1. Archetype Notes

2. Quick write
What is your definition of a hero? Be sure to explain yourself and give at least two examples of heroes that fit your definition.

3. What is an archetype?
noun 1. the original pattern or model from which all things of the same kind are copied or on which they are based; a model or first form; prototype. 2. (in Jungian psychology) a collectively inherited unconscious idea, pattern of thought, image, etc., universally present in individual psyches.

4. What is an archetype?
Think of an archetype as being the first model or prototype of something. The Model T was the first prototype of the modern automobile. In literature, the same type of characters, situations, and symbols have been modeled for many years in many different types of stories.

5. Carl Jung
Carl Jung sought to explain the reason behind these patterns in literature.
He discovered that humans have that humans have a “preconscious PSYCHIC disposition.” In other words, humans all share certain unconscious, INSTINCTUAL ideas, dreams and notions. When these ideas come out in images or in literature, we call them ARCHETYPES.

6. Carl Jung
According to Jung, archetypes are a result of a Universal Unconsciousness, and because of this, Universal Patterns begin to surface in art.

7. So, what does this mean?
We all share a “collective unconscious” or a subconscious mental record of all common human experiences.
Archetypes are universal themes that express our “collective unconscious.”

8. This shared collective unconscious is why so many stories, tales, epics and parables share SIMILAR characters, symbols, themes and stages of plot development; even literature written in different parts of the world, in different CULTURES and at different times in HISTORY!

9. Archetype redefined
It is a recurring pattern of characters, situations, or symbols existing universally and instinctively in man’s unconscious.

10. Character archetypes

11. Hero/Heroine
The hero/heroine is the character who must fulfill a necessary task and who will restore, fertility, harmony, and/or justice to a community.

13. Characteristics of a hero/heroine
Mysterious birth
Leaves family
Experiences a traumatic event
Loses favor
Wields a special weapon
Has supernatural help
Proves himself
Is often reborn in some way
Realizes that they “have the power all along”
A hero does not need to have all of these characteristics to be considered an archetypical hero!!

15. Wizard of Oz Hero's Journey

16. Stages of the Hero’s Journey
The Ordinary World
Most stories take the hero out of the ordinary, mundane world into a Special World, new and alien.

18. Stages of the hero’s journey
The Call to Adventure
The hero is presented with a problem, challenge, or adventure to undertake. Once presented with a call to adventure, he/she can no longer remain indefinitely in the comfort of the ordinary world.

19. The call to adventure

20. Stages of the Hero’s Journey
Refusal of the Call (The Reluctant Hero)
This one is about fear.
The hero balks or hesitates at the threshold of adventure.

21. Refusal of the call g

22. Stages of the hero’s journey
Mentor (Wise Old Man or Woman) The relationship between the hero and Mentor is one of the most common themes in mythology. It stands for the bond between parent and child, teacher and student, god and man.

23. Stages of the hero’s journey
Crossing the First Threshold The hero finally commits to the adventure and fully enters the Special World of the story for the first time.

24. Crossing the first threshold

25. Stages of the Hero’s Journey
Tests, Allies, and Enemies The hero naturally encounters new challenges and tests, makes allies and enemies, and begins to learn the rules of the Special World.

26. Stages of the hero’s journey

27. Meeting of the enemy dg

28. Meeting of an ally

29. Example of a test Zc

30. Stages of the hero’s journey
Approach to the Inmost Cave The hero comes at last to the edge of a dangerous place, sometimes deep underground, where the object of the quest is hidden.

31. Approach to the inmost cave

32. Approach to the inmost cave

33. Stages of the hero’s Journey
The Supreme Ordeal Here the fortunes of the hero hit bottom in a direct confrontation with his greatest fear.

34. Stages of the Hero’s Journey
Reward (Seizing the Sword) The hero now takes possession of the treasure (reward) he/she has come seeking. Sometimes the “sword” is knowledge that leads to greater understanding or reconciliation with hostile forces.
In many stories the loved one is the treasure the hero has come to win or recuse.

35. The Ordeal/the reward

36. Stages of the hero’s Journey
The Road Back
This stage marks the return into the Ordinary World.

37. The road back

38. Stages of the Hero’s Journey
Resurrection Death and darkness get in one last, desperate shot before being finally defeated. It’s the final exam for the hero, who must be tested once more to see if he has really learned the lessons of the Supreme Ordeal.

39. The resurrection
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40. Stages of the hero’s journey
Return with the Elixir The hero returns to the Ordinary World, but the journey is meaningless unless he/she brings back some Elixir, treasure, or lesson from the Special World.

41. Return with the Elixir

42. In groups of 3, think of a book or movie that follows the hero’s journey. You must complete all 7 steps on the back on your notes. Once your group is finished brainstorming, you must draw your hero’s cycle and write your explanations on the chart paper provided.

43. Writer’s notebook Reflection
Think of an experience in your life that following the hero’s journey. Explain how the experience fit into the seven basic stages of the Hero’s Cycle.

44. More character archetypes

45. Mentors
These individuals serve as teachers and counselors to the hero. They can work as role model or serve as a father or mother figure.

46. Father-son conflict Separation Disagreement between father and son
Resentment of father by his son

47. Hunting Group Companions
A group of hunting companions will become lost in the woods and unwillingly discover adventure and danger there.

48. Loyal Retainers Noble sidekicks to the hero
Their duty is to protect the hero
Stand beside the main character through everything

49. Friendly beast
Appears to be a horrible monster, but has a heart of gold and helps our hero.

50. Evil Figure with a Good heart
Redeemable devil figure (or servant to the devil figure) is saved by the hero’s nobility or good heart.

51. Outcast Banished from a society or social group
Usually destined to become a wanderer
Disagrees with societal norms

52. scapegoat Blamed for other’s actions or wrongdoings
Death (often in a public ceremony) excuses some sin of the community
Death makes him or her a more powerful force than when they lived

53. Devil figure Represents evil incarnate
May offer worldly goods, fame, or knowledge to the protagonist in exchange for the protagonists soul
Main aim is to oppose the hero

54. Creature of nightmare
A monster that is summoned from the deepest, darkest parts of the human psyche
Threatens the life of the hero

55. Star-crossed lovers Two characters engaged in a love affair
Fated to end tragically for one for both due to disapproval of society, friends, family, or the gods

56. The woman figure

57. The earth mother Symbolic of fulfillment, abundance, and fertility
Offers spiritual and emotional nourishment
Mrs. Potts
Mother Earth

58. The temptress Characterized by sensuous beauty
Her physical attraction may bring about the hero’s downfall
Tempts our hero to abandon his quest, often with promises of riches, beauty, love or lust.

59. The platonic ideal
A physical and spiritual ideal for whom the hero has an intellectual rather than physical attraction

60. The unfaithful wife Married to a man she sees as dull or distant
Attracted to a more handsome or interesting man
Commits an act of infidelity
Through her adultery, an entire kingdom, quest, or world may be destroyed.

61. The damsel in distress
Vulnerable woman who must be rescued by the hero
May also be used by the evil figure, as a trap, to ensnare the hero

62. warrior
A relatively modern archetype where a female warrior battles evil with brute force, strength, and cunning.

63. Situational archetypes

64. quest
The search for someone or some talisman which, when found and brought back, will restore fertility to a wasted land or bring peace
The desolate state of the land is mirrored by a leader's illness and disability.

65. task
The hero must perform some super human deed to save the kingdom, to win the fair lady, or to assume his rightful position

66. journey
Sends hero in search of some truth or information which is necessary to restore the kingdom
The hero usually descends into a real or psychological hell and is forced to discover many unpleasant truths
These unpleasant truths can involve the hero’s own faults

67. Initiation An initiation symbolizes a right of passage into adulthood
Very much connected with growing up and maturity
Generally initiates the hero into adult life
After an initiation, the adolescent will come with new awareness, maturity, skills, and hope for the community.

68. The ritual
This is the actual ceremony that will mark the initiate’s rite of passage into another state of being.
The ritual marks a right of passage

69. The fall Describes a descent from a higher to a lower state of being.
The experience involves a loss of innocence and bliss
Often accompanied by expulsion from a kind of paradise as penalty for disobedience

70. Death and rebirth
The hero goes through some form of metamorphosis (usually physical, psychological AND spiritual) which, in some way, symbolizes, or is symbolized by, his/ her death and rebirth.

71. Nature vs. Mechanistic World
Nature = good
Technology & Society = bad

72. Battle between good and evil
Mankind often shows eternal optimism in the continual portrayal of good triumphing over evil in spite of great odds.

73. Unhealable wound
The wound is either physical or psychological damage and cannot be fully healed.
Indicates a loss of innocence
These wounds often ache and can drive the sufferer to desperate measures

74. The magic weapon A symbol of the hero’s extraordinary quality
No other can wield the weapon or use it to its full potential
Traditionally given by a mentor

75. Symbolic archetypes

76. Light and darkness
Light= enlightenment, wisdom, good, hope, renewal, intellectual illumination Darkness= the unknown, ignorance, evil

77. Water and desert Water= birth, rebirth, creation, purification, growth
Desert= spiritual aridity, death, hopelessness, loss of faith
Water may symbolize a spiritual birth

78. Heaven and hell Supreme beings and mythological gods live in the skies
Evil forces, including Satan, come from the underworld

79. Innate wisdom vs. Educated stupidity
Some characters exhibit wisdom and understanding of situations instinctively as opposed to those supposedly in charge. A hero often needs the guidance of innate wisdom.
Loyal retainers often exhibit this wisdom as they accompany the hero on the journey.

80. Haven vs. wilderness Havens are places of comfort and safety.
The wilderness is portrayed as a place of danger.
Heroes may seek havens for time to regain health and resources

81. The sun
Sun= creative energy, thinking, enlightenment, wisdom, spiritual vision
Rising Sun= birth, creation, the beginning of something
Setting Sun= death, the end of something

82. colors
Red: blood, sacrifice, passion, disorder, violence Green: growth, hope, fertility, nature Blue: tranquility, security, truth White: light, purity, innocence (negative: nothingness, terror, death) Yellow: enlightenment, wisdom Black: evil, darkness, chaos, mystery, the unknown, death

83. Serpent/snake/worm
Symbol of energy and pure force (libido), corruption, sensuality, destruction, evil

84. numbers
3= light, spiritual awareness, unity, the trinity 4= mankind (four limbs), four seasons, four elements, life cycle 6= evil, sin, man 7= divinity (3) + mankind (4) = religious component of unity, completion of a cycle, perfect order 13= evil, unlucky
Note: Many things come in sets of 7
Seven deadly sins
Seven days of the week
Seven colors of the rainbow

85. garden
Paradise, innocence, unspoiled beauty

86. Tree
Growth, proliferation, immortality, phallic symbol, denotes life of the cosmos
Where we learn, tree of life, tree of knowledge

87. seasons Spring= rebirth, genre= comedy Summer= life, genre= romance
Fall= dying, descent, genre= tragedy
Winter= death, nothingness, genre= irony