ARCHETYPES
archetypes are recurring images, symbols, characters,
patterns, and settings that give literature its unity
What are
common
characteristics of
archetypes?
•Commonality with all
humanity
•Part of people that connect
them to their past, beyond
personal feeling to a common
experience
•Not especially knowable, but
express themselves in forms
•Universal, understood by
everyone
•Recurring, change with
modern times, relate them to
the past in order to find
meaning in a contemporary
world
ARCHETYPAL CHARACTERS
THE HERO
portrayed as “larger than life.”
exhibits outstanding qualities and abilities.
embodies the ideals of his/her culture and
society.
Essence of hero is self-sacrifice
Will endure separation and hardship for his/her
clan
Must a pay a price to achieve goal.; he/she
changes
Must leave “ordinary world” into the
“unknown”; Comes back changed
Must return and spread new knowledge, but
does not have to stay
THE ANTI-HERO
• Reluctant hero who does not consider himself capable of accomplishing
the goal
• Might be selfish, addicted, corrupt, sullen or disaffected
• Not afraid to bend or break the law in the belief that “the ends justify the
means”
• By the end of the journey: typically transforms into a fuller, happier or
more complete person because of struggles
• In many cases, he/she dies at the end, even while overcoming
THE VILLAIN
•Also known in film and
literature as the "bad guy", “black
hat", or "heavy”
•An “evil" character in a story
•Usually the antagonist, tends to
have a negative effect on other
characters
•Female villain is sometimes
called a villainess (often to
differentiate her from a male
villain)
•Usually a cruelly malicious
person who is involved in or
devoted to wickedness or crime
•Constitutes an important evil
agency in the plot
THE WISE OLD MAN
Usually a profound philosopher
distinguished for wisdom and sound
judgment. These characters many
times have beards.
THE DAMSEL IN
DISTRESS
•Classic theme in world
literature, art, and film
•Usually a beautiful young
woman placed in a dire
predicament by a villain or a
monster
•Requires a hero to dash to
her rescue
THE SHREW
• A woman who is excessively unpleasant
• Prone to temper tantrums and emotional
and psychological warfare Verbally and
sometimes physically abusive
• Insists on imposing her will on everyone
and is willing to take extreme measures
to get her way
• Dominates her relationships, especially
the one with her weaker willed husband
THE INNOCENT
• Promised that life need not be
hard
• A child or a naïve/inexperienced
person who is exposed to the evil
in the world
• Usually moves from innocence to
experience and knowledge
THE HELPFUL ANIMAL
Any animal that helps the hero in times of trouble.
The animal can be a sidekick that offers reason to
the hero when he gets stuck and can’t figure his way
out.
ALTER-EGO OR DOUBLE
Split personalities or opposite tendencies within one
individual
EARTH MOTHER
The eternal provider:
protecting, nurturing,
sheltering, nourishing female
character
THE TEMPTRESS
A woman, who through her power, can render a strong man weak and a
wise man foolish.
OPPOSITES OR COMPLIMENTARY
PAIRS
Two individuals of opposite natures who, if
combined, would make one balanced and
“complete” individual.
SCAPEGOAT OR
SACRIFICIAL VICTIM
One who suffers or is
blamed unjustly in order
that others may escape
blame or punishment.
THE TRICKSTER
In mythology, folklore, and
religion, a trickster is a
god, goddess, spirit, man,
woman, or
anthropomorphic animal
who plays tricks or
otherwise disobeys normal
rules and conventional
behavior.
THE
UNFAITHFUL
WIFE
A woman married to a
man she sees as dull or
distant and is attracted to
a more virile and
interesting man.
Archetypal Settings
The Garden
Cultivated and carefully planned. Restricted to certain
vegetation. Represents order.
The Forest/The
Countryside
• Habitat of the Great Mother
(Mother Nature), the lunar force
• Fertility
• Mother Nature sustains
vegetation and animals in this
“green world”
• Symbolically, primitive levels of
the feminine psyche, protective
and sheltering
• Those who enter often lose their
direction or rational outlook and
thus tap into their collective
unconscious
• Opposite of the cultivated gardens
The Tree
Represents life and knowledge
Mountains and Peaks
Highest peak is place to “see” far
Place to gain great insight
The Cave
• Deep down where the character delves within themselves
• Place that the character goes when “invisible” or inactive
• At the extreme may signify death
The River
•
•
•
Crossing may symbolize new territory
Boundaries or borders with something
new or different on either side
May represent human life or time
passing May represent death and
rebirth (baptism)
The Sea
• Vast, alien, dangerous, chaos
• Waves may symbolize
measures of time and
represent eternity or infinity
• Mother of all life
• The unconscious
The Fountain
• Stands for purification
• Sprinkling of water (baptism)
washes away sin
• Water of fountain gives new life
Islands
Microcosms or small worlds unto themselves
Represent isolation or get-a-ways
Archetypal Symbols
The Sun
•
•
•
•
•
•
Fire and Sky are closely related
Creative energy
Law in nature; consciousness (thinking,
enlightenment, wisdom)
Passage of time and life
Rising sun: birth; creation;
enlightenment
Setting sun: death
Colors
Red: blood, sacrifice,
violent passion, disorder
Green: growth,
sensation, hope, fertility
Blue: highly positive,
truth, religious feeling,
spiritual purity, security
White: light, purity,
innocence, supernatural
Black: chaos, mystery,
the unknown, death, evil
The Circle
Sphere:
wholeness
Egg (oval)
the
mystery of
life and the
forces of
the
generation
Yang-Yin
• Chinese
symbol
representing
union of
opposite
forces
• Male vs.
Female
Ouroboros
• The ancient
symbol of the
snake biting
its own tail
• Represents
the circle of
life
Serpent
• Snake or worm
• Symbol of energy and pure
force; evil; corruption;
sensuality; destruction;
mystery; wisdom; the
unconscious
Numbers (Western Culture)
Three: light; spiritual awareness and unity (The holy Trinity); the
male principle
Four: associated with the circle; life cycle; four seasons; female
principle, earth, nature; four elements (earth, air, fire, water)
Seven: the most potent of all symbolic numbers – signifies the union
of three and four; the perfect order
Twelve: The completed heavenly cycle
Thirteen: Betrayal, death, negativity; except in Native American
culture where the number is sacred
Light vs Darkness
• Light usually suggests hope, renewal, or intellectual
illumination
• Darkness implies the unknown, ignorance or despair
Water vs Desert
• Water appears as birth or rebirth
• Desert appears as lack of life or death
Heaven vs Hell
Heaven: the sky and mountain tops house
the gods
Hell: the bowels of the earth contain the
diabolical force that inhabits this
universe
Supernatural
Intervention
The gods intervene on the side
of or sometimes against the
hero
Fire vs Ice
• Fire represents light, life, rebirth
• Ice represents ignorance, darkness, sterility
Situational Archetypes
The Quest
GET SOMETHING!
The search for someone or some talisman which, when found and
brought back, will restore life to a wasted land, the lifelessness is
mirrored by the leader’s illness and disability.
The Task
DO SOMETHING!
• to save the kingdom
• to win the fair lady
• to identify himself so he may
reassume his rightful position
• …the hero must perform a
superhuman deed
The Journey
LEARN
SOMETHING!
Sends the hero in search
of some truth or
information necessary to
restore fertility to the
kingdom.
The Fall
• Descent from a
higher to a lower
state of being
• Involves a loss of
innocence
The Unhealable Wound
• A wound that will not fully
heal
• Indicates a loss of innocence,
whether physical or
psychological
Archetypal Motifs and Themes
Forbidden Love/Star-Crossed Lovers
• A phrase describing a pair of lovers whose relationship is often thwarted by
outside forces
• Encompasses other meanings but originally means the pairing is being "thwarted
by a malign star" or that the stars are working against the relationship
Rags to Riches/Transformation
refers to any situation in which a person rises
from poverty to wealth, or sometimes from
obscurity to fame
The Wicked Stepmother
• Persecutes the child left behind after the father dies, leading to conflict
• Serves to support the motif of glorified motherhood and the theme that
nonmaternal women are dangerous
Guilt and Redemption
• A character is burdened with terrible guilt for a real or perceived
sin and attempts to atone for his mistakes and achieve spiritual
redemption. Often requires a heroic act, a sacrifice, or a fall from
grace before the character can be redeemed
Love Conquers All
Despite obstacles and opponents, in the end love is an indestructible
force, whether for good or for harm.
Pride Goes Before a Fall
This theme reminds readers/viewers that pride, or hubris, is an
offense that will be punished.
What goes around comes around.
Theme that reminds us that wrongdoing will be returned one way or
another.