ARCHETYPES
by and Don L. F. Nilsen
and Alleen Pace Nilsen
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ARCHETYPES FROM
CHILDREN’S LITERATURE
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THE ROMANCE
The Romance “presents an idealized world, the black-and-white
world of our desires, where good things are really good, and
bad things are really bad.
The Romance involves the Journey, and the Journey involves the
Hero, the Villain, the Quest, the Sage, the Prohibition, the
Sacrifice, the Dragon, the Treasure, and sometimes the rescue
of the Maiden.
The epiphany (mountain top, tower, island, lighthouse, ladder,
staircase, Jack’s beanstalk, Rapunzel’s hair, Indian rope trick
etc.) connects Heaven and Earth” (Frye 203).
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THE HERO
In archetypal hero tales, the hero, usually a young
person identified as having “special” qualities,
sets out on a journey—either real or metaphorical.
The young person does not know what is in store
and has probably not made a conscious decision
to embark on “the quest.”
Nevertheless, when challenges come, the young
hero meets and overcomes them, often making
some kind of a sacrifice in exchange for wisdom.
A common motif is that help will come from an
unexpected source, perhaps from an older and
wiser person or from a supernatural source.
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STAGES OF THE JOURNEY
The stages of the journey (listed below) can be seen in
many of the quest stories and can also be compared
to one’s own life.
The Shadow Archetypes result from hyperbole, from
developing the hero’s characteristics to such an
extreme that they become a negative force as when
the caregiver turns into the overprotective mother or
the lover into the jealous controller preventing or
marring the process of development.
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PREPARATION FOR THE
JOURNEY
INNOCENT:
ARCHETYPE: Security, Acceptance, Disillusionment, Optimism
SHADOW ARCHETYPE: Denial, Repression, Blame
ORPHAN:
ARCHETYPE: Abandonment, Accepting Help, Against Authority
SHADOW: Cynicism, Victimization
WARRIOR:
ARCHETYPE: Fighting for Self, for Others, and for Ideals
SHADOW: Ruthlessness, Fighting to Win
CAREGIVER:
ARCHETYPE: Self-Sacrificing, “Tough Love,” Responsibility
SHADOW: Martyrdom, Guilt-Inducer
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THE JOURNEY ITSELF
SEEKER:
ARCHETYPE: Exploration, Experimentation
SHADOW: Perfectionism, Inability to Commit
DESTROYER:
ARCHETYPE: Confusion, Acceptance of Chaos, Letting Go
SHADOW: Destructiveness of Self and Others
LOVER:
ARCHETYPE: Following Love, Bonding, Committing
SHADOW: Envy, Fixation, Don Juanism
CREATOR:
ARCHETYPE: Visionary, Creator of Own Environment
SHADOW: Creators of Negative Situations
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THE RETURN FROM THE
JOURNEY
• RULER:
– ARCHETYPE: Responsibility for Self & Others, Good of
Planet
– SHADOW: Ogre, Tyrant
• MAGICIAN:
– ARCHETYPE: Making Dreams Come True
– SHADOW: Turning Positives into Negatives
• SAGE:
– ARCHETYPE: Searching for Truth
– SHADOW: Insensitivity, Critical Judgment
• WISE FOOL:
– ARCHETYPE: Living for Fun, Living in the Moment
– SHADOW: Self-Indulgence, Gluttony, Sloth
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STAGE 1
The Innocent
The Orphan
The Warrior
The Caregiver
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THE INNOCENT
The Innocent moves from an unquestioning
acceptance of the environment through
experiencing disillusionment (fall) to a return
to Paradise as a wise innocent.
EXAMPLES: Brady Bunch, Forrest Gump,
Bambi, Gomez Adams, Leo the Late Bloomer,
The Little Mermaid, Pinocchio
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THE ORPHAN
The Orphan moves from accepting pain and
loss through accepting the need for help to
becoming independent and working with
others.
EXAMPLES: Charlie Brown, Cinderella,
Dorothy in The Wizard of Oz, Huckleberry
Finn, Frankenstein’s Monster, Maniac McGee,
Oedipus, Harry Potter, Peter Rabbit, Dorothy
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THE WARRIOR
The Warrior moves from fighting and cheating
simply for the sake of fighting to fighting
within the rules for others and for what really
matters on an unselfish level.
EXAMPLES: Batman, Lancelot, Ulysses, Joan
of Arc, Jo in Little Women, Robin Hood, 3
Musketeers, Superman, Darth Vader
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THE CAREGIVER
The Caregiver moves from overcoming a conflict
between one’s own needs and those of others
through empowering others (tough love), to a
willingness to help beyond immediate family (a
global level).
EXAMPLES: Gepetto in Pinocchio, Holden Caulfield,
The Giving Tree, Horton, “The Jewish Mother,” Mary
Poppins, Pygmalion, Anne Sullivan, Mother Theresa,,
The Velveteen Rabbit
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STAGE 2
The Seeker
The Destroyer
The Lover
The Creator
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THE SEEKER
The seeker moves from wandering aimlessly
and trying out new things through trying to
climb the ladder of success to looking for
spiritual guidance.
EXAMPLES: Goldilocks, Indiana Jones, Don
Juan, Leo the Late Bloomer, Luke Skywalker,
Pinocchio
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THE DESTROYER
The Destroyer moves from confusion
over experiencing pain and death of a
loved one through accepting mortality
to letting go of what is not important.
EXAMPLES: Beowulf, The Big Bad Wolf,
Samson, The Terminator, Darth Vader
Lord Voldemort,
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THE LOVER OR FRIEND
The lover, friend, or sidekick is
incomplete without the other lover,
friend, or sidekick.
SHADOW EXAMPLES: Bathsheba,
Delilah, Don Juan, Don Giovani,
Byron’s Don Juan, Cassanova
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LOVERS, FRIENDS OR DOPPELGANGERS
Annie and Daddy Warbucks
Othello, Iago, and Desdemona
Batman and Robin
Peter and the Wolf
Mark Anthony and Cleopatra
Don Quixote and Sancho Panza
Robinson Crusoe and Friday
Romeo and Juliet
Hansel and Gretel
Sherlock Holmes and Dr. Watson
Snow White and the Seven
Dwarfs
Dr. Jeckyl and Mr. Hyde
Tweedledum and Tweedledee
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THE CREATOR
The Creator moves from daydreaming
and imagining through knowing what is
really important to allowing dreams to
come true.
EXAMPLES: Kevin Costner in Field of
Dreams, Frederick, The Purple Crayon
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STAGE 3
The Ruler
The Magician
The Sage
The Wise Fool
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THE RULER
The Ruler moves from taking responsibility for
oneself through working with one’s own
group or commnity to concern for society or
the planet.
EXAMPLES: Aslan, King Arthur, Max in Where
the Wild Things Are, Jupiter, Obi Wan
Kenobee, The Lion King, Woden, Zeus
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THE MAGICIAN
The Magician moves from healing and noticing
extrasensory experiences through acting on
visions to connecting everything with
everything else establishing mental,
emotional, and spiritual connections.
EXAMPLES: Abuela, Gandalf, Genie, Hermione,
Merlin, Mary Poppins, Harry Potter,
Samantha in Bewitched, The three Witches in
Macbeth, The Wizard of Oz
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THE SAGE
The Sage moves from searching for the
truth through skepticism to an
understanding of the complexity of
truth.
EXAMPLES: the professor in Gilligan’s
Island, Jimminy Cricket,
Dumbledore,The Fairy Godmother,
Galdalf, Luke Skywalker, Yoda
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THE WISE FOOL/TRICKSTER
The Wise Fool moves from treating life as a game
through using cleverness to trick others to living life
one day at a time and enjoying each special moment.
EXAMPLES: Anansi the Spider, The Cat in the Hat,
Coyote, Ferdinand, Forest Gump, The Hare in the
Tortoise and Hare Race, Huckleberry Finn, Raven,
Tom Sawyer, Sawyer on Lost, Schererazade, The
Wizard of Oz
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ARCHETYPE RELATIONSHIPS
Creator and Destroyer
Eiron and Alazon
Fool and Wise Fool
Hero and Anti-Hero
Innocent and Orphan
Junex and Senex in “Comedy of Manners”
Sage and Magician
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IDENTIFY THE ARCHETYPES
In the following slides, place
the examples into various
archetypes, and explain
what evidence you used to
make your choices.
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MALE EXAMPLES
Woody Allen
King Arthur
Aslan in The Lion, the Witch & the Wardrobe
Charlie Chaplin
Jesus Christ
Falstaff
Gandolf in Lord of the Rings
Obi Wan Kenobi
Radar O’Reilly on M*A*S*H
Samuel Pickwick
The Wizard of Oz
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FEMALE EXAMPLES
Alice in Wonderland
Edith Bunker
Cinderella
Cleopatra
Hera or Juno
Joan of Arc
Moll Flanders
Nora in The Doll’s House
Three Witches in Macbeth
Tinkerbell in Peter Pan
Virgin Mary and Queen Elizabeth
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!CHILD EXAMPLES
David Copperfield
Dorothy in The Wizard of Oz
Huckleberry Finn
Little Red Riding Hood
Peter Pan
Pinocchio
Tiny Tim
Tom Thumb
Winnie the Pooh
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!!SHADOW EXAMPLES
Bartleby the Scrivner (Melville)
Captain Ahab in Moby Dick
Dr. Frankenstein
Don Juan in Byron’s Don Juan
Willie Loman in Death of a Salesman
Gregor Samsa in The Metamorphosis
The Joker in Batman
Nurse Ratchet in One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest
Oedipus
Lord Voldemort
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!!!Web Sites:
Arizona English Teachers Association:
http://www.asu.edu/aeta/
Nilsen, Alleen Pace, and Don L. F. Nilsen. Encyclopedia of 20th Century
American Humor. Westport, CT: Greenwood, 2000:
http://www.greenwood.com/catalog/OXHUMOR.aspx
Nilsen, Alleen Pace, and Don L. F. Nilsen. Names and Naming in Young
Adult Literature. Lanham, MD: Scarecrow Press, 2007:
http://www.scarecrowpress.com/
YA-Lit Web Quests, Jim Blasingame—Web Master:
http://www.asu.edu/clas/english/englished/yalit/webquest.htm
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References:
Campbell, Joseph. The Portable Jung. New York, NY: Penguin,
1971.
Frye, Northrop. Anatomy of Criticism: Four Essays. Princeton, NJ:
Princeton University Press, 1957.
Jung, Carl G. Four Archetypes: Mother, Rebirth, Spirit, Trickster.
Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press, 1959.
Nilsen, Alleen Pace Nilsen, and Don L. F. Nilsen. Encyclopedia of
20th Century American Humor. Westport, CT: Greenwood Press,
2000.
Pearson, Carol S. Awakening the Heroes Within: Twelve
Archetypes to Help Us Find Ourselves and Transform Our
World. San Francisco, CAP Harper, 1991.
Pollack, Rachel. Complete Illustrated Guide to Tarot. New York, NY:
Gramercy Books, 1999.
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