Shrew (stock character)
The shrew – an unpleasant, ill-tempered woman characterised by scolding, nagging, and aggression– is a comedic, stock character in literature and folklore, both Western and Eastern. The best-known work with this theme is probably Shakespeare's play The Taming of the Shrew. The figure represents "insubordinate female behavior" in a marital system of polarised gender roles, that is supposedly male-dominated in a moral hierarchy.
In 30 cultural groups in the middle 20th century, folklorist Jan Harold Brunvald collected over 400 literary and oral version of shrew stories, in Europe alone. This stereotype or cliché was common in early to mid-20th century films, and retains some present-day currency, often shifted somewhat toward the virtues of the stock female character of the heroic virago.
Usage and etymology
As a reference to actual women, rather than the stock character, shrew is considered old-fashioned, and the synonym scold (as a noun) is archaic. More modern, figurative labels include battle-axe and dragon lady; more literary alternatives (all deriving from mythological names) are termagant, harpy, and fury. The term shrew is still used to describe the stock character in fiction and folk storytelling. None of these terms are usually applied to males in Modern English.
Archetype
The concept of an archetype /ˈɑːrkɪtaɪp/ is found in areas relating to behavior, modern psychological theory, and literary analysis. An archetype can be:
In various seemingly unrelated cases in classic storytelling, media etc. characters or ideas sharing similar traits can be found. In the first sense, many more informal terms are frequently used instead, such as "standard example" or "basic example", and the longer form "archetypal example" is also found. In mathematics, an archetype is often called a "canonical example".
Archetype (Susumu Hirasawa album)
Archetype | 1989-1995 Polydor years of Hirasawa (tentatively titled Best of Polydor years) is Susumu Hirasawa's fourth compilation album.
Overview
Released as part of "Project Archetype", a Universal catalog reissue program made to commemorate the 25th anniversary of Hirasawa's debut as a solo artist, the album was part of the first wave of the project, alongside reissues of Hirasawa's first three albums. Polydor years is a spiritual successor to Polydor's ESSENCE OF HIRASAWA SOLO WORKS 1992 compilation (with the exception of the Water in Time and Space song "Skeleton Coast Park" and the original mix of "Bandiria Travellers", the entire ESSENCE OF HIRASAWA SOLO WORKS selection is present here), expanded with digitally remastered tracks released after that compilation.
Podcasts:
