The Care and Feeding of Archetypes

Exploring the Fairy Tale – Why Are Fairy Tales So Popular? One particular favorite is the story of Little Red Riding Hood. This story contains several examples of archetypes.

What Is an Archetype? archetype Pronunciation: 'är-ki-"tIp Function: noun Etymology: Latin archetypum, from Greek archetypon, from neuter of archetypos archetypal, from archein + typos type 1 : the original pattern or model of which all things of the same type are representations or copies : PROTOTYPE; also : a perfect examplePROTOTYPE 2 : IDEA 3 : an inherited idea or mode of thought in the psychology of C. G. Jung that is derived from the experience of the race and is present in the unconscious of the individual - ar·che·typ·al /"är-ki-'tI-p&l/ also ar·che·typ·i·cal /-'ti-pi-k&l/ adjective - ar·che·typ·al·ly /-p&-lE/ also ar·che·typ·i·cal·ly /-'ti-pi-k(&-)lE/ adverb

So, What Archetypes Do We See? Here are three, for starters: The monster The damsel in distress The scary woods

Archetypes Fall Into Many Categories

Archetypal Characters This category includes the prince, the sidekick, the wise old man or woman, the evil stepmother, the weird guy with special knowledge, as well as the monster and the damsel in distress. Can you think of some others?

Archetypal Settings This category includes the castle, the haunted house, the weird house, the foreign land, the deserted island, as well as the scary woods. Can you think of some others?

Archetypal Plots This category includes ones with star-crossed lovers, a hero who goes on a journey, a weird guy who gets the girl, as well as a little girl lost in the woods. Can you think of some others?

Themes Can Also Be Archetypal A favorite one of mine is that the desire for revenge can be a strong motivation for doing good rather than evil. Can you think of some more?

The Hero Journey One of the most important archetypes is explored by Joseph Campbell in his book, The Hero with a Thousand Faces. Campbell traces and analyzes all categories of archetype. According to Campbell, the archetype of hero is recognized as the one who completes a hero journey. This is how we can identify our heroes. The journey is divided into 5 parts. We will be analyzing the hero journey of many of our main characters.

Step 1 – The Call to Adventure The hero experiences an impulse to begin the journey. Often he or she will meet a helper, who sometimes provides a magical charm to help in the journey.

Step 2 – Crossing the Threshold The hero passes from the world of safety to the world of the unknown, which may be a desert, a jungle, or an alien land. A shadow presence guards the entrance to this land. The hero can pass into this land only by defeating the shadow presence or by confronting death. This confrontation may take the form of a real or symbolic dismemberment and always ends in the transformation of the hero.

Step 3 – The Test Once in this land, the hero undergoes several difficult experiences, which climax in a Supreme Test His companions can’t help him now. He (or she) is in charge. The hero who passes gets a reward.

Step 4 – The Reward The hero is rewarded with marriage, recognition by a god, transformation into a god, or a magic elixir.

Step 5 – The Return The hero leaves the Shadow Realm with the reward and uses it to restore his land.

Can you plot the hero journey, now, of Little Red Riding Hood? Sometimes it’s fun to switch it around. Does the Wolf have a hero journey? What would that look like? Can you be a hero and still fail your Supreme Test? Can a hero be funny? Can a hero be mean?

More and More Heroes Do you have a hero journey? Does Bart Simpson have a hero journey? Can you think of some contemporary and historical figures who have gone on a hero journey?

Digging for Archetypes Archetypes are all around us. My theory is that the more popular a movie or TV show is, the more archetypes there are to be found. Watch a show tonight. See how many archetypes you can find.