Contents

Introduction and historical notes

Part One: The Seven Gateways to the Underworld

Prologue to Part One

Chapter 1 Overcoming the Monster

Chapter 2 The Monster (II) and the Thrilling Escape From Death

Chapter 3 Rags to Riches

Chapter 4 The Quest

Chapter 5 Voyage and Return

Chapter 6 Comedy

Chapter 7 Comedy (II): The Plot Disguised

Chapter 8 Tragedy (I): The Five Stages

Chapter 9 Tragedy (II): The Divided Self

Chapter 10 Tragedy (III): The Hero as Monster

Chapter 11 Rebirth

Chapter 12 The Dark Power: From Shadow into Light

Epilogue to Part One: The Rule of Three (the role played in stories by numbers)

Part Two: The Complete Happy Ending

Prologue to Part Two

Chapter 13 The Dark Figures

Chapter 14 Seeing Whole: The Feminine and Masculine Values

Chapter 15 The Perfect Balance

Chapter 16 The Unrealised Value

Chapter 17 The Archetypal Family Drama (Continued)

Chapter 18 The Light Figures

Chapter 19 Reaching the Goal

Chapter 20 The Fatal Flaw

Part Three: Missing the Mark

Chapter 21 The Ego Takes Over (I): Enter the Dark Inversion

Chapter 22 The Ego Takes Over (II): The Dark and Sentimental Versions

Chapter 23 The Ego Takes Over (III): Quest, Voyage and Return, Comedy

Chapter 24 The Ego Takes Over (IV): Tragedy and Rebirth

Chapter 25 Losing the Plot: Thomas Hardy – A Case History

Chapter 26 Going Nowhere: The Passive Ego. The Twentieth-Century Dead End – From Chekhov to Close Encounters

Chapter 27 Why Sex and Violence? The Active Ego. The Twentieth-Century Obsession: From de Sade to The Terminator

Chapter 28 Rebellion Against ‘The One’: From Job to Nineteen Eighty-Four

Chapter 29 The Mystery

Chapter 30 The Riddle of the Sphinx: Oedipus and Hamlet

Part Four: Why We Tell Stories

Chapter 31 Telling Us Who We Are: Ego versus Instinct

Chapter 32 Into the Real World: The Ruling Consciousness

Chapter 33 Of Gods and Men: Reconnecting with ‘The One’

Chapter 34 The Age of Loki: The Dismantling of the Self

Epilogue: The Light and the Shadows on the Wall

Author’s Personal Note

Glossary of Terms

Bibliography

Index of Stories Cited

General Index

This reprint includes corrections of various factual or typographical errors which appeared in earlier printings of this book. If readers spot any further mistakes, the author would be grateful if these could be passed on to him for correction in future editions.