Glad to see some others still finding inspiration in the work of Joseph Campbell. I really see the Hero's Journey as a metaphor for life and so many parallels between Campbell's framework and the great philosophers. Cheers!
Just released, The Queen’s Path, by Stacey Simmons, discusses the very different journey women take on the female version of the Hero’s Journey. We have divided roles: a woman in search of a relationship or a powerful woman who is ostracized and labeled witch/bitch. Dr. Simmons lays out the mostly internal struggles woman must experience and resolve to take sovereignty over their lives.
Yes, that book sounds quite interesting in expressing the many conflicts in a woman's life and how a worman's journey differs from her male counterparts.
However, as a story structure (a method of telling a story,) I think many female protagonists follow the cyclical structure, even if only for a segment of a life. Jane Eyre is a perfect example. She is forced into the adventure at Lowood School and returns home to her aunt's house emboldened and wiser, changed from the experience. Then she embarks willingly on her adventure of being a governess which is a big cycle, including the St-John Rivers portion, but eventually, she returns to her own history, changed by love, passion, wisdom, forgiveness. Of course, she was a woman in search of love (I'm not sure she was searching for a relationship; I don't think she believed she would ever have one but she did want to be loved.) And she was also a powerful woman who wouldn't compromise her values. So I think in terms of who she was as a woman, Dr Simmons could probably use her as an example of a woman experiencing struggle to take sovreignty over her life...but, in telling the story, Charlotte Bronte employed the Hero's Journey to make her readers understand it.
Thanks for mentioning "The Queen's Path" here. Its interesting to ponder.
Marjorie, what you just did w/ this little ditty, is just what this writer needed to read in this very moment. This writer who has her 7 plot points for her memoir + has written out an ending + is inching from one beat to the next...and yet, she needed to read something as elemental as this, nothing new...but resonating in this moment to inspire a return to her outline + taking it apart + seeing just what is missing...thank you.
Glad to see some others still finding inspiration in the work of Joseph Campbell. I really see the Hero's Journey as a metaphor for life and so many parallels between Campbell's framework and the great philosophers. Cheers!
Just released, The Queen’s Path, by Stacey Simmons, discusses the very different journey women take on the female version of the Hero’s Journey. We have divided roles: a woman in search of a relationship or a powerful woman who is ostracized and labeled witch/bitch. Dr. Simmons lays out the mostly internal struggles woman must experience and resolve to take sovereignty over their lives.
Yes, that book sounds quite interesting in expressing the many conflicts in a woman's life and how a worman's journey differs from her male counterparts.
However, as a story structure (a method of telling a story,) I think many female protagonists follow the cyclical structure, even if only for a segment of a life. Jane Eyre is a perfect example. She is forced into the adventure at Lowood School and returns home to her aunt's house emboldened and wiser, changed from the experience. Then she embarks willingly on her adventure of being a governess which is a big cycle, including the St-John Rivers portion, but eventually, she returns to her own history, changed by love, passion, wisdom, forgiveness. Of course, she was a woman in search of love (I'm not sure she was searching for a relationship; I don't think she believed she would ever have one but she did want to be loved.) And she was also a powerful woman who wouldn't compromise her values. So I think in terms of who she was as a woman, Dr Simmons could probably use her as an example of a woman experiencing struggle to take sovreignty over her life...but, in telling the story, Charlotte Bronte employed the Hero's Journey to make her readers understand it.
Thanks for mentioning "The Queen's Path" here. Its interesting to ponder.
Marjorie, what you just did w/ this little ditty, is just what this writer needed to read in this very moment. This writer who has her 7 plot points for her memoir + has written out an ending + is inching from one beat to the next...and yet, she needed to read something as elemental as this, nothing new...but resonating in this moment to inspire a return to her outline + taking it apart + seeing just what is missing...thank you.
Yes. It's having the same grounding effect for me, too. Good luck with your memoir and happy writing.
Thank you for the inspiration!
Anytime.