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This book is in effect in three parts. The first is an introduction to the understanding of psychological phenomena by way of the patterns or types presented by myths. The third part, entitled ‘Critical appraisal: the anima and animus concept of C. G. Jung’, is just that. The bulk of the book consists of six chapters describing six types of couple relationship. They are: the ideal of complete union (Shiva and Shakti), the longing to form a partner in one's own image (Pygmalion), the older woman and younger man (Ishtar and Tammuz), conflicting couples (Zeus and Hera), the older man and younger woman (Merlin and Viviane), and solidarity and equipoise (Solomon and the Shulamite). Owing to cultural unfamiliarities I did not find all the myths equally accessible to me nor, consequently, the exposition of them, and particularly so in the chapters on Shiva and Shakti and Ishtar and Tammuz, though the situations described were recognisable enough. I often wonder when reading books of this genre what has happened to the Germanic myths. They should be the most accessible, being culturally closest, yet they seem to be seldom referred to. Has the tradition of a classical education really ousted the Norse and Saxon gods and heroes so completely from our collective unconscious?
There are several principles made explicit during the course of the book. One is that ‘every fantasy of relationship—has its proper time’ (p. 32) and that no fantasy is simply negative or positive in aspect; each has its other side. The case material well illustrates this (the material is well chosen and convincingly discussed throughout) and one couple in particular is followed through several chapters showing how at various stages of their therapy they constellated different couple types.
While it could not be said that this is a feminist book, the author re-evaluates the functions of the various roles which women play within relationships. This is most evident in the last chapter on the animus and anima,