Emperors New Clothes Archetypes

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How curious is it that most, if not all, fairytales portray something that is common in society? Bruno Bettelheim explains how “nothing can be as enriching and satisfying to children and adults alike as the folk fairy tale” (5), giving readers the implication that fairytales have the possibility of opening so many doors. However, the lessons and commonalities that stories have compared to real life are something that all of the human race should notice, like in The Emperor's New Clothes by Hans Christian Andersen. Where the entire village would rather see their beloved leader face embarrassment over showing their neighbor how ‘stupid’ they were. The Emperor's New Clothes divulges into the battle of honesty versus intelligence by using Vladimir Propps character types of false hero, princess, and real hero. Vladmir Propp has a total of seven character types, and they are as follows: the helper, the villain, the dispatcher, the donor, the princess, the false …show more content…

These archetypes can be found in most stories, even if it is just one or two of them. In Hans Christian Andersen’ rendition of The Emperor's New Clothes, there are three notable archetypes that can easily be picked out. The first people that seem to fall under an archetype are the emperor and the two people he sent to check on the clothes being made. When first reading, the mistake could easily be made that the emperor is the real hero since he is the main character of the story, however he never follows the story line of what a hero accomplishes. Vladmir Propp describes a hero either as someone “who agrees to liquidate misfortune” (Media Studies) or a heroized victim who “directly suffers from the action of the villain” who needs to “find a magical

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