Carl Jung and The Shadow Theory
Jung, C. G. and Hull R. F. C. (ed) (1991) The Structure and Dynamics of the Psyche, 2nd ed. London: Routledge
In the third part of the book, Jung begins to talk about the unconscious and introduces, for the first time, the idea of archetypes – “In the “deeper” stratum, we also find the a priori, inborn forms of “intuition”, namely the archetypes of perception and apprehension[..].” (p.133). Later on, he begins describing the idea of the shadow, claiming that this is a part of every human being and that by denying it, you do nothing but deny a part of yourself which in turn leaves you as just ordinary – “[…] the commonest human type, one who imagines he actually is only what he cares to know about himself.” (Jung, Hull 1991, p. 208). Jung goes on to talk about confronting the shadow, about how assimilating and integrating it into your personality is the only way to reach your true potential. Applying this theory to superheroes, it is easy to see that once they confront their villain counterpart, they usually tend to become better, stronger even; regardless of whether they won the battle (most of the time they do). Are there superheroes who integrate their shadow, who make peace with the villain? Recent movies seem to acknowledge this idea more and more, and the hero appears better for it.
Explaining The Shadow Archetype
Jung, C. G. and Hull, R. F. C. (ed) (1959) Researches Into the Phenomenology of the Self, 2nd ed. New York: Princeton University Press
The Shadow is part of the collective unconscious, which Jung describes as the part of our unconscious that we share as a species. The collective unconscious is the part of ourselves that we inherit from older generations - we are born with it, but we can reshape it during our process of development when we create our Persona ( the face we present to the world). Therefore, the Shadow is one of the archetypes that exists from the moment we were born.
To be truly aware of our Shadow means to truly know ourselves, to admit that even the darkest aspects of our personality exist and are ever-present. Jung explains that what we consider dark aspects are actually weaknesses, inferiorities that develop when we are unable to fully adapt to the world, to fully control our emotions. In our unconscious, this archetype is often surrounded by projections - they aim to isolate a person from their environment by creating illusions that portray the world as a replica of the person's own fears. As such, for someone to acknowledge their Shadow, outside help is often necessary as an individual is rarely able to truly be aware of the projections created by their own mind.
To sum it up, even though the Shadow is one of our deep-rooted archetypes, it can be integrated into our personality through self-examination, allowing us to see past our fears and become a better, more stable version of ourselves.
