![]() But to them her words sound meaningless, disconnected and blown out of all proportion. In her frightened, ego-less state, the Cassandra woman may blurt out what she sees, perhaps with the unconscious hope that others might be able to make some sense of it. She may envision a negative or unexpected outcome or something which would be difficult to deal with or a truth which others, especially authority figures, would not accept. What the Cassandra woman sees is something dark and painful that may not be apparent on the surface of things or that objective facts do not corroborate. She further states that a "Cassandra woman" is very prone to hysteria because she "feels attacked not only from the outside world but also from within, especially from the body in the form of somatic, often gynaecological, complaints." Īddressing the metaphorical application of the Greek Cassandra myth, Layton Schapira states that: The intellectual specialization of this archetype creates emotional distance and can predispose relationships to a lack of emotional reciprocity and consequent dysfunctions. Layton Schapira views the Cassandra complex as resulting from a dysfunctional relationship with what she calls the " Apollo archetype", an archetype referring to any individual's or culture's pattern that is dedicated to, yet bound by, order, reason, intellect, truth, and clarity that disavows itself of anything occult or irrational. ![]() being disbelieved when attempting to relate the facticity of these experiences to others.emotional or physical suffering, including hysteria ( conversion disorder) or "women’s problems", and.dysfunctional relationships with the " Apollo archetype",.īased on clinical experience, she delineates three factors constituting the Cassandra complex: In a 1988 study, Jungian analyst Laurie Layton Schapira explored what she called the "Cassandra complex" in the lives of two of her analysands. ![]() Klein's use of the metaphor centers on the moral nature of certain predictions, which tends to evoke in others "a refusal to believe what at the same time they know to be true, and expresses the universal tendency toward denial, denial being a potent defence against persecutory anxiety and guilt." Laurie Layton Schapira Cassandra as moral conscience, "predicts ill to come and warns that punishment will follow and grief arise." Cassandra's need to point out moral infringements and subsequent social consequences is driven by what Klein calls "the destructive influences of the cruel super-ego," which is represented in the Greek myth by the god Apollo, Cassandra's overlord and persecutor. ![]() In 1963, psychoanalyst Melanie Klein provided an interpretation of Cassandra as representing the human moral conscience whose main task is to issue warnings. The Cassandra metaphor is applied by some psychologists to individuals who experience physical and emotional suffering as a result of distressing personal perceptions, and who are disbelieved when they attempt to share the cause of their suffering with others. ) Later, in 1949, French philosopher Gaston Bachelard coined the term "Cassandra Complex" to refer to a belief that things could be known in advance. "both of them agreed to treat the Cassandra-like prophecies which Thiebault kept sending from Salamanca as 'wild and whirling words.'" (The Oxford English Dictionary records use of "Cassandra like" from 1670 and of "Cassandra-like" from 1863. People have applied the metaphor in a variety of contexts, such as psychology, environmentalism, politics, science, cinema, the corporate world, and philosophy it has been in circulation since at least 1914, when Charles Oman used it in his book A History of the Peninsular War, Volume 5, published in 1914. Cassandra was left with the knowledge of future events, but could neither alter these events nor convince others of the validity of her predictions. Struck by her beauty, Apollo provided her with the gift of prophecy, but when Cassandra refused Apollo's romantic advances, he placed a curse ensuring that nobody would believe her warnings. ![]() Cassandra was a daughter of Priam, the King of Troy. The Cassandra metaphor (variously labeled the Cassandra " syndrome", " complex", " phenomenon", " predicament", " dilemma", " curse") relates to a person whose valid warnings or concerns are disbelieved by others. Painting of Cassandra by Evelyn De Morgan ![]()
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |