The Forest
Salima Etoka
Hanna Fischer
Emily Moore
Period 2
A forest is an area
with a high
density of trees.
The Forest
As an Archetype:
The Forest is often considered an unconscious part of the
Hero or his/her inner self. It is a place where fears must be
overcome alone and without the help of a mentor or motherly
character.
Significance:
The Forest is a magical place, filled with both creepy and
helpful creatures. The Forest is a necessary part of the Hero's
quest because it allows the Hero to grow and become a more
well rounded individual.
Story Examples
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Red Riding Hood
Harry Potter
Robin Hood
Snow White
Lord of the Rings
Grimm's Fairy Tales
Hansel and Gretel
A Midsummer Night's Dream
The Chronicles of Narnia
Little Red Riding Hood
Poor Little Red Riding Hood goes to visit her
grandma. While walking in the woods, she encounters a
wolf that distracts her. The wolf then runs to the
grandma's house and eats her whole. This entire time,
Little Red believes that it's her grandma in bed. It's not
until the end, that Little Red discovers the truth and gets
a hunter to run the wolf off. Only in the woods did the
wolf have courage to approach Little Red.
Snow White
Snow White lives in a castle with her evil step-mother, who is
the queen. The queen asks a magic mirror who is the fairest in
all the land. The mirror replies that it is Snow White so the
queen decides to have her killed. The man who is supposed to
kill her tells her to run away. While running through the forest,
she comes across a little house. Since she is so tired, she goes
to sleep. She wakes to the sound of the dwarfs, wondering
what to do with her. This little house becomes a shelter for her,
until the queen once again asks the mirror who is the fairest of
them all. The mirror once again responds with Snow
White. So the queen disguises herself and gives Snow White a
poisoned apple. This causes Snow White to fall asleep making
the dwarfs think she is dead. Then, Prince Charming wakes her
and they live happily ever after.
Harry Potter
In almost every Harry Potter book the Forbidden Forest is
mentioned. And in most of those cases Harry has to face the
antagonist Lord Voldemort. In the first book he and his archnemesis Draco Malfoy have to search for a beast that is killing
the unicorns. In the second book he goes in search of a giant
spider. In the fifth book he leads Professor Umbridge into the
forest to distract her and manage then managed to escape. In
the last book he goes to face Voldemort and dies to protect the
people in Hogwarts from Voldemort. Every single time Harry
put a foot inside the Forbidden Forest he grew and learned
more about himself.
A Midsummer Night's Dream
In this book the forest plays a much less dark role than that of
the previous stories. This story often has a very light, mystical,
beautiful and enchanting forest. It is the realm of the fairies,
and a place of love and magic. However, even though the
forest is a much more friendly environment, the fairies are still
tricksters and still do cause much conflict for the mortals who
enter. For example, Bottom obtains a donkey head by a fairie's
spell for much of the story. Also, there is great confusion
between the four lovers, Demetrius, Lysander, Helena, and
Hermia. The part in the forest ends with the four chasing after
voices in the forest before falling asleep in exhaustion. The play
itself does not contain many mentions of what the forest looks
like, though it is specifically set in the wood. However,
throughout the fairies use figurative language specific to
flowers and trees and other things that are natural.
Midsummer Night's Dream Text
Examples
But we are spirits of another sort:
I with the morning's love have oft made sport,
And, like a forester, the groves may tread,
Even till the eastern gate, all fiery-red,
Opening on Neptune with fair blessed beams,
Turns into yellow gold his salt green streams.
But, notwithstanding, haste; make no delay:
We may effect this business yet ere day. (Oberon)
Fairies wander through the forest. The forest is a place of
magic and beauty. Oberon refers to himself as a forester, a
unique term that makes the fairies exclusive to the forest
for the most part. Furthermore, the passage is filled with
colors and descriptive language, reminding of the beauty
and complexity of the forest.
Another Text Example
Fairy: Over hill, over dale,
Thorough bush, thorough brier,
Over park, over pale,
Thorough flood, thorough fire,
I do wander everywhere,
Swifter than the moon's sphere;
And I serve the fairy queen,
To dew her orbs upon the green.
The cowslips tall her pensioners be:
In their gold coats spots you see;
Those be rubies, fairy favours,
In those freckles live their savours:
I must go seek some dewdrops here
And hang a pearl in every cowslip's ear.
Farewell, thou lob of spirits; I'll be gone:
Our queen and all our elves come here anon.
This passage is too is filled with words of nature, bush, brier, hill, dale, and
dewdrops. It reminds of the fairies prescense in nature, specifically connected to
the woods.
One Last Text Reference
Oberon: I pray thee, give it me.
I know a bank where the wild thyme blows,
Where oxlips and the nodding violet grows,
Quite over-canopied with luscious woodbine,
With sweet musk-roses and with eglantine:
There sleeps Titania sometime of the night,
Lull'd in these flowers with dances and delight;
And there the snake throws her enamell'd skin,
Weed wide enough to wrap a fairy in:
And with the juice of this I'll streak her eyes,
And make her full of hateful fantasies.
This passage is a great description of the woods, specifically
listing off numerous flowers and beautiful nature. Most of these
passages remind of the forests delicate nature. It's beauty and
it's magic. This one is similar in that.
Conclusion on Midsummer Night's
Dream
As said earlier, Midsummer provides a more picturesque view
of the forest than previous stories perhaps have. However, the
audience or reader must be reminded that the English like
Shakespeare viewed the forest as scary. The fairies were
enchanting and beautiful, but also full of trickery and evil. Many
people believed that fairies stole children, and primarily caused
mischief. And so, since the forest was the fairies most common
place to linger, the forest too was not a place to stay. These
enchanting creatures of Shakespeare are not too unlike The
Sirens in Homer's Odyssey, although perhaps much less
deadly. They appeared beautiful and enchanting, and yet were
often mischevious and evil.
Puck: "Then will two at once
woo one;
That must needs be sport alone;
And those things do best please
me
That befal preposterously"."
Puck: "I'll follow you, I'll lead you
about a round,
Through bog, through bush,
through brake, through brier".
Titania & Puck
Works Consulted
Grimm, William and Jacob. Grimm's Complete Fairy Tales. 1993 edition. New
York City, New York: Barnes and Noble, Inc., 2008. Print.
Mr. Gorman’s English Classes. Attleboro Public Schools, 2002. Web. 16
Sep
2010.
Professor Sibley. “Archetypes in
Literature.” www.mnstate.edu/...EECE%20441Archetypes%20in20Literature.doc
.n.p.,n.d.Web.19 Sept.2010.
Rowling, J. K.. Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone. New York: Scholastic
Inc., 1997. Print.
Shakespeare, William. The Complete Works of William Shakespeare
Comprising his Plays and Poems. New York: World Syndicate Company,
Inc., 1927. Print
“The Disenchanted Forest.”
www.orithofshi.com/images/timna_seligman.doc. n.p., n.d. Web. 19 Sept. 2010.
Pictures Cited
• Lorienne, Adele. If wishes were…. 2003.
Oregon, USA.
• Lorienne, Adele. Peace. 2004. Oregon,
USA.
• Lorienne, Adele. The Butterfly Pool. 2006.
Oregon, USA.