on the other hand, as the universal poet, proves the validity of Jung\u27s theories by furnishing material that yields to analysis by Jung\u27s methods. This work is meant to champion Jung, not Shakespeare, who needs no champions. I hope to bring the work of two giants together in an effort to add something to our common understanding of both