Integrating ideology and archetype in rhetorical criticism, part II: A case study of Jaws

This essay offers a case study follow‐up to an article previously published in this journal. The present installment applies the critical approach developed in the initial work, which integrates ideology and archetypal concerns, to examine the film Jaws. The critique is situated as a counterpoint to prior analysis by Marxist critic Fredric Jameson and archetypal critic Jane Caputi. Set within the American culture myth of the frontier hunter, Jaws scapegoats the feminine principle for sociopolitical maladies, and reveals how the social hierarchy fractures and devitalizes both masculine and feminine identities.