The Virgin's Promise. Kim Hudson
archetype.
TABLE 3. Comparison of the Archetypal Features of the Crone, Hag, Mentor, and Miser
The Language of Symbols
Writers know the adage “Show, don’t tell.” This phrase points to a fundamental feature of archetypes: they speak through symbols. On-the-nose dialogue addresses the brain. Symbols address the unconscious and the soul of people, which is much more powerful and engaging than an appeal to the brain. Carl Jung recognized that archetypes are moved from our unconscious to our consciousness through symbols (Jung, 1976, 321), which explains why film is such a powerful medium for the expression of archetypal stories: it can be embedded with a wealth of symbols.
Metaphors are word images rather than words of direct meaning. In Billy Elliot, for example, the writer could address the brain with Billy saying, “I am struggling to find a place for my feminine energy which needs to be expressed through dance, and I need you to accept this part of me and not assume I’m gay. Mom would.” Instead we are given dialogue and images of Billy caring for and feeding his grandmother, who is under valued by the men; sitting at his deceased mother’s piano, trying to play the piano and being rebuffed by his dad; hating boxing classes, which his father highly values; coming alive in dancing classes; and watching his father bust up his mother’s piano to burn for heat. The words and pictures that speak symbolically have a much more powerful effect, even though they send the same message as the direct words. A symbol holds more meaning than words can explicitly state and opens up new avenues for understanding (Jung, 1976, 307).
Jung wrote, “Meaning only comes when people feel they are living the symbolic life, that they are actors in the divine drama” (Hollis, 2004, 11). This statement ties into another fundamental principle of screenwriting — audiences need a protagonist they can relate to. Virgins and Heroes are symbols for the universal need to stand on your own. When a symbol connects with the unconscious it generates energy that makes a person feel alive and ready to take on a transformation (Stein, 81). This is when character arc occurs. “When we resonate to this incarnated energy, we know we are in the presence of Soul” (Hollis, 1995, 9), and it gives the power to overcome hardship. The key to writing strong, relatable characters is finding symbols that personify the archetypes and make them recognizable.
The essential three acts of life appear in our culture as the trinities. They are the Holy Trinity of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost, or the Celtic Trilogy of the Maiden, the Mother and the Crone. Each of these has a shadow counterpart, making twelve core archetypes. These essential archetypes can be known by many names. There may also be other archetypes that function beyond these twelve, but they represent the minimum a screenwriter needs to be familiar with. Table 4 includes examples of the range of male and female descriptive names in each category.
TABLE 4. Various Names Associated with the Twelve Core Archetypes
Archetypal journeys are not one-time events which occur at a certain age. Each time a social organization places someone at odds with their true nature, the Virgin archetype provides guidance towards becoming authentic. Any time something valued is threatened the Hero archetype may rise to save it. These moments can happen at any age and any number of times in a story.
Also, a character is not restricted to embodying a single archetype. The Virgin may play the Whore for a while, to emphasize the consequences of not realizing her dream. The Hero may play the Virgin as seen when a Prince is frustrated by the duties he is born to. Each archetype, however, represents a pivotal transformation and a protagonist generally follows one major journey.
Comparison of the Virgin and Hero
Virgin and Hero stories explore the theme of knowing yourself as an individual. Jung defined individuation as “the personal struggle for consciousness,” which begins with the understanding that you can exist as an individual (Stein, 174). The Virgin frees herself from dependency on her family of origin by connecting to her inner world. She expands her values to include her personal choice by developing her sensuality, creativity, and spirituality in a drive towards joy. The Hero achieves a sense of his ability to exist in the larger world by travelling to a strange land without anyone to provide food, shelter and safety for him and by challenging evil. He is learning to be brave, clever, skilled, strong, and rugged in a drive to overcome his fear of death.
The Virgin and the Hero story patterns are in many ways polar opposites of one another, two halves that make up a whole. Although they are both stories of learning to stand alone, the Virgin story is about knowing her dream for herself and bringing it to life while surrounded by the influences of her kingdom (Ever After). The Hero story is about facing mortal danger by leaving his village and proving he can exist in a larger world (Willow). The Virgin shifts her values over the course of her story to fully be herself in the world. The Hero is focused on developing his skills to actively do things that need to be done in the world. The Virgin is about self-fulfillment, while the Hero is about self-sacrifice. They represent the two driving forces in humans when faced with challenges: propelled towards the joy of being in harmony with yourself (Virgin’s journey); or driven away from fear to face hardship and conquer it bravely (Hero’s journey).
In Jungian terms, the Virgin must overcome her Father, or Ophelia, Complex, which is a need to please and conform to others’ values. Ophelia, in Shakespeare’s Hamlet, is a young, sheltered girl who is used by her father to gain information about Prince Hamlet after he notices Hamlet is draw n to Ophelia’s beauty. A pawn to her father, superficially loved and later considered a whore by Hamlet, Ophelia eventually goes insane.
The Ophelia story illustrates the theme of how the Virgin must stop conforming to the wishes or beliefs of others or suffer greatly. Dependent on her father for love and security, and therefore unwilling to disturb his world of tradition, commerce, protection, and order, Ophelia adapts to her father’s values at the expense of her own.
The Virgin may even be proud to be useful to her father and enjoy his attention. Her over-identification with father-centered values will eventually leave her feeling empty until her own instincts towards creativity, sexuality or spirituality begin to rise. These feminine qualities make the father uncomfortable because they threaten his ordered world. The Virgin learns that she must place her own values and vision for her life ahead of those of her father (Murdock, xiii, 89) as seen in Bollywood /Hollywood and Billy Elliot.
The vision the Virgin has for herself could be a choice of lover, one who adores her rather than one who meets societal expectations of sexual orientation or social status (Broke back Mountain and Shakespeare in Love). She may dream of being a dancer, crusader, singer, soccer player, or boxer while her family, school or social class disapprove (Strictly Ballroom, Erin Brockovich, Bend It Like Beckham). She may have a spiritual need to reach for a sports achievement against impossible odds (Rocky, Angels in the Outfield). She must look inside herself and reach for her dream regardless of what others envision for her.
The Hero’s journey is the path to overcoming his Mother, or Oedipal, Complex, which is a desire to cling to the comforts of home at the expense of knowing the bigger world. In Sophocles’ Oedipus the King, Oedipus is a tragic character who inadvertently kills his father and marries his mother. This cautionary tale warns of the dangers of not separating from the place of origin.
The Hero must overcome his trepidations about leaving the warmth of the village, the metaphoric womb, and venture into the unknown to face his fear of death. He will only truly know that he can stand alone once he has proven himself in a foreign and inhospitable land. The Hero is motivated by the need to keep the village (or the maternal) safe but ultimately gains the knowledge that he has the skill to beat back death and live autonomously.
The differences between the Virgin and Hero themes illustrate the internal and external aspects of the process of