Using Campbell, Chickering, Marcia and Schlossberg to Analyze Literary Characters

 We have looked at how Campbell’s model reveals an underlying structure which focuses on:  what begins a hero’s journey  how the hero crosses the boundary into new experience  how tests (and helpers or guides) lead to self- defining choice  overcoming an ordeal  Returning with something of value or some knowledge the hero has earned

 Victoria’s challenge  Crossing the wall into Faerie  Meeting a series of tests (with various guides and helpers)  Surviving a climactic ordeal through courage and wit  Returning to Wall, but with a twist on Campbell’s model

 Just as we have been applying developmental theories to literature, we might apply Campbell’s literary theory to your own experience

 Call to Adventure – your decision to come here  Border Crossing – your initial experience of this new environment (e.g. move in day, first weeks, etc.)  Tests and Helpers or Guides – Aside from actual exams, tests would be all the things you have to deal with – a roommate, college classes, budgeting time, budgeting money, being away from home, family and friends, etc. Guides might be professors, advisors, new friends, etc.  The ordeal might be a single event or an accumulation of the various tests  Return home at the end of the semester or year with new knowledge and insights about yourself

 Chickering’s Vectors  Marcia’s Identity States  Schossberg’s Transition Theory  All of these theories, which focus on emerging adult development, can shed light on literary characters who find themselves in transition

 Developing Competence – Tristran discovers his ability to know where anything is in Faerie; he also discovers a good deal about his wit, courage and decency, and ultimately leadership  Managing Emotions -Tristran learns a crucial truth about his feelings for Victoria and Yvaine  Moving Through Autonomy to Interdependence – Tristran accepts and gives assistance  Developing Mature Relationships – Shift in relationship with Yvaine, Victoria

 Identity Foreclosure – Daisy and Dunstan embrace the values of Wall (qualified by Dunstan’s experience in Faerie)  Identity Diffusion – Victoria has no idea nor any interest in discovering who she is (until the end at any rate)  Identity Moratorium – Like all questing heroes, Tristran spends most of the novel in this state searching for his true identity (and shaping it through his choices)  Identity Achievement –Tristran and Yvaine become who they are through their quest, adventures and choices. Even in sorrow, Yvaine knows who she is.

 Moving In – Tristran crosses the wall into Faerie; Yvaine falls from the sky  Moving Through  Situation – a new environment with new challenges  Self – Tristran discovers abilities, wit, courage, decency  Support – from several characters: Dunstan, the little hairy man, the unicorn, the tree nymph, the captain, etc.  Strategies – risk-taking; forming a partnership with Yvaine

 Moving Out  Tristran grows through experiences and choices  He goes from being marginal in Wall to mattering a great deal in Faerie

 Of course you can also apply Chickering’s Vectors, Marcia’s Identity States and Schlossberg’s Transition Theory to you own adventures as a first year college student  The point is that theories help us to read literature and reflect upon our own experiences and development  Literature can help us see patterns of development in our own lives