Final Paper

Exploring Casablanca Through Jungian Lenses

The genre of romance, be it in literature or film, is one that has been much maligned an ostracized by critics. It is not difficult to understand why, for the majority of these stories feature formulaic plot devices that become repetitively predictable, thus detracting from one’s enjoyment of the tale. Few realize though, that these repeating motifs  hold much greater significance to the meaning of stories than merely chauffeuring the plot to the traditional happy ending often seen in popular romance. Northrop Fry states “…even the most contrived and naïve romantic plot, even the most impossibly black and white characterization, may still give us technical insight into the way stories get told” (pg 38).  Because these devices are so commonplace, one can utilize them in significant ways that imbue the story with meaning. A perfect example of this type of formulaic implementation can be seen in the classic romantic film Casablanca. Although many plot devices typical of popular romance can be seen in this movie, Casablanca rises above the genre because it alters these commonplace blueprints in inventive ways. The film features a protagonist whose complicated psychology allows the movie to venture into significantly interesting directions, and because of this, allows for a nuanced analysis of the hero and the surrounding characters. By applying Carl Jung’s psychological theory of archetypes to Casablanca’s main character Rick, one can see how the film employs traditional romantic devices in a fashion atypical to the critically disparaged romance.

            Carl Jung’s used his theory of archetypes in order to analyze dreams and gain a deeper understanding of the human unconscious. His ideas can be applied to both literature and film in order to analyze the protagonist, his journey, and the agency behind his actions. All of Jung’s archetypes are manifested in Casablanca, and by analyzing the characters as different aspects of Rick’s unconscious, the film and its plot take on greater meaning.

The Shadow self is the first of these archetypes, and often embodies little known aspects of the hero. It is typically represented by a same sex character,  and is often used to actualize the darker aspects of the hero’s personality (Thury 479). Rick interacts with multiple Shadow selves throughout the film that reveal the dark agencies acting upon his inner psyche. The first of these is General Strasser, a Nazi official who has come to Casablanca in order to detain the famous political activist and rebel leader Victor Laszlo. Strasser functions as the main antagonist of the film, and also represents the influence of the Third Reich. His uncomplicated character seems driven solely by the need to capture Laszlo, and this lack of nuance is typical of a romantic villain. Strasser reveals the dark influence the Nazi regime has had on Rick’s psychological mindset. The beginning of the film finds him deeply swayed by the influence of the Nazis, illustrated when he watches one of his friends arrested and dragged out by officials without attempting to help. “I stick my neck out for no one,” he states, before turning away in seeming apathy.  The second of the Shadow selves he interacts with is Captain Louis Renault, who represents the corrupted Vichy government. Renault is buffeted far more than Rick by the agency of the Nazi regime, catering to Strasser’s every whim for the majority of the film. “I have no side, I blow with the wind,” he states at an instance in the movie, exemplifying the impact outside influence has on his actions. Fry defines the true romantic hero as one that is “superior in degree to other men and to his environment,” and Renault’s inability to rise above his surroundings represents Rick’s greatest fault at the beginning of the story (33). He is unable to completely resist the deterioration of morality around him, and thus, at the advent of the film, does not fulfill the ideal romantic hero. By analyzing these Shadow characters, one can see how Rick, while clearly the main protagonist of the film, does not ideally embody the heroic tradition one sees in romance.

The next of Jung’s archetypes is the Anima, a figure usually represented by a member of the opposite sex. The Anima is “personification of all feminine psychological tendencies in a man’s psyche,” and can be seen in two different females throughout the duration of Casablanca (Thury 479). The first of Rick’s Anima selves seen in the movie is his meantime lover Yvonne, whom he treats with little respect, and eventually rejects. She embodies a commonplace plot device seen in many romances, the woman used as a distraction from the “true love”. After she is spurned, Yvonne turns to drinking and eventually takes up with one of the Nazi officials. Through her character, the viewer can see aspects of Rick’s own experience reflected. Rick was also rejected, turned to drinking, and allowed the enemy, in this case the German officials, to indulge in their own agendas. At an instance in the film, the German officers began to loudly sing their national anthem inside Rick’s bar, and the surrounding customers rise in revolt, singing a rendition of "La Marseillaise”. Yvonne leaver her German officer to join in singing with the customers, symbolizing her rejection of the Nazi’s. She turned to the German out of heartbreak, and her position as Rick’s Anima helps one understand that the reason for Rick’s aloofness towards the Nazi cruelty around him is because he suffers from heartbreak as well. Her rejection of the German foreshadows Rick’s eventual turn away from cynicism to idealism. The second Animus self that manifests in Casablanca is Rick’s true love Ilsa. Ilsa is a mysterious and shadowy character, and the motivations behind her actions aren’t always clear. Believing her husband Lazlo to be dead, she and Rick fall in love. Lazlo reappears, fulfilling the apparent death plot device employed in many romantic tales, and she leaves Rick stranded at a train station. Isla represents the idyllic past Rick once lived in, and shots of them in Paris together juxtaposed against the morally disintegrated Casablanca emphasize this.

Casablanca’s ending is one of the main disparities between the film and the typical popular romance. It’s devoid of the traditional happy ending, and the reason behind this can be found in the manifestation of Jung’s final archetype, the Self. The Self can only be seen when a character has undergone a process termed individuation. This happens when the competing archetypes  are accepted as part of a character’s collective psyche (Thury 481).  In the final scene of the film,  Rick and Ilsa are prepared to take a plane escaping from Casablanca when Rick’s individuation occurs. He sacrifices his place on the plane and his true love in order to save Laszlo, realizing that his political connections and leadership are needed in order to win the war for the Allies. Laszlo and Ilsa escape from Casablanca unscathed as a result of Rick shooting the pursuing General Strasser. Rick’s sacrifice and subsequent actions represent the union of all his archetypes. The consolidation between his Anima and Shadow selves allows Rick to kill General Strasser in order to sacrifice himself for a higher purpose, completing the process of individuation. The conclusion of Casablanca finds Rick calm, and as a result of his Self finally manifesting, able to begin life over free from the shadow of heartbreak that had corrupted him. Although Rick does not get the girl, he rises above his morally vapid surrounding this realizing his place as a true romantic hero.

Although Casablanca employs many plot devices typical of romance tales, it utilizes these formulas in a meaningful fashion, causing the film to rise above the perceived vapidity of the genre. The individuation of Rick allows the story to end untraditionally, yet enables the film to produce a hero worthy of the romantic genre. Through the analytical lenses of Jung’s archetypes, one can see how critically scorned romantic formulas can be altered to produce a classic filmed steeped in significance, beloved by critics and audiences alike. 

Work Cited

Casablanca. Prod. Jack L. Warner. By Julius J. Epstein. Perf. Humphrey Bogart, Ingrid Bergman, Paul Henreid, Claude Rains, Conrad Veidt, Sydney Greenstreet, Peter Lorre, S. Z. Sakall, Dooley Wilson, John Qualen, Leonid Kinskey, Curt Bois, Helmut Dantine, Marcel Dalio, Ludwig Stossel, Frank Puglia, and Dan Seymour. Warner Bros. Pictures, Inc., 1942.

Thury, Eva M. and Margaret K. Devinney. Introduction to Mythology: Contemporary Approaches to Classical and World Myths. New York: Oxford University Press. 2009