The hero’s quest

The universal hero

• A number of scholars have studied folktales and myths

• Themes and characters recur over wide expanses of time and space– Unconscious conflict (Freud)– Archetypes (Jung)– Morphology of the folktale (Propp)– The monomyth

Vladimir Propp

• His Morphology of the Folk Tale was published in Russian in 1928.

• “By analyzing character and action types, Propp concluded that there were 31 generic narratemes in the Russian folk tale. While not all were present, he found that all the tales he had analyzed displayed the functions in unvarying sequence.”– Wikipedia

Morphology of the folktale

• Vladimir Propp outlined a number of functions that could be found in multiple Russian folktales– Though they might take somewhat different shapes,

their function in the tales was identical– They occurred in the same order regardless of the tale– They centered around a conflict between protagonist

and antagonist (usually personifying good and evil) and the quest the protagonist (hero) would need to undertake to make the world right

31 functions• A member of a family leaves home (the hero is introduced);• An interdiction is addressed to the hero ('don't go there',

'don't do this');• The interdiction is violated (villain enters the tale);• The villain makes an attempt at reconnaissance (either

villain tries to find the children/jewels etc; or intended victim questions the villain);

• The villain gains information about the victim;• The villain attempts to deceive the victim to take

possession of victim or victim's belongings (trickery; villain disguised, tries to win confidence of victim);

• Victim taken in by deception, unwittingly helping the enemy;

• Villain causes harm/injury to family member (by abduction, theft of magical agent, spoiling crops, plunders in other forms, causes a disappearance, expels someone, casts spell on someone, substitutes child etc, comits murder, imprisons/detains someone, threatens forced marriage, provides nightly torments); Alternatively, a member of family lacks something or desires something (magical potion etc);

• Misfortune or lack is made known, (hero is dispatched, hears call for help etc/ alternative is that victimized hero is sent away, freed from imprisonment);

• Seeker agrees to, or decides upon counter-action;• Hero leaves home;

• Hero is tested, interrogated, attacked etc, preparing the way for his/her receiving magical agent or helper (donor);

• Hero reacts to actions of future donor (withstands/fails the test, frees captive, reconciles disputants, performs service, uses adversary's powers against him);

• Hero acquires use of a magical agent (directly transferred, located, purchased, prepared, spontaneously appears, eaten/drunk, help offered by other characters);

• Hero is transferred, delivered or led to whereabouts of an object of the search;

• Hero and villain join in direct combat;• Hero is branded (wounded/marked, receives

ring or scarf);• Villain is defeated (killed in combat, defeated

in contest, killed while asleep, banished);• Initial misfortune or lack is resolved (object of

search distributed, spell broken, slain person revivied, captive freed);

• Hero returns;• Hero is pursued (pursuer tries to kill, eat,

undermine the hero);• Hero is rescued from pursuit (obstacles delay

pursuer, hero hides or is hidden, hero transforms unrecognisably, hero saved from attempt on his/her life);

• Hero unrecognized, arrives home or in another country;

• False hero presents unfounded claims;• Difficult task proposed to the hero (trial by

ordeal, riddles, test of strength/endurance, other tasks);

• Task is resolved;

• Hero is recognized (by mark, brand, or thing given to him/her);

• False hero or villain is exposed;• Hero is given a new appearance (is made

whole, handsome, new garments etc);• Villain is punished;• Hero marries and ascends the throne (is

rewarded/promoted).

Characters

• The characters in the folktales could be grouped according to their roles in the story– Very different ‘types’ of characters could perform

the same roles• Heros could be male or female, children or adults, etc.

– Individual characters could perform multiple roles

Propp’s character roles

• The villain — struggles against the hero.• The donor — prepares the hero or gives the hero

some magical object.• The (magical) helper — helps the hero in the

quest.• The princess and her father — gives the task to

the hero, identifies the false hero, marries the hero, often sought for during the narrative. – Propp noted that functionally, the princess and the

father can not be clearly distinguished.

• The dispatcher — character who makes the lack known and sends the hero off.

• The hero or victim/seeker hero — reacts to the donor, weds the princess.

• False hero/anti-hero/usurper — takes credit for the hero’s actions or tries to marry the princess.

• Multiple roles might be assigned to a single character or multiple characters might perform a single function

Campbell’s monomyth• Joseph Campbell became famous for his book

The Hero with a Thousand Faces (1949) that developed a theoretical treatment of myths from ancient to contemporary times and encompassing cultures from widely scattered countries

• He derived a ‘monomyth’ that resembles Propp’s analysis in some ways, but varies in others

• Much of Campbell’s work is based on Freud’s and Jung’s theories about ‘universal’ human consciousness and internal conflicts

Campbell’s monomyth• Campbell's insight was that important myths from around the world

which have survived for thousands of years, all share a fundamental structure. This fundamental structure contains a number of stages, which includes

• A call to adventure, which the hero has to accept or decline• A road of trials, regarding which the hero succeeds or fails• Achieving the goal or "boon", which often results in important self-

knowledge• A return to the ordinary world, again as to which the hero can succeed or

fail• Applying the boon, in which what the hero has gained can be used to

improve the world• “ A hero ventures forth from the world of common day into a region of

supernatural wonder: fabulous forces are there encountered and a decisive victory is won: the hero comes back from this mysterious adventure with the power to bestow boons on his fellow man.”

• http://orias.berkeley.edu/hero/index.htm

Themes

• Transformation of the hero– In most stories, the hero is transformed by the quest,

often gaining insight and understanding that raise him above his fellows• The transformed hero is then able to bestow a ‘boon’ upon

others

• Courage– All heroes must be courageous

• Usually expressed through self-sacrifice– Sometimes must be convinced but ultimately must

choose the courageous way

Themes

• Good versus evil– The hero usually represents the good• In most simplistic formats, the opposition is clear• Often beauty is tied to the protagonist, physically

symbolizing good, and ugliness tied to the antagonist/bad character– Light v. dark

• In a similar vein, American philosopher John Shelton Lawrence and American religious scholar Robert Jewett have discussed an "American Monomyth" in many of their books, The American Monomyth, The Myth of the American Superhero, and Captain American and the Crusade of Zealous Nationalism. They present this as an American reaction to the Campbellian monomyth.

• The "American Monomyth" storyline is: A community in a harmonious paradise is threatened by evil; normal institutions fail to contend with this threat; a selfless superhero emerges to renounce temptations and carry out the redemptive task; aided by fate, his decisive victory restores the community to its paradisiacal condition; the superhero then recedes into obscurity.