The Hero has a thousand faces, but are any of them female?

[cyshobbitlass]

So my sister (she's a high school freshman) has been learning about the classic or archetypical hero in english class this year, in order. This hero is most easily explained in Joseph Campell's Hero With a Thousand Faces which um, I have never actually read but have a pretty good grasp of the basic concepts of (weee wikipedia link).

So Deva has

Comments

[misstopia]

My little sister actually did a paper with that list of traits you posted up, and used Dany as her topic. She is maybe not the main character but only because the series tries to be pluralistic; she's obviously one of the three most main characters though.

[cyshobbitlass]

I just told my sister that and she went "huh."
XD

I'm just having trouble thinking of traditional classic heroes that are female and in the collective unconscious and it bothers me.

Hmm, maybe Leelo from the Fith Element? I don't remember that movie very much but she felt stock hero-y. Also maybe the main character of uhhh I can think of a few from modern fantasy lit but nothing really big like Luke Skywalker, ya know?

[misstopia]

I mean Dany's AGOT chapters were independently published as a novella, and her story in general still works that way. It just happens to be intercut with others' stories.

Well one of the reasons I love the fairy tale The Snow Queen is because Gerda pretty much is a classic hero as far as I can tell, she has a quest, someone to save, is the only one with the answer to the Snow Queen's riddle, etc.

It should bother you! There's a lack of female characters in many important roles, including the everywoman. (Since you mention her that's why I liked Cat's AGOT arc so much even though she's OMG bitchiest bitch that ever bitched in that book; she was more than the Penelope then.)

I also, I dunno ... I think GIRLS get to be heroes more often than WOMEN, maybe that's just me though?

[cyshobbitlass]

I've never actually read the Snow Queen but people are always talking about it. I really should.

One interesting thing with Cat is that, at least on the back of my edition of AGOT she seems to be touted as the female hero "a determined woman undertakes the most treacherous of journeys"

Uhhhh or is that supposed to be Dany? I always thought it was Cat and they were overstating the danger for her just a little, lol.

Well, I kinda love Penelope. Idk why.

I also, I dunno ... I think GIRLS get to be heroes more often than WOMEN

It's not just you, it's true. Look at all of our examples? How many would be legal to vote?

[angerfish]

I'd argue Phedre counts.

Maybe Fire from uhhh Fire by Kristin Cashore. XD

[angerfish]

I was about to argue Katniss, but I'm not sure she fits many of the requirements.

[cyshobbitlass]

lol yeah. I guess she's a hero but not the classic hero archetype.

[angerfish]

Yeah iirc that involves a certain amount of her being tempted/learning to enjoy a place different from where she grew up, and Katniss is never tempted to by the capitol ever.

[esc_key]

Alanna would I think. She also pretends to be a boy though. I don't know if that helps or hurts with the humble origin things. It's sort of like Fa Mulan, maybe.

I'd also consider Robin McKinley's Damar books? I think maybe Aerin more than Harry? IDK.

What about on TV? Like Xena or Buffy?

[cyshobbitlass]

*headesk*

OMG Buffy. I cannot believe I forgot Buffy. Buffy is like the exact archetypical hero that they made a girl just to be different.

Maybe Xena too. I forget a lot of that show even though I used to love it. I feel like she was a little anti-hero, but maybe that was just her snark.

And yeah, Mulan would count too.

[esc_key]

Maybe Xena too. I forget a lot of that show even though I used to love it. I feel like she was a little anti-hero, but maybe that was just her snark.
Right, that's true. Her friend Gabrielle was always good though, and she came from rough beginnings. Maybe Xena could be the father figure in that monomyth then? haha.

[cyshobbitlass]

But Gaby is her sidekick....

fighting with her little stick? XD

[hamsterwoman]

Dany was the first one I thought of when reading through the list of traits -- although of course her quest isn't anywhere near finished.

I think Phedre would definitely work, yeah (and she is definitely more of a mythical hero than Imriel, for instance).

I only vaguely remember the details of Alanna's original adventures, but I think she works... Daine (of The Immortals quartet, also set in Tortall) definitely works though.

[cyshobbitlass]

Yeah, I think Dany definitely counts.

Phedre is one, I think. By Imriel's story she has become the mentor who can only take him so far. But he is much less of a classic hero than her (and more related-able because of it imo)

I really should read Tortall, have been putting these off for years.

[gogoratchet]

What about whatsherbucket from the Golden Compass?

[cyshobbitlass]

Ooo, good one. I don't think Lyra's a perfect fit but I think falls into enough of these to count.