Copyright © Prof. Alan Slinkard ARCHETYPES Sept. 12th, 2011 Copyright © Prof. Alan Slinkard

ARCHETYPES FROM CHILDREN’S LITERATURE

THE ROMANCE The Romance “presents an idealized world, the black-and-white world of our desires, where good things are really good, and bad things are really bad. The Romance involves the Journey, and the Journey involves the Hero, the Villain, the Quest, the Sage, the Prohibition, the Sacrifice, the Dragon, the Treasure, and sometimes the rescue of the Maiden. The epiphany (mountain top, tower, island, lighthouse, ladder, staircase, Jack’s beanstalk, Rapunzel’s hair, Indian rope trick etc.) connects Heaven and Earth” (Frye 203).

THE HERO In archetypal hero tales, the hero, usually a young person identified as having “special” qualities, sets out on a journey—either real or metaphorical. The young person does not know what is in store and has probably not made a conscious decision to embark on “the quest.” Nevertheless, when challenges come, the young hero meets and overcomes them, often making some kind of a sacrifice in exchange for wisdom. A common motif is that help will come from an unexpected source, perhaps from an older and wiser person or from a supernatural source.

STAGES OF THE JOURNEY The stages of the journey (listed below) can be seen in many of the quest stories and can also be compared to one’s own life. The Shadow Archetypes result from hyperbole, from developing the hero’s characteristics to such an extreme that they become a negative force as when the caregiver turns into the overprotective mother or the lover into the jealous controller preventing or marring the process of development.

PREPARATION FOR THE JOURNEY INNOCENT: ARCHETYPE: Security, Acceptance, Disillusionment, Optimism SHADOW ARCHETYPE: Denial, Repression, Blame ORPHAN: ARCHETYPE: Abandonment, Accepting Help, Against Authority SHADOW: Cynicism, Victimization WARRIOR: ARCHETYPE: Fighting for Self, for Others, and for Ideals SHADOW: Ruthlessness, Fighting to Win CAREGIVER: ARCHETYPE: Self-Sacrificing, “Tough Love,” Responsibility SHADOW: Martyrdom, Guilt-Inducer

THE JOURNEY ITSELF SEEKER: ARCHETYPE: Exploration, Experimentation SHADOW: Perfectionism, Inability to Commit DESTROYER: ARCHETYPE: Confusion, Acceptance of Chaos, Letting Go SHADOW: Destructiveness of Self and Others LOVER: ARCHETYPE: Following Love, Bonding, Committing SHADOW: Envy, Fixation, Don Juanism CREATOR: ARCHETYPE: Visionary, Creator of Own Environment SHADOW: Creators of Negative Situations

THE RETURN FROM THE JOURNEY RULER: ARCHETYPE: Responsibility for Self & Others, Good of Planet SHADOW: Ogre, Tyrant MAGICIAN: ARCHETYPE: Making Dreams Come True SHADOW: Turning Positives into Negatives SAGE: ARCHETYPE: Searching for Truth SHADOW: Insensitivity, Critical Judgment WISE FOOL: ARCHETYPE: Living for Fun, Living in the Moment SHADOW: Self-Indulgence, Gluttony, Sloth

STAGE 1 The Innocent The Orphan The Warrior The Caregiver

THE INNOCENT The Innocent moves from an unquestioning acceptance of the environment through experiencing disillusionment (fall) to a return to Paradise as a wise innocent. EXAMPLES: Brady Bunch, Forrest Gump, Bambi, Gomez Adams, Leo the Late Bloomer, The Little Mermaid, Pinocchio

THE ORPHAN The Orphan moves from accepting pain and loss through accepting the need for help to becoming independent and working with others. EXAMPLES: Charlie Brown, Cinderella, Dorothy in The Wizard of Oz, Huckleberry Finn, Frankenstein’s Monster, Maniac McGee, Oedipus, Harry Potter, Peter Rabbit, Dorothy

THE WARRIOR The Warrior moves from fighting and cheating simply for the sake of fighting to fighting within the rules for others and for what really matters on an unselfish level. EXAMPLES: Batman, Lancelot, Ulysses, Joan of Arc, Jo in Little Women, Robin Hood, 3 Musketeers, Superman, Darth Vader

THE CAREGIVER The Caregiver moves from overcoming a conflict between one’s own needs and those of others through empowering others (tough love), to a willingness to help beyond immediate family (a global level). EXAMPLES: Gepetto in Pinocchio, Holden Caulfield, The Giving Tree, Horton, “The Jewish Mother,” Mary Poppins, Pygmalion, Anne Sullivan, Mother Theresa,, The Velveteen Rabbit

STAGE 2 The Seeker The Destroyer The Lover The Creator

THE SEEKER The seeker moves from wandering aimlessly and trying out new things through trying to climb the ladder of success to looking for spiritual guidance. EXAMPLES: Goldilocks, Indiana Jones, Don Juan, Leo the Late Bloomer, Luke Skywalker, Pinocchio

THE DESTROYER The Destroyer moves from confusion over experiencing pain and death of a loved one through accepting mortality to letting go of what is not important. EXAMPLES: Beowulf, The Big Bad Wolf, Samson, The Terminator, Darth Vader, Lord Voldemort,

THE LOVER OR FRIEND The lover, friend, or sidekick is incomplete without the other lover, friend, or sidekick. SHADOW EXAMPLES: Bathsheba, Delilah, Don Juan, Don Giovani, Byron’s Don Juan, Cassanova

LOVERS, FRIENDS OR DOPPELGANGERS Annie and Daddy Warbucks Batman and Robin Mark Anthony and Cleopatra Robinson Crusoe and Friday Hansel and Gretel Sherlock Holmes and Dr. Watson Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde Othello, Iago, and Desdemona Peter and the Wolf Don Quixote and Sancho Panza Romeo and Juliet Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs Tweedledum and Tweedledee

THE CREATOR The Creator moves from daydreaming and imagining through knowing what is really important to allowing dreams to come true. EXAMPLES: Kevin Costner in Field of Dreams, Frederick, The Purple Crayon

STAGE 3 The Ruler The Magician The Sage The Wise Fool

THE RULER The Ruler moves from taking responsibility for oneself through working with one’s own group or commnity to concern for society or the planet. EXAMPLES: Aslan, King Arthur, Max in Where the Wild Things Are, Jupiter, Obi Wan Kenobee, The Lion King, Woden, Zeus

THE MAGICIAN The Magician moves from healing and noticing extrasensory experiences through acting on visions to connecting everything with everything else establishing mental, emotional, and spiritual connections. EXAMPLES: Abuela, Gandalf, Genie, Hermione, Merlin, Mary Poppins, Harry Potter, Samantha in Bewitched, The three Witches in Macbeth, The Wizard of Oz

THE SAGE The Sage moves from searching for the truth through skepticism to an understanding of the complexity of truth. EXAMPLES: the professor in Gilligan’s Island, Jiminy Cricket, Dumbledore, The Fairy Godmother, Gandalf, Luke Skywalker, Yoda

THE WISE FOOL/TRICKSTER The Wise Fool moves from treating life as a game through using cleverness to trick others to living life one day at a time and enjoying each special moment. EXAMPLES: Ananzi the Spider, The Cat in the Hat, Coyote, Ferdinand, Forest Gump, The Hare in the Tortoise and Hare Race, Huckleberry Finn, Raven, Tom Sawyer, Sawyer on Lost, Scheherazade, Wizard of Oz

ARCHETYPE RELATIONSHIPS Creator and Destroyer Eiron and Alazon Fool and Wise Fool Hero and Anti-Hero Innocent and Orphan Junex and Senex in “Comedy of Manners” Sage and Magician

IDENTIFY THE ARCHETYPES In the following slides, place the examples into various archetypes, and explain what evidence you used to make your choices.

MALE EXAMPLES Woody Allen King Arthur Aslan in The Lion, the Witch & the Wardrobe Charlie Chaplin Jesus Christ Falstaff Gandalf in Lord of the Rings Obi Wan Kenobi Radar O’Reilly on M*A*S*H Samuel Pickwick The Wizard of Oz

FEMALE EXAMPLES Alice in Wonderland Edith Bunker Cinderella Cleopatra Hera or Juno Joan of Arc Moll Flanders Nora in The Doll’s House Three Witches in Macbeth Tinkerbelle in Peter Pan Virgin Mary and Queen Elizabeth

CHILD EXAMPLES David Copperfield Dorothy in The Wizard of Oz Huckleberry Finn Little Red Riding Hood Peter Pan Pinocchio Tiny Tim Tom Thumb Winnie the Pooh

SHADOW EXAMPLES Bartleby the Scrivener (Melville) Captain Ahab in Moby Dick Dr. Frankenstein Don Juan in Byron’s Don Juan Willie Loman in Death of a Salesman Gregor Samsa in The Metamorphosis The Joker in Batman Nurse Ratchet in One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest Oedipus Lord Voldemort

Resources Campbell, Joseph. The Portable Jung. New York, NY: Penguin, 1971. Frye, Northrop. Anatomy of Criticism: Four Essays. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press, 1957. Jung, Carl G. Four Archetypes: Mother, Rebirth, Spirit, Trickster. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press, 1959. Nilsen, Alleen Pace Nilsen, and Don L. F. Nilsen. Encyclopedia of 20th Century American Humor. Westport, CT: Greenwood Press, 2000. Pearson, Carol S. Awakening the Heroes Within: Twelve Archetypes to Help Us Find Ourselves and Transform Our World. San Francisco, CAP Harper, 1991. Pollack, Rachel. Complete Illustrated Guide to Tarot. New York, NY: Gramercy Books, 1999.