Next Stop…
The Literary Cycle
Frye and the Lit Cycle:
• Frye uses images of nature to
explain his theories in both “Motive”
and “Singing School
• The Literary Cycle repeats patterns
in nature, which is likely why Frye
chose the island, and nature as his
analogy in both his essays.
The major conventions of Western
Literature as discussed in Frye’s essay
are:
Comedy
• Romance
• Tragedy
• Satire
• In Frye’s essay he expresses his belief
that literature is NOT uniquely inspired,
despite the romantic theory that
expresses otherwise.
• Instead, he believes that, “a writer’s
desire to write can only have come from
previous experience in literature”, “and
he’s start by imitating whatever he’s
read”. There is a pedigree to writing.
• This leads to conventions in FORM as well as
CONTENT.
• He says again and again that, “literature can
derive its form only from itself”.
• The major conventions (stated earlier) are the
“typical ways in which stories get told”.
• In Frye’s view, all literature tells a large
cyclical story, “of the loss and regaining of
identity”.
• It can be the hero’s quest, the lover’s plight…
The Literary Cycle
Lets Break it Down…
Each genre, in its traditional sense, is
related to certain aspects of nature
Genre
Life Stage
Sun
Season
Water
Moon
Math
Comedy
Birth
Dawn
Spring
Rain
1/4
+: Add
Romance
Youth/
Marriage
High
Noon
(Zenith)
Summer
Fountain
Full
x: Multiply
Tragedy
Old Age/
Death
Sunset/
Twilight
Fall
River/
Stream
1/2 or
Crescent
-: Subtract
Satire
Death/
Division/
Divorce/
Rebirth
Night/
Darkness
Winter
Sea/
Ocean
No Moon/
New
Moon
: Divide
Comedy:
• Comedy in the academic sense is a literary
work that aims primarily to provoke laughter.
• Unlike tragedy, which seeks to engage
profound emotions and sympathies, comedy
strives to entertain chiefly through criticism
and ridicule of man's customs and institutions.
• Although it is usually used in reference to the
drama, in the Middle Ages comedy was
associated with vernacular language and a
happy ending. Thus, the term was also applied
to non-dramatic works as well.
Romance:
• As a literary genre of high culture,
romance or chivalric romance were fantastic
stories about the marvelous adventures of a
chivalrous, heroic knight, often of super-human
ability, who often goes on a quest.
• Romances reworked legends, fairy tales, and
history to suit tastes.
• The modern image of the medieval is more
influenced by the romance than by any other
medieval genre, and the standard image of the
medieval invokes knights, distressed damsels,
dragons, and other romantic tropes.
• During the early 13th century
romances were increasingly written as
prose.
• In later romances, there is a tendency
to emphasize themes of courtly love,
such as faithfulness in adversity.
• Later, "romance" moved from the
magical and fantastic to somewhat
eerie “Gothic” adventure narratives.
Tragedy:
• Tragedy is a drama of a serious and dignified
character that typically describes the development of a
conflict between the protagonist and a superior force
(such as destiny, circumstance, or society) and reaches
a sorrowful or disastrous conclusion.
• Tragedy can be distinguished into three periods, each
with a characteristic emphasis and style: Attica, in
Greece, in the 5th century BC; Elizabethan and
Jacobean England (1558 – 1625); and 17th-century
France.
• The idea of tragedy also found embodiment in other
literary forms, especially the novel.
Satire:
• In satire, vices and shortcomings of certain
characters or a community are held up to ridicule,
ideally with the intent of shaming individuals, and
society itself, into improvement.
• Although satire is usually meant to be funny, its
greater purpose is constructive social criticism,
using wit as a weapon. A common feature of satire
is strong irony or sarcasm, but parody, burlesque,
exaggeration, juxtaposition, comparison and
analogy, are all frequently used in satirical speech
and writing.