An Interdisciplinary Re-Membering of Toni Wolff’s Structural Forms of the Feminine Psyche

Abstract

This study adds to the postmodern Jungian canon of literary studies through a hermeneutic examination of Toni Wolff’s (1951/1956) essay, “Structural Forms of the Feminine Psyche,” using an interdisciplinary methodology that includes close reading from literary theory studies and Jungian literary analysis. Wolff’s material has been limited to woman’s psychology rather than seen as an example of an examination of the principles of order that may be traced to the archetypal feminine principle as is argued in this dissertation. This study examines the “pure forms” as Wolff presented them—Mother, Amazon, Hetaira, and Medial/Medium—expanding them into styles of relationship then bringing the forms and relationship styles into conjunction with the adjacent forms and styles. Additionally, this study addresses the relevance of Wolff’s theory for the early 21st century, whether the forms she defined are of archetypal origin, and provides examples of how the forms and styles may be applied therapeutically and theoretically.