Facets of Mother Archetype: A Jungian Reading of Jessie Greengrass’s The High House

Author(s)	Ms. Nidhi Thapa, Dr. Pardeep Kumar
Country	India
Abstract	In the present paper, Carl Gustav Jung’s theory of the mother archetype, as elaborated in his essay Psychological Aspects of the Mother Archetype (1938), is applied to Jessie Greengrass’s The High House(2021) through the figures of Francesca, Caro, Sally and the house itself. Set in a coastal community that has been devastated by catastrophic flood caused by climate change. The novel can be read as a climate fiction but its deeper structure seems to be archetypal. The novel portrays motherhood in various forms, extending beyond biological motherhood to incorporate the themes of care, protection, nourishment, sacrifice, responsibility and survival. Through characters like Francesca, Caro, Sally, and the house itself, Greengrass explores both the nurturing and restrictive sides of maternal figure. Therefore, the present paper argues that the Mother Archetype provides a significant framework for understanding The High House, allowing Greengrass to give a unique depth, significance and emotional impact to her climate narrative by connecting ecological catastrophe with themes of care, survival, responsibility, and the preservation of life.
Keywords	Archetype, Motherhood, Ecological Catastrophe, Survival, Care, Responsibility
Field	Sociology > Linguistic / Literature
Published In	Volume 8, Issue 1, January-February 2026
Published On	2026-02-05
DOI	https://doi.org/10.36948/ijfmr.2026.v08i01.86371

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