Myths: are defined as stories which are accepted as true and significant by members of a culture. In their most pure form they are found in ancient or 'primitive' societies.
Myths are the parts of cultures that make them up, or hold them together. They are the underlying stories that 'make' the world around people, by telling stories about origins, such as the beginning of the world, or the origin of the cosmos.
Myth happens in "Premordial Time" - which is a different time, a "sacred time or origins."
In the mythical method one large influence is C. G. Jung. Jung is a very prominent archetypal critic and is also known as the founder of analytical Psychology. Archetype plays into the collective unconscious, a view about human nature and the dimensions of our beings. Who we are is not limited to our personal unconscious, but is connected to others as well. Together all beings create a "sphere of unconscious mythology."
Another of Jung's major influences in mythology is his idea of the shadow. Each person has a shadow of themselves. As The Psychology of the Unconscious states of the shadow
It is a Frightening thought that man also has a shadow side to him, consisting not just of little weaknesses - and foibles, but of a positively demonic dynamism. 35
Mythic and Archetypal criticism is fascinating and I'm excited to focusing on this aspect in more depth as I read Shakespeare's plays.
Bibliography
Cowles, David. The Critical Experience. Dubuque, Iowa: Kendall/Hunt Publishing Company (1994). Print.