The Heroine's Journey [Initial Research]

Heroine's Journey

While some will insist that the hero’s journey is applicable to both male and female  characters, there is still a lot of debate on the concept. Even just the fact that Maureen Murdock’s book (The Heroine’s Journey: Woman’s Quest for Wholeness, published by Shambhala Publications in 1990) was written as a response to Campbell’s theories and that Campbell replied with “Women don’t need to make the journey. In the whole mythological journey, the woman is there. All she has to do is realize that she’s the place that people are trying to get to.” shows that male and female characters are not treated equally within the Hero’s Journey.

In modern times, women are generally regarded as people who can make their own choices and take their own paths in life. With this realisation comes more people who want to see women as heroes and protagonists in media - and well written characters at that. This has shown that women do in fact need their own journey - a never changing, never developing protagonist would be a very dull one, so research has gone into find a version of the Hero’s Journey - or finding The Heroine’s Journey that does work and is entertaining.

Murdock’s Formula

STAGE

1.      SEPARATION FROM THE FEMININE

2.      IDENTIFICATION WITH THE MASCULINE & GATHERING OF ALLIES

3.      ROAD OF TRIALS, MEETING OGRES & DRAGONS

4.      FINDING THE BOON OF SUCCESS

5.      AWAKENING TO FEELINGS OF SPIRITUAL ARIDITY: DEATH

6.      INITIATION & DESCENT TO THE GODDESS

7.      URGENT YEARNING TO RECONNECT WITH THE FEMININE

8.      HEALING THE MOTHER/DAUGHTER SPLIT

9.      HEALING THE WOUNDED MASCULINE

10.    INTEGRATION OF MASCULINE & FEMININE

Comparison of Models

Campbell’s Hero’s Journey	Frankel's Heroine’s Journey	Stages
The World of Common Day	The World of Common Day	Innocence and Discovery
The Call To Adventure	The Call To Adventure	Innocence and Discovery
Refusal of the Call	Refusal of the Call	Innocence and Discovery
Supernatural Aid	The Ruthless Mentor and the Bladeless Talisman	Innocence and Discovery
The Crossing of the First Threshold The Belly of the Whale	The Crossing of the First Threshold Opening One’s Senses	Journey through the Unconscious
The Road of Trials	Sidekicks, Trials, Adversaries	Journey through the Unconscious
The Meeting With the Goddess Woman as the Temptress	Wedding the Animus Facing Bluebeard Finding the Sensitive Man Confronting the Powerless Father	Meeting the Other
Atonement with the Father Apotheosis	Descent into Darkness Atonement with the Mother Integration and Apotheosis	Meeting the Self
The Ultimate Boon	Reward: Winning the Family	Meeting the Self
Refusal of the Return The Magic Flight Rescue From Without The Crossing of the Return Threshold	Torn Desires The Magic Flight Reinstating the Family Return	Meeting the Self
Master of the Two Worlds	Power over Life and Death	Goddesshood and Wholeness
Freedom To Live	Ascension of the New Mother	Goddesshood and Wholeness

“In Campbell’s famous seventeen-stage framework for the Hero’s Journey, only two stages are described in terms of a role for women, and each is condescending in its own way. In the stage called “The Meeting With the Goddess,” the hero discovers or experiences powerful love, usually either in the form of a “true love” soulmate or an almost divine maternal metaphor. Such female roles are not partners or allies or equals, but figures to be honored or protected, even idolized on a pedestal. In the next stage, called “Woman as Temptress,” the hero is faced with a powerful temptation that threatens to divert him from the path of his destiny, and Campbell chose to frame the metaphor as a woman because so many classical stories used the trope of barely constrained male lust to tempt the hero. The negative implications of slapping all forms of temptation with the broad brush of women’s sexual appeal pretty much speaks for itself.” (http://fangirlblog.com/2012/04/the-heroines-journey-how-campbells-model-doesnt-fit/)

The Heroine’s Journey does apply to many more popular stories in media, and does give female protagonists a more realistic well rounded story, even if it isn’t always agreed on the stages.

For example, the Heroine’s Journey usually involves a lot more ideas or plots around family, and nurturing etc; though many people see this as a quintessential quality to woman that will be present in every female character - in reality, this is not. However, the ‘Hero’ archetype does not necessarily apply to every male either. Elements of the Hero archetype are used but is no longer present in every single story. Practically every female character on the other hand, is written with the more typical feminine characteristics that may take away from part of their personality and make the characters much more similar than a lot of male characters. That is not to say that they absolutely can not ever be shown without these qualities; Alien’s Ellen Ripley, in the first film, acts much more like how a male hero is typically written, than a female one, and her character is extremely effective for it. A comparison of Ripley within the Hero’s and Heroine’s Journey would be interesting.

“Campbell’s Model Looks Backward, Not Forward” - http://fangirlblog.com/2012/04/the-heroines-journey-how-campbells-model-doesnt-fit/

Campbell’s theories are heavily based off stories of the past, specifically myths. This, arguably, means that some parts of the Hero’s Journey is not relevant today, especially as the cultures have changed and modern stories reflect much more of contemporary culture. The Heroine’s Journey is much more heavily based off of culture as it is now, making it a more realistic and believable structure.