An Archetypal Understanding of Solitude: Garcia Marquez, Campbell, Frye and Magical Realism

Authors like Northrop Frye and Joseph Campbell have established frameworks for the study of archetypes. As a genre, magical realism explores many elements of archetypal narrative patterns. Gabriel Garcia Marquez's One Hundred Years of Solitude can be examined through the lens of archetypal criticism. Such an analysis reveals elements of Campbell's monomythic hero's quest and shows that the novel is narrative irony (as defined by Frye) as it plays on the patterns of romance, comedy, and tragedy. The novel can be musically compared to a jazz composition. The novel also comments on the evolution of modern culture and the modern narrative.