The Virgin's Promise. Kim Hudson
emotionally separates from the people with whom she lives and creates a boundary between their values and hers while still living with them. The Hero physically detaches from the comforts of home and derives power from knowing hardship and developing skills. These archetypal stories show the path to becoming individuals, emotionally or psychologically and physically.
The Virgin and the Hero symbolize two aspects of knowing one’s place in the world. The archetypal journey takes the protagonist from one polarity to the other, from shadow to light. Growth initiates from the Whore or the Coward, and then follows a path into the Virgin and Hero journeys. Therefore, the Virgin begins her story lacking a sense of self, giving too much energy to the needs and opinions of others. In the end, the Virgin meets her need for self-fulfillment. By contrast, the Hero starts with a strong sense of self-preservation, refusing to get involved. Ultimately, he meets his duty of ser vice to others through self-sacrifice.
Another major distinction between the Virgin and Hero stories is the setting. The Virgin transforms within her kingdom; the familiar domestic setting where people assume they know what is best for her. This setting sets up the task for the Virgin to assert her vision for her life against the psychological pull of her community.
The Virgin does not leave her kingdom because her challenge is to face the influences of her domestic world whether they are physically around her or in her head. She finds a Secret World within her kingdom in which to practice her dream and grow in strength. At the same time, she meets the expectations of her Dependent World, keeping both worlds alive for as long as she can, fearful of discovery, yet joyful in her developing dream. If the Virgin does leave the kingdom, the internal pressures that limit her actions must be portrayed in some other way, such as flash backs or incidents that refer to an earlier influence that still affects her.
The Hero story is set in a foreign land — the more foreign, the better. It can be another country, galaxy or social status, but every thing he experiences is unfamiliar, such as habits, food, customs, and clothing. When he enters this land he is marked as an outsider, vulnerable to any number of unknown dangers. Danger is a key element because the Hero is pushing the boundaries of his mortality, exploring how far he can risk his life and still survive. Notably, the Hero has no feeling for the world he enters beyond fear and curiosity. He feels exposed, and there is no movement back and forth between the comforts of home and the hardships of his new surroundings.
The kingdom of the Virgin and the village of the Hero also undergo different experiences during the individuation of these characters. The kingdom is throw n into chaos by the Virgin and will undergo fundamental change as a result of her path. Usually, some aspect of the kingdom is causing stagnation among its people but they are so attached to order that they go along with an evil force or block individual growth to maintain it. The transformation of the Virgin will result in a change in the way people in her kingdom live, despite their initial resistance. The process of change usually occurs as a shift in attitudes or practices, rather than a physical destruction of property — unless, of course, the Hero shows up and eliminates an evil by force. In either case, this change will prove to be a benefit to the kingdom.
The Hero’s village, on the other hand, is seen as essentially good, if perhaps boring and too comfortable. It is worthy of preservation and will remain fundamentally unchanged, thanks to the efforts of the Hero. As the Hero undergoes his journey, the only change for the village is the elimination of the threat of danger. The foreign land doesn’t fare as well. While the Hero is in the foreign land, he is unconcerned about causing hurt feelings or property damage.
The kingdom of the Virgin represents the parts of a community that are in need of change. The village of the Hero represents what is good in a community and worth preserving. Together the actions of the Virgin and the Hero provide the balance of growth and stability in a community.
The obstacle in the Virgin story is the people around her who want to control her actions. The Virgin is not a volunteer in this adventure; rather, the plan for her life is the central theme. No one is encouraging her to take action: in fact, they are strongly discouraging it. While the kingdom wants her to be passive, the Virgin wants to actively pursue her own path.
In contrast, the village is the target of the evil in the Hero‘s journey. The Hero volunteers to battle this evil, making himself an obstacle to evil, but he is not the intended target. To emphasize this point, the Hero begins by refusing the call to adventure (Un forgiven and Romancing the Stone). The village wants the Hero to be active but he must volunteer to be self-sacrificing. In this way, the Virgin and the Hero have a very different relationship to the hardship that blocks their individuation processes.
The attitude of the Virgin and the Hero toward their obstacle is also different. The obstacle for the Virgin may be her love for the people of the kingdom, those who wish to keep her from changing. and it is their love for her that eventually brings change to their view of the Virgin and the kingdom as a whole. The growth of the antagonist out of love for the Virgin is often a major feature of the story. The obstacle does not need to be evil. It may be misguided, mistaken, overprotective or unknowingly living through the Virgin.
In the Hero story, the obstacle is evil. The Hero understands that it must be destroyed, neutralized, or eliminated. Things are separated more clearly into good and evil in the Hero’s journey. The antagonist usually does not grow in a Hero story: he is killed.
Stories of the Virgin and the Hero show ways to take up personal power. They do not, however, define power in the same way. The definition of power, according to sociologist Max Weber (which I would characterize as a masculine perspective), is “the chance for a man, or a number of men, to realize their own will in a communal action even against the will of others who are participating in the action”; or “the ability of a person to impose his will upon others despite resistance” (Wallimann, 231). Power is synonymous with control, command, jurisdiction, authority, and might.
This perspective on power is built around group control. The goal of the group takes precedence over the desires of an individual or a group asserts its will over another group. Sometimes the Hero asserts his will against a group but always on behalf of others. The Hero goes against evil, alone or with a group, asserts his will for the good of his village, and gains a sense of his power.
Another definition of power, put for ward in the video Women: A True Story: 2, The Power Game offers a feminine definition of power, which is more appropriate for the Virgin. The word “power” may have originated from the Latin word posse, which was defined as “to be all that we are capable of being.” This feminine definition of power is more individual-based and captures the essence of power in the phrase “the power of love.” It is about an individual fully coming into being, without imposing her will on others.
The Virgin pursues the art of fully “Being” and comes into her power when she sorts through all the seeds of her values and lives her life accordingly (Woodman, 78). She overcomes the masculine power that is controlling her, but not by doing battle with those asserting their will against hers. She reveals her inner self and inspires people to change through their love for her, their desire for the same autonomy, or the recognition of the value she brings. She and others are propelled towards change by the valuing of joy.
The quest of the Virgin is to become all she is capable of being and in so doing create joy and happiness. The quest of the Hero is to assert his will against evil and in so doing overcome fear. Becoming an individual is the process of coming into one’s personal power, in both its feminine and masculine aspects.
There is also a difference in the roles of the supporting characters within the Virgin and Hero stories. The characters in a Virgin story are people who are out of balance. The people she loves are often the ones blocking her from following her passion. These characters grow and change with the Virgin. Hero story characters are more dualistic, clearly either good or evil. The importance of the battle of good against evil is emphasized by the tragic death of minor, truly good characters, but overall, good triumphs.
Also, the Virgin has old friends while the Hero has new allies. In the Virgin story there is often a childhood friend who stands by the Virgin and unconditionally loves her. The girlfriend in Working Girl or Maid in Manhattan and the family