Seeking a Utopia in the Past to Endure the Present: A Jungian Reading of The Realms of Gold

Abstract

This paper attempts a Jungian approach to Margaret Drabble’s novel The Realms of Gold . Jungian reading has been taken up to unravel the distinctive characteristics which make this novel so unique and popular. The focus of the paper is to classify the main characters of the novel in terms of their psychological types. In this novel from the beginning the reader is introduced to an atmosphere which is related to the personality of the main character Frances Wingate. Her thoughts are introduced to the readers in form of monologues. By the usage of these monologues and the narrator’s judgments on the characters their psychological types can be implied. The protagonist is compared with the other major characters to illuminate to what extent different types can get along with each other. In Jungian psychology knowing about our psychological type is a crucial issue in the process of individuation. It gets more significance when it comes to opposite sex relationships or generally any kinds of interaction.