|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Anima and Animus
"The anima is a personification of all feminine psychological
tendencies in a man's psyche, such as vague feelings and moods,
prophetic hunches, receptiveness to the irrational, capacity for
personal love, feeling for nature, and his relation to the
unconscious" (Jung, 186). She may be represented in the priestess,
goddess, princess, or as a witch.
The animus is the male personification of the unconscious in a woman. Can be represented in the hero
or prince archetype.
Berserk
There are two anima figures for Griffith in the final episodes of the series. One is the woman at the spindle, his guide to his unconscious, and the other is the female demon of the four
who come to initiate Griffith into their fold. She is a dark, a negative anima figure. She is the image of the feminine inside Griffith's unconscious and acts along with the three male demons who
are shadow aspects of Griffith's psyche.
Her appearance is of a highly sexualized, erotic dark angel. She rises from the sea of blood-red heads of the dead like a woman arched in love-making. She gives off a sexual vibe but no love or emotion
to accompany it. Griffith has had two significant relationships with women. With Charlotte it is uncertain if he loved her, or was even truly fond of her, or simply knew he needed her to gain
his way to the throne. Caska was also close to him, and on some level, as eventually for Charlotte, he may have loved her without realizing it. At least they must have represented the possibility of a
normal life, an escape from the road to his castle. Yet, he never consciously chooses to take it. These things would play into the image of the female demon as they are not present in the
dark level Griffith has built and that now lays before him. Both Charlotte and Caska would have been a light kind of anima for him, everything what he's faced with wouldn't be.
As a dark anima, the dark angel lures Griffith deeper into himself and to self-destruction. She tells him that now that he's reached the end of his path, surely they will forgive him and welcome him with open arms as
she works to convince him to become one of them. To make the final sacrifice, she tells him to "bury yourself in the debris of your dreams." As she's the feminine and acts with the three
shadows, and is a bit of shadow aspect herself, her realm is over the human condition of emotions and the unknown. At the very end, witnessing the play between Caska taken by Femto (Griffith) in the act
that takes the last of his humanity and seals Gatts' hatred, she remarks: "How it moves me. Love, hatred, torment, pleasure. Life and death together before our eyes. This is the beauty of man and of the devil."
Shoujo Kakumei Utena
Anthy is a good example of the anima aspect. She is both
the princess and witch archetype, and she is the unconscious
aspect of not only Akio, but possibly other characters as well.
Tokiko could be the anima of Mikage. She is the feminine for
Mikage, and represents many of the above aspects of himself.
Both Dios and Akio stand as examples of the positive and negative aspects of the
animus.
In the positive aspect, "she realizes who and what her animus is and what he does to her,
and if she faces these realities instead of allowing herself to be possessed, her animus can
turn into an invaluable inner companion who endows her with the masculine qualities of
initiative, courage, objectivity, and spiritual wisdom" (Jung, 206). This sounds much like
Utena's inspiration from Dios.
In the negative aspect, the animus "often gives one the feeling of being separated from
life. One feels tortured and unable to go on living. This is the disastrous effect of the
animus on a woman. He cuts her off from participation in life" (Franz, 170). This would
be only a small part of the effects Akio has on Anthy.
Urusei Yatsura
Princess Kurama tries to use the Anima Beam to bring out Ataru's feminine side and suppress his male desires.