Archetypes in Literature

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Archetypes in Literature

• English I
• S. Serrano

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The Quest

• Describes the search for someone or something
  which, when found and brought back, will restore
  fertility to a wasted land

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The Task

• Nearly superhuman deed the hero must perform in
  order to save the kingdom, win the fair lady,
  identify himself so that he may reassume his
  rightful position, etc.
• NOT the same as the Quest
• A function of the ultimate goal

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The Journey

• The hero must go in search for some truth or
  information necessary to restore fertility to the
  kingdom
• Usually, the hero descends into a real or
  psychological hell and is forced to discover the
  blackest truths, often concerning his faults

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The Journey

• Once the hero is at this lowest point, he must
  accept personal responsibility to return to his
  normal world
• A second use of this pattern is the depiction of
  a limited number of travelers on a sea voyage,
  bus ride, or any other trip for the purpose of
  isolating them and using them as a microcosm of
  society

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The Initiation

• This ritual usually takes the form of a rite of
  passage into adult life, or a coming of age
• The hero comes into his/her maturity with new
  awareness, along with new hope for the community
• Often the climax of the story

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The Fall

• Describes a descent (drop) from a higher state of
  being to a lower state of being
• Involves a defilement or loss of innocence and
  bliss
• Often accompanied by expulsion from a kind of
  paradise as a penalty for disobedience and moral
  transgression

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Death and Rebirth

• The most common of all situational archetypes,
  this motif grows out of the parallel between the
  cycle of nature and the cycle of life
• Morning and springtime represent birth, youth or
  rebirth, while evening and winter suggest old age
  or death

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Nature vs. Mechanistic World

• Nature is good
• Technology and society are often evil

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Good vs. Evil

• The battle between two primal forces
• Mankind shows eternal optimism in the continual
  portrayal of good triumphing over evil despite
  great odds

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Light vs. Darkness

• Light usually suggests hope, renewal, or
  intellectual illumination
• Darkness implies the unknown, ignorance, despair,
  or evil

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Water vs. Desert

• Necessary to life and growth, water commonly
  appears as a birth or rebirth symbol
• Water is used in baptismal services, which
  solemnizes spiritual birth
• Similarly, the appearance of rain can suggest a
  characters spiritual birth

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Water vs. Desert

• Desert, in turn, implies the death of a soul and
  spirituality, or a spiritual test or trial

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Heaven vs. Hell

• Man has traditionally associated parts of the
  universe beyond his reach with the dwelling
  places of the primordial forces that govern his
  world
• The skies and mountaintops house his gods the
  bowels of the earth contain the diabolic forces
  that inhabit the universe

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Innate Wisdom vs. Educated Stupidity

• Some characters exhibit wisdom and understanding
  of situations instinctively, as opposed to those
  who are supposedly in charge.
• Loyal retainers often exhibit this wisdom when
  they accompany the hero on the journey.
• Sam in Lord of the Rings

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Haven vs. Wilderness

• Places of safety contrast sharply with the
  dangerous wilderness
• Heroes are often sheltered for a time to regain
  health and resources
• Wilderness is often a symbol of evil in early
  American literature town is a place of goodness
  and safety

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CHARACTER ARCHETYPESThe Hero

• Circumstances of birth often unusual
• Attempt sometimes made to kill him at birth
• Spirited away and reared by foster parents
• Upon reaching manhood, returns to lost kingdom

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CHARACTER ARCHETYPESThe Hero

• After a victory over a usurper or evil beast, he
  reclaims his kingdom, marries a princess, and
  rules as king
• Sometimes later loses favor of the gods and meets
  a mysterious death

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CHARACTER ARCHETYPESThe Hero-- unhealable wound
--

• Either physical or psychological and cannot be
  healed fully
• Indicates a loss of innocence
• Wound always aches and often drives the hero to
  desperate measures
• Lancelots madness Scars envy Harry Potters
  scar

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CHARACTER ARCHETYPESThe Hero-- magic weapon --

• No one else can wield the weapon or use it to its
  full potential
• Demonstrates the extraordinary quality of the
  hero
• Excalibur Odysseus bow

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CHARACTER ARCHETYPESMentor

• Serves as teacher or counselor to the young hero
• Sometimes is a role model and often serves as
  mother or father figure

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CHARACTER ARCHETYPESHunting Group of Companions

• Loyal companions willing to face any number of
  perils in order to be together
• Robin Hood and his Merry Men
• Knights of the Round Table
• Timon and Pumba

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CHARACTER ARCHETYPESLoyal Retainer

• Somewhat like servants who are heroic themselves
• Duty is to protect the hero and reflect his/her
  nobility
• Zazu to Simba
• Alfred to Batman
• Watson to Sherlock Holmes

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CHARACTER ARCHETYPESDevil Figure

• Evil incarnate, this character offers worldly
  goods, fame, or knowledge to the hero in exchange
  for possession of his/her soul.
• Voldemort to Harry Potter

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CHARACTER ARCHETYPESEvil Figure with Ultimate
Good Heart

• A redeemable devil figure saved by the nobility
  or love of the hero
• Scrooge
• Darth Vader

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CHARACTER ARCHETYPESScapegoat

• An animal or human whose death in a public
  ceremony expiates some taint or sin that has been
  visited upon the community
• Their death often makes them a more powerful
  force in the community than when they lived

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CHARACTER ARCHETYPESWoman Figure-- earth mother
--

• Symbolic of fruition, abundance, and fertility,
  this character traditionally offers spiritual and
  emotional nourishment to those with whom she
  comes in contact
• Often depicted in earth colors

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CHARACTER ARCHETYPESWoman Figure-- temptress --

• Characterized by her beauty, she is one to whom
  the hero is physically attracted
• Ultimately brings heros downfall

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CHARACTER ARCHETYPESWoman Figure-- platonic
ideal --

• A source of inspiration and spiritual ideal
• Heros attraction to her is intellectual rather
  than physical

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CHARACTER ARCHETYPESWoman Figure-- damsel in
distress --

• Vulnerable woman who must be rescued by the hero
• Often used as a trap to ensnare the unsuspecting
  hero

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CHARACTER ARCHETYPESWoman Figure-- star-crossed
lovers --

• These two characters are engaged in a love affair
  that is doomed to end tragically for one or both
  of them
• Disapproved of by society, family, friends, or
  some tragic situation

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ARCHITYPAL NUMBERS3

• Trinity
• Completeness

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ARCHITYPAL NUMBERS6

• Imperfection
• Ambivalence
• Evil

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ARCHITYPAL NUMBERS7

• Perfection
• 7 colors of rainbow
• 7 days of the week

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ARCHITYPAL COLORSRed

• Passion
• Excitement
• Blood
• Flame
• Danger

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ARCHITYPAL COLORSBlack

• Darkness
• Evil
• Sin
• Mystery
• Ignorance

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ARCHITYPAL COLORSWhite

• Purity
• Enlightenment
• Knowledge
• Truth
• Light

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ARCHITYPAL COLORSBlue

• Peace
• Religion
• Positive

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ARCHITYPAL COLORSGreen

• Jealousy
• New life

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ARCHITYPAL IMAGESBridge

• Passage from one state of being to another
• Often present as part of the journey

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ARCHITYPAL IMAGESRiver

• Journey
• Travel
• Movement and growth
• Fertility

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ARCHITYPAL IMAGESRain

• Cleansing
• Renewal
• Rebirth
• Baptism/new beginning

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ARCHITYPAL IMAGESForest

• Dangerous
• Refuge of evil (puritanical view)
• Wild, uncivilized, out of control

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ARCHITYPAL IMAGESSun

• Male
• Light
• Hope
• Rising sun birth
• Setting sun death

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ARCHITYPAL IMAGESMoon

• Female
• Cycle
• Change
• Mystery

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ARCHITYPAL IMAGESDesert

• Barren
• Lifeless
• Testing/Trial
• Self-purification

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ARCHITYPAL IMAGESTree

• Life
• Renewal
• Seasonal
• Self-perpetuating