What does all of HUMANITY have in common? Birth Death Coming of age loss of innocence Making mistakes Proving oneself redemption Love Loss Suffering Celebrating What else? These represent the function of archetypes!
What s your favorite fairytale or myth? Why? Where does the fairytale take place? Archetypal Settings What does the tale teach? What does the tale reflect about society? Archetypal Journeys/Plots What types of characters are in them? Archetypal Characters Your answers to these questions represent the different categories of archetypes. These characters and experiences exist across cultures. Chūjō-hime and the spirit of her wicked stepmother, represented as a snake. The lotuses are a reference to the Lotus Thread embroidery she wove.
ARCHETYPES
An ARCHETYPE is a recurrent symbol or motif in literature, art, or mythology. For example, the "mythological archetypes of good and evil" This archetypal symbol will mean the same thing in every culture. Carl Jung, Swiss psychologist, argued that the root of an archetype is in the collective unconscious of mankind. The phrase collective unconscious refers to experiences shared by a race or culture. This includes love, religion, death, birth, life, struggle, survival. Therefore when archetypes are used in literature, art, or mythology they deliver emotional power and communion or connection with others. The use of archetypical gives a literary work a universal acceptance, as readers identify the characters and situations in their social and cultural context. By using common archetype, the writers attempt to impart realism to their works, as the situations and characters are drawn from the experiences of the world. You will recognize many of these archetypes because you have already met many of them in the simplified fairytale stories you were read as children.
ARCHETYPAL CHARACTERS
ARCHETYPAL CHARACTERS have recognizable/typical patterns of behavior You can already predict outcomes for these characters. ARCHETYPAL CHARACTERS are important in ancient mythology and modern stories because they represent the various peoples/values in society.
THE DEVIL/SATAN A deal-maker who seduces by using whatever tactic represents your greatest want. A dark force at work, whose win usually results in the loss of soul, innocence, or morality. MAIDEN Represent virginal purity wherein dreams, innocence, and potential are still alive. INNOCENT An inexperienced individual exposed to the evils of the world: child, baby, or young animal. WISE MAN OR WOMAN Has life experience from which to teach a youngster father, mother, grandparent, mentor. CRONE/WIZARD Elder who can employ magic or other special powers in order to help, guide, or protect: fairy godmother, crone, priestess, wizard
THE ANIMAL COMPANION Represents that side of nature that helps man, is friendly to him. THE SCAPEGOAT Innocent character blamed and punished in place of the truly guilty. Removes guilt from the culprit/society THE UNDERDOG The non-favored who may win something in the end. HERO/HEROINE A savior/rescuer, warrior, knight. They are awakened to their own inner strength to overcome great obstacles. Requires great bravery. ANTI-HERO An unlikely or seemingly opposite character who fulfills the role of hero. THE TRICKSTER/JESTER Clown, mischief maker. Provides comic relief to offset heavy dramatic tension. Keeps things in proportion. Can be an ally or companion of the hero, or may work for the villain. Represents the force of cunning, and is pitted against opponents who are stronger or more powerful.
CAREGIVER/MOTHER FIGURE A life-giver, source of nurturing, caregiving, patience, and unconditional love. TEMPTRESS/FEMME FATALE Possesses what males desire and uses that to destroy them.
ARCHETYPAL SETTINGS
Because we have heard simple fairy tale type versions of ARCHETYPES when very young they have become ingrained in our subconscious. We can identify the ragsto-riches story; the wicked stepmother who expells the other woman's children; the misunderstood character whose gifts and powers are only revealed later; the quest where a series of trials are overcome. ARCHETYPAL SETTINGS are where you would expect these stories to take place. Think fairy tales the castle or the peasant s cottage; the deep dark woods; the dry desert or the lush gardens. The meanings of these settings are recognizable and predictable as well. Sometimes a writer may play on or adapt the expectation of an archetypal setting to create irony.
WOODS can be protective and sometimes dangerous. Those who enter often lose their direction or rational outlook and thus have to tap into their inner wisdom for direction. GARDENS are the place of harmony with nature, innocence, union, or imagination. Some gardens, like the one below, are carefully planned and cultivated, representing an attempt to control nature. Because they are carefully planned, sometimes the garden can be ruined or poisoned, or the hero has to leave it. The garden often represents a paradise which is lost or unachievable.
FOUNTAINS stand for purification, the sprinkling of water washes away sin. Water of a fountain gives new life. CROSSROADS a place where two roads intersect, the place of suffering and decision. The protagonist has to make a choice of which path to follow or which choice to make a forced decision and endure the consequences of the choice. These decision points are crisis points, climactic moments, outcomes.
TREE archetype dates way back to Gilgamesh searching for the plant of life. Therefore the tree setting is seen as the center, the beginning where sacred powers first originated. The tree is the navel of the world, the "cosmic axis standing at the universe s center where it passes through the middle and unites the three great cosmic domains: the underworld, earth, and sky.
SEA Water nearly always symbolizes the source or mother of all life. The sea has always had a good and an evil side throughout literature. The Greek god Poseidon could churn up giant whirlpools, storms or tidal waves. Characters have been lost at sea, swallowed by whales, attacked by pirates or drowned. No doubt the sea can be written about as a dangerous force of nature. The sea has sometimes been represented as the subconscious human mind. is vast, alien, dangerous, chaos. Represents eternity or infinity. Waves symbolize measures of time. The sea has also been home to huge pearls, found treasures, and has been the livelihood of many fisherman, especially in Japanese literature. Also since all rivers lead to the ocean the sea can symbolize heaven or infinity where all souls empty into.
DESERTS Often considered the wasteland, represents an emotionally/physically barren place or time in a character s journey. A character is usually cleansed of fear or doubt and reconnects to his/her sense of faith or inner strength. Characters usually emerge from the wasteland/desert stronger and more focused. Occasionally the wasteland wins and a character emerges from the wasteland insane.
MOUNTAINS and PEAKS represent the highest place to see or stretch understanding. CAVE represents deep down where the character delves into self. It is the place where the character goes to be invisible, think, or symbolically, die.
OTHER ARCHETYPAL SETTINGS Underworld Wilderness River Maze or labyrinth Castle Tower Winding stair Threshold (A Quizlet Game later will take you through a tutorial of these settings.)
ARCHETYPAL JOURNEYS (PLOTS)
Hero s Journey The hero endeavors to create his identity through multiple challenges fulfills his/her destiny.
Coming of Age Transition from one life stage to the next. Innocence fades away through some benchmark event but is replaced by experience or knowledge of the world. It signifies that we cannot hide from time.
The Fall (a.k.a. The Expulsion from Eden) This kind of story involves characters losing some power or privilege. Sometimes the characters who fall are not likable, and the reader enjoys seeing them brought down. In other cases, the characters are generally good, but some mistake on their part has derailed their hopes and dreams. A fall from grace can be an opportunity for the character to learn an important lesson about life and the world.
Birth/Death/Rebirth Through pain and suffering the character overcomes feelings of despair, and through a process of selfrealization is reborn. Quests To know who you are Find knowledge Find the promised land Save the people Rid the land of danger Fame and fortune Search for love The grail Revenge
Shapes Colors Numbers Weather