Uncertainty In George Macdonald's Phantastes

There is without a doubt a sense of uncertainty in George Macdonald’s Phantastes pertaining to time, distance, and a sense of purpose. However, with a finesse, MacDonald shows the journey of one’s soul to his readers through adventures in a land that can only exist in the imagination as a dramatization of the unconscious. Anodos does not keep up with time and space during his stint in Fairy Land, yet it seems as though he crosses an expansive amount of land. He never questions the journey he is on and keeps moving forward “[…] for those who enter Fairy Land, there is no going back. They must go on and go through it” (MacDonald 90). So many of the people he encounters are willing to assist in some way or another. It seems as though Fairy Land …show more content…
However, before then, the reader easily understands that Anodos is extremely self-sufficient and leans into his own understanding heavily. As Anodos falls in love with the White Lady, the reader can easily see where our protagonist continues to search for her throughout the book. He chances upon many women and none of them are the ideal partner, mostly evil. His journey could be explained as one of love. His capacity for love grows remarkably, from one of lusting after beautiful women that are unattainable to fighting alongside two other men that would accept him and love him as a brother. Anodos is a young man entering adulthood and upon doing so, our perspectives and attitudes must also accommodate the change. Furthermore, he realizes that it is not so important that you find someone to give your love to but that you have gained the love of others—to find a love of the giving nature and not the taking nature. Not only does Anodos grow emotionally, he also grows physically. Emotionally, he grows as he gives up hope of having the White Lady for himself. Physically, he grows from facing challenges that intended to do him harm and overcoming. In Phantastes, the story of Cosmo von Wehrstahl paves the way for Anodos to learn this grave lesson. He obsesses over a beautiful lady trapped in the mirror after desiring to own the chest. He pines away for the lady in the mirror. In the …show more content…
Before, he is selfish and very self-serving of his own agenda upon entering Fairy Land, not necessarily. That is not a worldly trait and like everyone else, Anodos must also learn to be selfless. He gains the understanding of what it really means to be a good person. That idea is dripping in religious undertones. Christians serve a selfless God and he, in turn, wants his children to live unselfish lives. As a Christian, you are called to dismiss all worldly influences and try to live up to God’s loving image. The experience of Fairy Land seems to have transformed the young man into a noble one. He becomes the picturesque of personhood—a man with the capacity of interweaving femininity into a masculine existence to an extent of understanding. In the end, Anodos claims “Thus I, who set out to find my Ideal, came back rejoicing that I had lost my shadow” (MacDonald 321). It brings together all of the experiences and adventures that Anodos has in that dreamlike state of existence. The goal of one’s soul or psyche is to accomplish complete personhood and becoming a well-rounded individual of civilization. Anodos appears to meet this goal as he has humbled himself before an actual knight. He is no longer haunted by the darkening evil of his shadow lurking nearby and acknowledges that that was indeed for the