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English 101
A very quick guide to a Liberal Arts Degree.
Why do we have to read the stuff we are assigned in English class? Why study Mythology in 9th grade and Othello as a freshman in college?
They dont tell us and explain why?
Naturally, I am here to tell you!
Literature deals with Archetypes. The Greek Philosophers knew about Archetypes. One of them (Socrates, I think) pondered how do we know a chair is a chair? They can all look so different, how can we recognize one? His answer was that somewhere out in the Ether there is an Ideal Chair we somehow all reference when labeling a chair.
To understand Literature its easiest to use Mythology because its easier to understand, thats all. Just as Gravity is easier to grasp than Quantum Physics, its all just a way to understand the world around us. The stories in Mythology are of the Greater and Lesser Gods mixing in peoples lives and how it works out. Think the Seven Trials of Hercules for example.
Okay, lets break it down.
All literature is either Everyman as Hero or Everymans Rite of Passage.
Everyman as Hero
Perhaps 30% of all story telling.
This is a story of our Heros quest to the final goal. It must be unwavering and our Hero must never change or doubt his resolve.
The movie Die Hard is a good example. John McClain must overcome around seven trials, defeat the minions and best the bad guy. He is Everyman forced into the Hero role and fights to the end to overcome all odds.
The Everyman as Hero often has a single companion. Some authors use this role as Companion as Chronicler to make our hero larger than life. Often, but not always, if there is a narrator in a movie its to make our Hero larger than life.
Examples are:
Dr. Watson for Sherlock Holmes
Scout for Atticus Finch
Archie for Nero Wolfe
...
English 101
A very quick guide to a Liberal Arts Degree.
Why do we have to read the stuff we are assigned in English class? Why study Mythology in 9th grade and Othello as a freshman in college?
They dont tell us and explain why?
Naturally, I am here to tell you!
Literature deals with Archetypes. The Greek Philosophers knew about Archetypes. One of them (Socrates, I think) pondered how do we know a chair is a chair? They can all look so different, how can we recognize one? His answer was that somewhere out in the Ether there is an Ideal Chair we somehow all reference when labeling a chair.
To understand Literature its easiest to use Mythology because its easier to understand, thats all. Just as Gravity is easier to grasp than Quantum Physics, its all just a way to understand the world around us. The stories in Mythology are of the Greater and Lesser Gods mixing in peoples lives and how it works out. Think the Seven Trials of Hercules for example.
Okay, lets break it down.
All literature is either Everyman as Hero or Everymans Rite of Passage.
Everyman as Hero
Perhaps 30% of all story telling.
This is a story of our Heros quest to the final goal. It must be unwavering and our Hero must never change or doubt his resolve.
The movie Die Hard is a good example. John McClain must overcome around seven trials, defeat the minions and best the bad guy. He is Everyman forced into the Hero role and fights to the end to overcome all odds.
The Everyman as Hero often has a single companion. Some authors use this role as Companion as Chronicler to make our hero larger than life. Often, but not always, if there is a narrator in a movie its to make our Hero larger than life.
Examples are:
Dr. Watson for Sherlock Holmes
Scout for Atticus Finch
Archie for Nero Wolfe
A subset of Everyman as Hero is to put our Hero back on the path. In this case, a Greater God (of mythology) will intervene to put our guy back who has strayed and is lost. This is a character who is larger than life and seems to mix up our Heros life and make it a mess but in the end there is resolution.
Sometimes an author will simply cast this Greater God as an actual supernatural creature.
Examples are:
Ghosts of Past, Present and Future in Christmas Carol
Michael, the John Travolta flick.
Morgan Freeman in Bruce Almighty
The Cat in the Hat.
Sometimes, more common, is the character is just larger than life and seems to make our Heros life a mess until our Hero sees the light.
Examples are:
Barbara Streisand in Whats Up Doc (one of her lines is, you cant fight a tidal wave!)
Goldie Hawn in Banger Sisters
In all cases, our Hero in the end realizes hes been off the path and resolves to continue his journey in the correct way.
Everymans Rite of Passage
About 70% of all story telling.
These are stories about growing up! Our romantic comedies in which the Hero finally changes to achieve the goal is a great example. The key here is change. He must choose to change and therefore become an adult.
Our Hero typically is encouraged by a Lesser God like a Muse (TV Guide calls them a kooky gamin) or by a Greater God like Aphrodite. The Muse is usually over-the-top as a character. Aphrodite is unchanging and solid and offers love (and sex).
When I was taking a class in playwriting our teacher always asked whos play is it? after being assigned a play to read. The answer is always the one who is offered a chance to change.
In Theater we have the Comedy Tragedy masks because if our Hero changes its a comedy, if our Hero refuses to change its a Tragedy.
So, the first thing to ask is whos story is it?..Who makes the change?
Some real quick examples:
Darryl Hannah makes the change in Roxanne. Steve Martin is the Muse.
John Cusack makes the change in High Fidelity. Laura is Aphrodite.
Harrison Ford makes the change in Six Days, Seven Nights. Anne Heche is Aphrodite.
Jerry Payne makes the change in The Sterile Cuckoo. Liza Minnelli is the Muse.
Richard Gere makes the change in Pretty Woman. Julia Roberts is the Muse.
This is one of the things that make Pretty Woman such a fine movie. We think, in the beginning, of Julia as Aphrodite since shes a hooker. But, sex is not the issue, she is actually the Muse, the kinda goofy inspiration for Richard Gere to grow up and change (how he does business) and then claim it. Certainly the best books, poems and movies are often a surprise how the roles play out. Pretty Woman sets us up to think one thing and then we find out shes a Muse instead of Aphrodite and therefore the movie is far more interesting. Its Richard Geres story.
Heros have two kinds of companions. The purpose is to compare and be able to measure the heroics of our Hero!
The first kind is faithful companion. He is rather ordinary but devoted to our Heros adventures.
The second kind is the Lesser God, Loki. This guy is a trickster and is always offering bad advice. Iago in Othello or Jason Alexander in Pretty Woman are good examples. I like this example a lot because faithful companion is like a good dog and The Trickster in some mythology is the wolf so, doglike but not really.
So, the reason your teachers make you read certain books or plays or watch certain movies is that they are illustrations of how an author has portrayed a Hero in an interesting way.
Ask these questions:
Whose story is it?
Unwavering Hero or Hero Off the Path?
Is the inspiration to change a Muse or Aphrodite?
Is the companion a chronicler, faithful servant or a trickster?
Is a Greater God putting our Hero back on the path? (Dont confuse with Lesser God trickster or Muse).
Once these questions are answered, the story is much more interesting and you can enjoy it more!
All stories deal with Archetypes. Its easier to understand them using Mythology. Freud built his entire Psychoanalysis around the archetypes found in Oedipus Rex.
Read, listen or watch any story and you will find they fall into these categories and now you can analyze them and have a greater appreciation for the story-telling.
And THAT is why you are made to study Mythology and then read Moby Dick, Othello, To Kill a Mockingbird and The Grapes of Wrath!
A very quick guide to a Liberal Arts Degree.
Why do we have to read the stuff we are assigned in English class? Why study Mythology in 9th grade and Othello as a freshman in college?
They dont tell us and explain why?
Naturally, I am here to tell you!
Literature deals with Archetypes. The Greek Philosophers knew about Archetypes. One of them (Socrates, I think) pondered how do we know a chair is a chair? They can all look so different, how can we recognize one? His answer was that somewhere out in the Ether there is an Ideal Chair we somehow all reference when labeling a chair.
To understand Literature its easiest to use Mythology because its easier to understand, thats all. Just as Gravity is easier to grasp than Quantum Physics, its all just a way to understand the world around us. The stories in Mythology are of the Greater and Lesser Gods mixing in peoples lives and how it works out. Think the Seven Trials of Hercules for example.
Okay, lets break it down.
All literature is either Everyman as Hero or Everymans Rite of Passage.
Everyman as Hero
Perhaps 30% of all story telling.
This is a story of our Heros quest to the final goal. It must be unwavering and our Hero must never change or doubt his resolve.
The movie Die Hard is a good example. John McClain must overcome around seven trials, defeat the minions and best the bad guy. He is Everyman forced into the Hero role and fights to the end to overcome all odds.
The Everyman as Hero often has a single companion. Some authors use this role as Companion as Chronicler to make our hero larger than life. Often, but not always, if there is a narrator in a movie its to make our Hero larger than life.
Examples are:
Dr. Watson for Sherlock Holmes
Scout for Atticus Finch
Archie for Nero Wolfe
...