The Damsel and I
Introduction to the Archetype
The Damsel has spanned throughout history as a popular archetype in literature, movies, and music. Through these forms of entertainment, The Damsel is portrayed as naïve, innocent, and feeble. In media, she eagerly awaits to be rescued and protected by a handsome prince, and live “happily ever after.” The Damsel has potential for greatness, yet only realizes it when guided by a prince. In addition to the naïve feebleness of The Damsel, the archetype originally symbolized purity, kindness, and an immunity to the taint of evil. In relation to romance, the light attributes of The Damsel encourages her to rely on herself, and recognize the qualities of a healthy romance. The shadow attributes of The
…show more content…
Throughout the years, I have developed a pattern regarding intimate relationships that prevents me from facing The Damsel archetype within myself. When I have concluded that a relationship has lost its spark, I begin to strategize on how to end it gracefully, and arrange a new relationship to assume its position. I fear prolonged periods of loneliness, as I am left to face my inner-critics on my own. Intimate relationships act as a distraction to my internal wounds, as I tend to focus on my time with the person involved. Often times the relationship one its own personifies the ‘rescuer’ engaged with The Damsel archetype. I have found myself involved with individuals in the past who were abusive both mentally and physically, yet I continued the relationships on of fear for being …show more content…
When I am entirely enthralled by an individual, I exhibit sense a naivety. In that situation, it became difficult for me to detect dangerous vibe this individual was emitting as I was intoxicated by the euphoria of love. In the beginning, it was not apparent that this person was using similar techniques to those I would normally utilize for personal gain. They would swoon me with sweet words, and strengthen my confidence. However, once I admitted my desire to begin a relationship with this individual they lashed out at me, stating that they were only using me for the sexual benefits. Those words shattered me completely, and it took nearly four months to regain a stable mentality. Until recently, I was fueled for my hatred of them and my disgust in their actions. When suddenly, it dawned on me that I have behaved similar to that individual in the past. Although, I have never manipulated anyone for sexual benefits, I have coerced people into emotionally rescuing me. Through this realization, I have let go of my distain for this person, and begun working on improving my relationship with The Damsel
In James Poniewozik's "The Princess Paradox" (323-325) the author explains how the idea of a feminist, independent woman becoming a fairy tale princess is a paradox and that society is engaging in a paradox through the belief of it. He utilizes the recent bout of Cinderella retellings to show the paradox of how girls cannot be both completely independent and a fairytale princess, and yet society perpetuates the paradox through believing that this is not only possible, but realistically attainable as well. Poniewozik exposes the contradictions that surround these new Cinderellas to defy these "realistic" stories that society has come to embrace. By showing how truly constrictive and illogical these fantasies are, Poniewozik also shows how hypocritical society has become for idolizing them and why this new princess is a true paradox.
Traditional female characteristics and female unrest are underscored in literary works of the Middle Ages. Although patriarchal views were firmly established back then, traces of female contempt for such beliefs could be found in several popular literary works. Female characters’ opposition to societal norms serves to create humor and wish- fulfillment for female and male audiences to enjoy. “Lanval” by Marie De France and “The Wife of Bath’s Tale” by Geoffrey Chaucer both show subversion of patriarchal attitudes by displaying the women in the text as superior or equal to the men. However, “The Wife of Bath’s Tale” also incorporates conventional societal ideas by including degradation of women and mistreatment of a wife by her husband.
Throughout this paper, it was able to analyze how a love story developed through time between a hero and a damsel with the presence of good and evil having the ending of living together in great happiness and joy. This paper was able to scrutinize the archetypal villains, hero, and damsel in relation to the opposing concepts such as “good versus evil” and “sorcery versus reality”. It started out as a quest for an answer and later on it turned out to be a discovery for love upon seeing the real beauty within.
... own childhood; no matter it are security and nurturing or abandonment and neglect, guidance and respect, or abuse and disdain. Not only the man becomes psychologically or physically abusive, but he is also aggressive towards his partner whenever he feels that his experience of rejection and consecutive disruption cannot be soothed by the defence that he mounted. Those people with a history of neglect or abuse, they usually not able to have confident in their partners whereby they perceive their partners as enemies instead of allies. These abusive relationships are often repeatable becoming more intense as if the man is riding on a rollercoaster ride. The rejection-abusive cycle is considered complete when the man felt he is not appreciated as his unrealistic expectation on relationships is not fulfilled - closeness and intimacy, in other words, further rejection.
The representation of female characters in the work may initially come across as acting irrationally, but closer examination shows that in fact their motivations were guided by contemporary values and therefore are more reflective of more positively portrayed characters.
Due to traditional stereotypes of women, literature around the world is heavily male-dominant, with few female characters outside of cliché tropes. Whenever a female character is introduced, however, the assumption is that she will be a strong lead that challenges the patriarchal values. The authors of The Thousand and One Nights and Medea use their female centered stories to prove their contrasting beliefs on the role of women not only in literature, but also in society. A story with a female main character can be seen as empowering, but this is not always the case, as seen when comparing and contrasting Medea and The Thousand and One Nights.
When studying gender roles in history, one will find that females are often depicted in similar ways no matter the era or region of study. Even when comparing the industrialized, early, twentieth century to today’s progressive era, there are striking similarities between female roles. We can see that over the course of the twentieth century, the qualities of loyalty and honesty have decreased in marriages due to the treatment of the two main female roles as depicted literature. The first was the role of the wife. The wife was often portrayed as a housekeeper and a nanny. Dull in appearance, there was no aesthetic beauty to this typical female. The other main role was the “other woman.” The more mysterious and promiscuous character, this woman portrayed the other part of the female population. Both of these types of characters are composites that portrayed the average, disposable female while how they were treated conveyed the general handling of females in the early, twentieth century.
This essay explores the role of women in Homer's Odyssey, James Joyce's Ulysses (1922) and Derrick Walcott's Omeros (1990), epics written in very different historical periods. Common to all three epics are women as the transforming figure in a man's life, both in the capacity of a harlot and as wife.
Les Femmes Savantes The Learned Ladies is an astounding play. As each new character enters time transforms characters are bedazzled, enchanted and wigged we know we are sharing the stage with royalty. The women’s gowns are extremely detailed with hoop shirts to make them puffy the men are wearing exceptionally detailed waistcoats. This comical drama is set in the living room or “salon” of the family. This plays plot is focused on one major couples chaotic and forbidden love. The characters are joined by blood and lead by the controlling wife, Philamonte (Maya Jackson) and her weak spouse Chrysale (Edward Brown III). Jackson’s voice is directing with a profound tone that would have the capacity to stop anybody dead in their tracks. It is not
Some people might say that these movies provide entertainment and transport families into the lives of princes and princesses. Many critics have said that the films have amazing soundtracks and have detailed and interesting plots. Still, however entertaining the films may be, the way women are viewed and treated outweigh any enjoyment that a viewer could have. The subliminal lessons young women learn from these films have lifelong repercussions and negatively affect the female
Lady Chudleighs’s “To the Ladies” exhibits a remorseful stance on the concept of joining holy matrimony. Chudleigh’s usage of metaphoric context and condescending tone discloses her negative attitude towards the roles of a wife once she is married. It is evident that Mary Chudleigh represents the speaker of the poem and her writing serves a purpose to warn single women not go get married and a regretful choice to women who are.
In conclusion, the development of the folktales leads to the obtaining of ideas about gender. In many ways our society supports the idea that women seem underestimated as well as physically and mentally weak in comparison with the men who is portrayed as intelligent and superior. This can be shown in many ways in the different versions of this folktale through the concepts of symbolic characters, plot and narrative perspective.
A prolific exemplification of the ideal female virtues portrayed in fairy tales is Charles Perrault’s “ The Little Glass Slipper”. Perrault presents the ideal female fairy tale character through his portrayal of Cinderella. Cinderella is a tame and forgiving individual who subjects herself to the will of her father, stepmother and s...
Jeanne-Marie LePrince de Beaumont’s fairytale Beauty and the Beast and Shakespeare’s novel Othello both feature a beautiful heroine that both develop in their own way. Beauty, from Beauty and the Beast, the youngest and most beautiful daughter of a merchant, remains extremely loyal to her father, and depends on her family greatly. While Desdemona, from Othello, is a young, wild, and independent woman who doesn’t depend on anyone other than Othello. In how they reflect the change in the heroine characters relationships, both Beauty and Desdemona conform to the concept of the Beauty character, or the main beautiful heroine of the story. Beauty and Desdemona are both these amazing beauties, and yet each of the characters find themselves in different developments throughout the stories. Although, Beauty and Desdemona have similarities, especially in their astonishing beauty, nevertheless, they differ in their advancing relationships with the beast character, their readiness for marriage, and the overall independence of both character.
Carver , Joseph M. "Love and Stockholm Syndrome: The Mystery of Loving an Abuser." 03 Feb 2009. n. pag. Web. 14 Feb 2011. .