Archetype Notes.pdf

Kruse/Westby- English I Pre-AP/GT
Archetype Notes
An archetype is an image, a descriptive detail, a plot pattern, or a character type
that occurs frequently in literature, mythology, and folklore.
Character Archetypes:
1. The Hero:
(The hero may exhibit some or all of the following characteristics)
o The circumstances of his birth are unusual
o After birth, an attempt may be made on his life
o Raised by foster parents
o Little is known of his childhood
o Upon reaching manhood he returns to his kingdom
o After victory over the king or a beast, he comes king, marries a princess, and rules
uneventfully
o Loses favor with the gods and is driven from the city
o Meets a mysterious death, often at the top of a hill
o Body is not buried, but he has one or more burial vaults
The hero can be female. In this case, she would be referred to as the heroine.
2. The Young Man from the Provinces:
This archetype refers specifically to the hero that is spirited away as a young man and reared by
strangers. He later returns to his home and heritage where he is a stranger, able to see the
problems faced by his new community and come up with solutions.
3. The Initiates:
These are young heroes or heroines who must endure some training and ceremony. They are
innocent and often wear white.
4. Mentors:
These individuals serve as teachers or counselors to the initiates. They are role models and
often serve as a father or mother figure.
5. Mentor-Pupil Relationship:
In this relationship, the mentor teaches the skills necessary to survive the quest.
6. Father-Son Conflict:
Tensions between father and son resulting from separation during childhood (or from some
other external source).
7. Hunting Group of Companions:
Companions willing to face any number of perils in order to be together.
8. Loyal Retainers:
The duty of these individuals is to protect the hero and reflect the nobility of the hero. The loyal
retainer is often, though not always, a servant to the hero.
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Kruse/Westby- English I Pre-AP/GT
9. Friendly Beasts:
An animal that is friendly to the hero. The relationship between a hero and friendly beast shows
that nature is on the side of the hero.
10. The Devil Figure:
This character is the embodiment of evil. The devil figure offers worldly goods, fame, or
knowledge to the protagonist in exchange for possession of his soul.
11. The Evil Figure with the Ultimately Good Heart :
A redeemable devil figure saved by the nobility or love of the hero.
12. The Scapegoat:
An animal or human whose death in a public ceremony makes amends for some taint or sin that
has been visited upon a community. Their death often makes them a more powerful force in
the society than when they lived.
13. The Outcast:
A figure that is banished from a social group for some crime (real or imagined) against his fellow
man. The outcast is usually destined to become a wanderer from place to place.
14. The Star-Crossed Lovers :
These two characters are engaged in a love affair that is fated to end tragically due to the
disapproval of their society, friends, or family, or because of some tragic situation.
15. The Creature of Nightmare:
A monster usually summoned from the deepest, darkest part of the human psyche to threaten
the lives of the hero/heroine. Often it is a perversion or desecration of the human body.
16. The Woman Figure:
a. The Earth Mother – symbolic of fruition, abundance, and fertility, this character
traditionally offers spiritual and emotional nourishment to those with whom she
comes in contact. She is often depicted in earth colors and with large breasts and
hips symbolic of her childbearing capabilities.
b. The Temptress – Characterized by sensuous beauty, this woman is one to whom the
protagonist is physically attracted and who ultimately brings about his downfall.
c. The Platonic Ideal – This woman is a source of inspiration and a spiritual ideal, for
whom the protagonist or author has an intellectual rather than a physical attraction.
d. The Unfaithful Wife – A woman married to a man she sees as dull or distant and is
attracted to a more virile or interesting man.
e. The Damsel in Distress – The vulnerable woman who must be rescued by the hero.
She is often used as bait to trap the unsuspecting hero.
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Kruse/Westby- English I Pre-AP/GT
Situational Archetypes:
1. The Quest – The search for someone or some talisman which, when found and brought back,
will restore fertility to a wasted land.
2. The Task – (NOT THE SAME AS THE QUEST) The superhuman deed a hero must perform in order
to save the kingdom, to win a fair lady, or to prove himself so that he may reassume his rightful
position.
3. The Initiation –An initiation into adult life and maturity.
4. The Journey – The journey sends the hero in search for some truth or information necessary to
restore fertility to the kingdom. The hero descends into a real or psychological hell and is forced
to discover the blackest truths, quite often concerning his own faults. Once the hero is at his
lowest point, he must accept personal responsibility to return to the world of the living.
A journey consists of:
A quester (the person going on the journey)
A place to go
A stated reason to go there (why the quester thinks he is going on this journey)
Challenges and trials on the way
The real reason to go there - often involves gaining self-knowledge
5. The Fall – A descent from a higher to a lower state of being. The experience involves defilement
and/or a loss of innocence and bliss.
6. Death and Rebirth – The most common of all situational archetypes, this motif grows out of the
parallel between the cycle of nature and the cycle of life.
a. Morning and springtime represent birth, youth, or rebirth
b. Evening and winter suggest old age or death.
7. Nature vs. the Mechanical World – Nature is good while science, technology, and society are
often evil.
8. Battle between Good and Evil
9. The Unhealable Wound – This wound is either physical or psychological and cannot be healed
fully. These wounds always ache and often drive the sufferer to desperate measures.
10. The Ritual – The actual ceremonies the initiate experiences that will mark his rite of passage into
another state.
11. The Magic Weapon – A magic weapon that symbolizes the extraordinary quality of the hero
because no one else can wield the weapon or use it to its full potential. It is usually given by a
mentor figure.
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Kruse/Westby- English I Pre-AP/GT
Symbolic Archetypes:
1. Light vs. Darkness:
Light usually suggests hope, renewal, or intellectual illumination
Darkness implies the unknown, ignorance, or despair.
2. Water vs. Desert: Because water is necessary to life and growth, it commonly appears as a birth or
rebirth symbol. Water is used in baptismal services, which solemnize spiritual births. Similarly, the
appearance of rain in a work of literature can suggest a character’s spiritual birth.
3. Heaven and Hell: Man has traditionally associated parts of the universe not accessible to him with
the dwelling places of the primitive forces that govern his world. The skies and mountaintops house
his gods; the bowels of the earth contain the diabolic forces that inhabit his universe.
4. Innate Wisdom vs. Educated Stupidity: Some characters exhibit wisdom and understanding of
situations instinctively, as opposed to those supposedly in charge. Loyal retainers often exhibit this
wisdom as they accompany the hero on the journey.
5. Haven vs. Wilderness: Places of safety contrast sharply against the dangerous wilderness. Heroes
are often sheltered for a time to regain health and resources.
6. Supernatural Intervention: The gods intervene on the side of the hero and sometimes against him.
7. Fire vs. Ice:
Fire represents knowledge, light, life, and rebirth
Ice, like desert, represents ignorance, darkness, sterility, and death.
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