Plato's Echo: a feminist refiguring of the anima

Abstract

C.G. Jung represents the feminine in at least two related ways: as anima feminine and as maternal feminine. In this chapter, I argue that Jung's conception of the anima is closely related to Plato's conception of the irrational - or soul disorder - as feminine. I maintain that Plato's idea of mimesis of imitation is important in Jung's construction of the psyche. Just as Plato argues in 'The Republic' that it is morally undesirable to mirror properties of women through imitation, so in Jung's work, it is undesirable for the moral imagination to be inspired by the anima feminine. The anima feminine has a functional role to play, however, as a source of moral caution, very like the irrational or womanly in 'The Republic': look at women and you will see what you should not be like.