The Lion King Archetypes
Psychologist Carl Jung, believes that universal and mythic characters, also known as archetypes, display the collective unconscious of people all over the world. Jung’s theory reflects the collective unconscious as the reservoir of our experiences as a species, a kind of knowledge we are all born with, but can never be directly conscious of it. In addition, this collective unconscious is what influences our experiences and behaviors which we only know indirectly by looking at those influences. Archetypal criticism coincides with the idea that archetypes determine the form and function of literary works, and that a text's meaning is shaped by cultural and psychological myths. There are many different archetypes which
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elicit deep emotions and represent fundamental universal experiences. Rob Minkoff and Roger Allers’ The Lion King (1994) makes use of three particular archetypes—the hero’s journey, archetypal characters, and archetypal images/settings in order to demonstrate the universal theme of accepting who you really are. The Hero’s Journey consists of a variety of common structural elements of 12 stages which can be found in many stories and movies such as The Lion King.
The Character Arc, the growth that a character experiences over the course of the journey, is represented in the hero’s Journey Stages. In The Lion King, we can see how Simba undergoes those experiences as he transforms into a different person in response to changing developments of the story. Throughout Simba’s hero journey, we can see how he leaves behind his ordinary world of living in the pride lands as a prince. When Mufasa (Simba’s father) desperately saves Simba from a stampede, he was dragged along with it and managed to make his way up a hill where he asks his brother Scar to help him up, but instead Scar says “Long live the king” and throws his own brother into the stampede where he dies. Scar tricks Simba into believing that he was responsible for his own father’s death and runs away leaving his ordinary world behind. Simba leaving everything behind and his father’s death disrupted the comfort of his ordinary world which reflects his call to adventure. However, Simba refuses the call to adventure when he runs away from the pride lands because he is scared and doesn’t understand what is happening since he is just a …show more content…
cub. Further along in the movie, Simba meets his mentors which are Rafiki and his father’s ghost lighting up in the night sky.
In this scene, Mufasa tells Simba to remember who he really is, the lion king, and that he is much more than what he has become. Soon after, Simba tells Rafiki that it looks the winds are changing and that he knows what he has to do now, but going back to the pride lands means that he has to face his past, something he has been running away from for so long. Rafiki replies back and tells him that the past can hurt, but the way he sees it he could either run from it or learn from it. Simba then takes off to the pride lands which reflects the fifth stage of the hero’s journey, crossing the threshold. Rafiki and Mufasa both give Simba a new insight, confidence, and advice which helps him overcome his fears and to face the threshold of the adventure. Simba running back to the pride lands demonstrates how he has crossed the threshold, he is now committed to his journey and is prepared to cross the gateway that separates the ordinary world (the pride lands) from the special world (the
jungle). Now that Simba has crossed the threshold, it is time for him to face his tests, allies, and enemies in the sixth stage of his hero’s journey. In Simba’s case, he is welcomed by his mother and everyone else in the Pride Rock except by Scar and the hyenas. Scar tries to deceive the other lions into thinking that Simba murdered his father, but soon after Scar confesses that he did it. Simba now realizes that Scar and the hyenas are his enemies and his family and friends are his allies. The seventh stage of the hero’s journey, approach to the inmost cave, is revealed when Simba and Scar circle each other and the hyenas overhear Scar saying that the hyenas were the enemy and that it was their plan all along. Simba tells Scar to run away and to never come back, but he refuses the request and attacks Simba. The ordeal is now introduced when Simba and Scar are battling and Simba wins, throwing Scar into a bottom pitch with the hyenas who are upset at Scar for saying they were the enemy and eventually they end up killing Scar. Now that the storm is over Simba is closer to returning to his ordinary world, his reward is indicated when he climbs up on Pride Rock and restores his role as King. The road back to his ordinary world is represented when the pride lands return to their normal state and the resurrection is implied when Simba accepts his role as king. Simba has survived death and overcame his greatest fear, he has finished the final battle and accepted his role as king. The final stage in the archetypal hero’s journey is return with the elixir, which is the final reward earned earned on the hero’s journey. The elixir is reflected when Simba and Nala are welcoming their son into the world, he will be the new prince and brings closure to the Journey as he restores balance to the ordinary world. Simba’s son completes the cycle of this particular hero’s journey.
An archetype, as defined by Literary Terms, is an idea, symbol, pattern, or character type that appears repeatedly in stories from cultures worldwide, symbolizing something universal in the human experience. There are three types of archetypes: symbolic, character, and situational. In her memoir, The Glass Castle, Jeannette Walls employs each archetype to capture her difficult life growing up due to her father's alcoholism and inability to hold a job. These archetypes also play a crucial role in developing the novel's theme of perseverance. The central theme of the novel is perseverance, as Jeannette and her siblings worked hard and never gave up, managing to build a better life for themselves.
Le Morte d’Arthur and many other stories have many wonderful archetypes in them. The definition of an archetype is a typical character action or situation that seems to represent universal patterns of human nature. This means that things represent things that naturally happen and will still happen. Archetypes play into Le Morte d'Arthur by showing how the character act and react with other characters and objects. In Thomas Malory´s Le Morte d´Arthur he illustrates the three types of archetypes they include character, situational, and symbolic.
Everyone can relate to an archetype character in a movie, book, or television show. An archetype in literature is a typical character with an action or a situation that seems to represent such universal patterns of human nature. Common archetypes of characters are: a hero, caregiver, rebel, damsel in distressed, lover, villain, or tragic hero. In the play, The Crucible, there are several kinds of characters with archetypes. Tragic hero normally are in tragic plays which also can be called tragedy. “Tragedy is a drama in which a character that is usually a good and noble person of high rank which is brought to a disastrous end in his or her confrontation with a superior force but also comes to understand the meaning of his or her deeds and to
Carl Jung was a Swiss psychologist and psychiatrist who developed many theories concerning the unconscious mind. Jung’s theories state that the unconscious part of a human’s psyche has two different layers, the personal unconscious and the collective unconscious. The personal unconscious is unique to every individual; however, the collective unconscious “is inborn.” (Carl Jung, Four Archetypes, 3) The collective unconscious is present in everyone’s psyche, and it contains archetypes which are “those psychic contents which have not yet been submitted to conscious elaboration” (Jung, Archetypes, 5); they are templates of thought that have been inherited through the collective unconscious. Jung has defined many different archetypes such as the archetype of the mother, the archetype of the hero, the archetype of the shadow, etc. These Jungian archetypes are often projected by the collective unconscious onto others. If the novel A Prayer for Owen Meany by John Irving is examined through a Jungian archetypal lens it is possible to discern different archetypes projected by the protagonist’s unconscious self to illustrate the effects of the collective unconscious on character and plot analysis.
Mulan goes through being rescued when she fights Shan-Yu on top of the roof of the Emperor’s palace and Mushu helps Mulan pin Shan-Yu down and blow him up with fireworks. Mulan‘s ego decreases when Mushu successfully tries to help her get rid of Shan-Yu. She considers herself a hero now and does not want Mushu to think she cannot fight her own battles. Mulan in the end disregards her ego in order for her to not die on the roof. Mulan crosses the final threshold when she returns to her home with the gifts from the Emperor hoping her family will forgive her for leaving the family to go fight in the war. Her father accepts Mulan’s new power and wisdom and told her that, “The greatest gift and honor is having you for a daughter.” Mulan’s return to the past is pleasant and safe knowing that nothing can change her family’s love and affection for her. In addition, Mulan enters into the final step in the hero’s journey: the freedom to live. Mulan shows her freedom to live when she invites her soul mate, Li-Shang for dinner. This event marks the end of Mulan dwelling on the past and makes her excited, but not concerned about what the future
Mulan now respects herself and the whole country of China respects her. She overcome the insecurities of thinking that she will never amount to what her family wants of her.
An archetype in literature is defined as a typical example of a certain type of person. A character in a poem or play can be placed into many different archetype categories. Archetypes help a reader to gain a better understanding of who a character in the work is on the inside. This deeper insight into the character allows the reader to follow the flow of the story easier and more effectively. There are many different archetypes that can help to advance the story. One of the most useful in advancing this story is the typical powerful character. Whether it be supernatural or cunningness this character always comes out on top in the situation and holds the most control over others and their actions. “Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been?”,
I have chosen George Milton from the book of mice and men to do this essay on. George' archetype is "the hero" in this book. This means that this character has overcome obstacles, is morally good and face challenges throughout the book. George is able to stay true to himself throughout every hardship that he has to overcome. He is a devoted character who is always sticking up for himself and his close friend Lennie. Dealing with finding work and handling money during the Great Depression is hard enough but having a person by your side all the time that depends on you makes it even harder but George finds a way to deal and cooperate with it all. This shows how caring George is and how his character is truly "the hero" archetype.
Without archetypes, characters would be harder for the audience to relate to and understand. They help people from all over the world comprehend foreign characters. Through The Odyssey and The Alchemist, the audience is exposed to a diverse group of characters with a variety of traits that contribute to their personalities and the way they are perceived. The Bildungsroman, vengeful villain, damsel in distress, sage, and flawed hero then become recognizable in other pieces of literature and in films. Therefore expanding the audience’s experiences and ability to understand diverse compositions and apply what they know to real life
Virtually all literature contain instinctive trends in the human consciousness to represent certain themes or motifs, these are defined as archetypes. Archetypes can be thought as blueprints or as bundles of psychic energy that influence the manner in which we understand and react to life. There are two different categories of archetypes, the plot archetype and the character archetype. The orphan, martyr, wanderer, warrior, magician, villain, wise child, temptress, rebel, underdog, fool, saint, virgin, wise, old man or woman are all considered to be character archetypes. Call to adventure, isolation, quest and monster that turns against its creator are all considered to be plot archetypes. The novel, Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein, contains archetypes.
Archetypes refer to the persistently recurring symbols or motifs in literature. The term itself has its origins in ancient Greek and continues to play a prominent role in analyzing literature. Archetypal images and story patterns encourage readers to participate ritualistically in basic beliefs, fears, and anxieties of their age. These archetypal features not only constitute the eloquence of the text but also tap into a level of desires and concerns of civilization. The Anglo-Saxon poem, Beowulf, translated by Seamus Heaney, integrates many of the common archetypes that still exist today. The outcast archetype is one that particularly expressed the desires, anxieties and values of the people who lived during the Beowulf era. Grendel, a character of monstrous appearance and hazily human emotion, is portrayed as the principal outsider in Beowulf. The incorporation of a banished character against his fellow society effectively expressed the anxiety and fears that the Anglo-Saxon culture felt towards seclusion and abnormality, caused by a societal absorption in family lineage and traditionalism.
Furthermore, Campbell explained such patterns by using Carl Jung's theory of the collective unconscious, which he was strongly influenced with. Psychological organs that developed through the evolution, is the idea Jung gave of archetypes (Jung 81). To him they are recurring patterns, images and ideas which all humans inherited in their unconsciousness (Volgar 23). In addition, Campbell described his theory as a reoccurring cycle of pattern consisting of three phases: Departure, Initiation and Return, which he calls The Monomyth (Campbell 28), a deep inner journey of transformation that every hero must go through in order to grow (Voytilla vii).
The first theory to be discussed is structuralism, this theory is composed of many different branches. The branches that this paper will be looking into is archetypes. The definition of of archetype is typical images, characters, narrative designs and themes and other literary phenomena. Archetypes have their own form of criticism that is called archetypal criticism. Archetypal criticism means the generic, recurring and conventional elements in literature that cannot be explained through historical influence or tradition.
The use of archetypes in works of literature is especially prominent in stories of characters with bad past, the evident pattern of a bad home life or abandonment builds a connection between the readers and the character. While researching I was quite shocked by the vast resemblances, at odd times I has epiphanies of the subject and their attributes.Though many authors The similarity between Frankenstein’s monster and King Arthur is not difficult to find as both display the innocent and orphan archetype. In the same fashion, both men experience betrayal, loneliness, the need for approval, and pure optimism as children only to have it stripped away. In this research paper I aim to throw spotlight upon the affinity between the creature from
After WWII postmodernism emerged as the form of criticism that best represented the values of the west. Through the rejection of traditional ideas, and cynical interpretation of culture, postmodern authors expressed the views of their people. In Catch 22, Heller expresses the idea of self-regard above all through the use of traditional character archetypes. As defined by the creator of the term Carl Jung, an archetype is a collectively inherited unconscious idea, or pattern of thought universally present in individual psyches. Furthermore, in literature, archetypes are seen as models, or designs in characters that are commonly seen, and easily recognizable. In the novel, Heller shows the absurdity of selflessness through his own interpretation of a “hero” voiced through the unlikeable Harvermeyer. The need for self-regard through the relatable anti-hero Yossarian, and the benefit of greed portrayed through the villain- Milo Minderbender.