What Does Prince Prospero Symbolize

Definition of Archetype

An archetype is a literary device in which a grapheme is created based on a set of qualities or traits that are specific and identifiable for readers. The term archetype is derived from the studies and writings of psychologist Carl Jung who believed that archetypes are office of humanity's collective unconscious or memory of universal experiences. In a literary context, characters (and sometimes images or themes) that symbolically embody universal meanings and basic man experiences, contained of fourth dimension or place, are considered archetypes.

For example, one of the most common literary archetypes is theHero. The hero is mostly the protagonist of a narrative and displays ubiquitous characteristics such as courage, perseverance, sacrifice, and ascent to challenge. Though heroes may appear in unlike literary forms beyond time and culture, their characterization tends to be universal thus making them archetypal characters.

Common Examples and Descriptions of Literary Archetypes

As a rule, there are twelve primary character types that symbolize basic homo motivations and stand for literary archetypes. Here is a list of these example literary archetypes and their general descriptions:

Lover: graphic symbol guided by emotion and passion of the center
Hero: protagonist that rises to a claiming
Outlaw: character that is rebellious or outside societal conventions or demands
Magician: powerful character that understands and uses universal forces
Explorer: grapheme that is driven to explore the unknown and across boundaries
Sage: character with wisdom, knowledge, or mentor qualities
Creator:visionary character that creates something pregnant
Innocent:"pure" character in terms of morality or intentions
Caregiver:supportive character that often sacrifices for others
Jester:Character that provides humour and comic relief with occasional wisdom
Everyman:Grapheme recognized as average, relatable, found in everyday life
Ruler:Character with power of others, whether in terms of law or emotion

Examples of Classic in Shakespearean Works

William Shakespeare utilized classic often equally a literary device in his plays. Here are some examples of archetype in Shakespearean works:

Lover: Romeo ("Romeo and Juliet"), Juliet ("Romeo and Juliet"), Antony ("Antony and Cleopatra")
Hero: Othello ("Othello"), Hamlet ("Village"), Macduff ("Macbeth")
Outlaw: Prince Hal ("Henry Four"), Edmund ("King Lear"), Falstaff ("Henry IV")
Wizard: Prospero ("The Tempest"), The Witches ("Macbeth"), Soothsayer ("Julius Caesar")
Sage: Polonius ("Hamlet"), Friar Laurence ("Romeo and Juliet"), Gonzalo ("The Tempest")
Innocent: Viola ("Twelfth Night"), Ophelia ("Hamlet"), Hero ("Much Ado about Nothing")
Caregiver: Nurse ("Romeo and Juliet"), Mercutio ("Romeo and Juliet"), Ursula ("Much Ado nearly Nothing")
Jester: Touchstone ("As You Like Information technology'), Feste ("Twelfth Nighttime"), Fool ("Male monarch Lear")
Everyman: Lucentio ("The Taming of the Shrew"), Valentine ("The Two Gentelmen of Verona"), Florizel ("The Winter's Tale")
Ruler: King Lear ("King Lear"), Claudius ("Hamlet"), Alonso ("The Tempest")

Famous Examples of Archetype in Popular Culture

Think you don't know of any famous archetypes? Hither are some well-known examples of archetype in pop culture:

Lovers: Ross and Rachel (Friends), Scarlett O'Hara (Gone with the Wind), Jack and Rose (Titanic)
Heroes: Frodo Baggins (The Lord of the Rings), Luke Skywalker (Star Wars), Mulan (Mulan)
Outlaws: Han Solo (Star Wars), Star-Lord/Peter Quill (Marvel Universe), Ferris Bueller (Ferris Bueller's Day Off)
Magicians: Gandalf (The Lord of the Rings), Dumbledore (Harry Potter), Doctor Strange (Curiosity Universe)
Explorers: Huck Finn (The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn), Indiana Jones (Indiana Jones), Captain Kirk (Star Trek)
Sages: Atticus Finch (To Impale a Mockingbird), Jiminy Cricket (Disney'sPinocchio), Obi-Wan Kenobi (Star Wars)
Creators: Victor Frankenstein (Frankenstein), Willy Wonka (Charlie and the Chocolate Factory), Daniel Plainview (At that place Will Be Blood)
Innocents: Tiny Tim (A Christmas Ballad), Dorothy (The Sorcerer of Oz), Forrest Gump (Forrest Gump)
Caregivers: Mary Poppins (Mary Poppins), Alice (The Brady Bunch), Marge Simpson (The Simpsons)
Jesters: Ass (Shrek), Kramer (Seinfeld), Eric Cartman (Southpark)
Everyman Characters: The Dude (The Big Lebowski), Homer Simpson (The Simpsons), Jim Halpert (The Office)
Rulers: Daenerys Targaryen (Game of Thrones), T'Challa/Black Panter (Curiosity Universe), Don Corleone (The Godfather)

Difference Betwixt Classic and Stereotype

Information technology can be difficult to distinguish the difference between archetype and stereotype when information technology comes to literary characters. In general, archetypes function as a literary device with the intent of complex characterization. They assign characters with specific qualities and traits that are identifiable and recognizable to readers of literary works. Stereotypes function more than as limited and oftentimes negative labels assigned to characters.

For case, the movie "The Breakfast Club" features characters that are far more stereotypical than archetypal. This movie features 5 representations of "typical" teenagers such as a impaired jock, conceited rich girl, skinny nerd, misunderstood rebel, and disaffected slacker that are forced to spend fourth dimension together. These representations include what may appear to be archetypes in that they are identifiable by the audience. Yet, they role much more equally stereotypes in the sense that their characterization is oversimplified and primarily negative. The characters assume their given stereotypical roles rather than display the complex characterization generally demonstrated by archetypes.

Writing Archetype

Overall, as a literary device, archetype functions as a ways of portraying characters with recurring and identifiable traits and qualities that span fourth dimension and culture. This is effective for readers in that archetypes set up recognizable patterns of characterization in literary works. When a reader is able to identify an archetypal character, they can anticipate that graphic symbol'due south role and/or purpose in the narrative. This not merely leads to expectations, only engagement as well on the part of the reader.

It'south essential that writers behave in mind that their audience must have a reasonably articulate understanding of how the grapheme reflects a particular classic in order for it to exist effective. If the label of the archetype is not made clear to the reader, then that level of literary significant will be lost. Of course, archetypal characters can be circuitous and fully realized. However, they must be recognizable as such for the reader on some level.

Here are some ways that writers benefit from incorporating classic into their work:

Institute Universal Characters

Archetypal characters are recurrent when information technology comes to man experience, particularly in art. A literary classic represents a character that appears universal and therefore gives readers a sense of recognition and familiarity. This ability to relate to an archetypal character alleviates a writer's brunt of excessive or unnecessary description, explanation, and exposition. Due to a reader's experience, they are able to understand traits and characteristics of archetypes in literature in an almost instinctual way without detailed explication.

Establish Contrasting Characters

Archetypes tin can also help writers plant contrasting characters, sometimes known every bit foils. In general, a literary work does not characteristic simply one archetypal character. Since readers accept an sensation of the inherent and typical characteristics of an archetype, this can create contrast against other characters in the narrative that are either archetypes themselves or not. Therefore, writers are able to create conflict and contrast betwixt characters that are logical and recognizable for the reader.

Examples of Archetype in Literature

Archetype is an constructive literary device as a means of creating characters with which the reader can identify. Here are some examples of literary archetypes and how they add to the significance of well-known literary works:

Example 1: Nick Carraway: Everyman (The Nifty Gatsby, F. Scott Fitzgerald)

In my younger and more vulnerable years my father gave me some communication that I've been turning over in my mind ever since. "Whenever y'all feel like criticizing any one," he told me, "just call back that all the people in this earth haven't had the advantages that y'all've had."

In this passage, Fitzgerald establishes for the reader that Nick Carraway's character is not just the narrator of the novel, but an "lowest" archetype as well. Though Nick'south father reminds him of "advantages" that he's had, Nick is nevertheless considered the novel'due south nigh relatable and "boilerplate" grapheme. Therefore, every bit an everyman archetype, the reader is able to identify with Nick and consequently trust his observations and narration of the events of the story. This allows Nick'south character to influence the style in which the reader engages with the novel's characters and events, as his everyman actions and interactions become vicarious experiences for Fitzgerald'due south audience also.

Example two: Ma Joad: Caregiver (The Grapes of Wrath, John Steinbeck)

Her hazel eyes seemed to take experienced all possible tragedy and to accept mounted pain and suffering like steps into a loftier at-home and a superhuman agreement. She seemed to know, to accept, to welcome her position, the citadel of the family, the strong identify that could not be taken. And since erstwhile Tom and the children could not know hurt or fear unless she acknowledged injure and fear, she had expert denying them in herself.

In Steinbeck's heart-breaking novel, the female characters represent a life strength. This is epitomized by Ma Joad'southward character as a "caregiver" archetype. Ma Joad is not merely literally a caregiver in the sense that she is the mother of the protagonist and cares for her family, merely she is as well an archetypal caregiver in the sense that she makes sacrifices in social club to treat others. Readers' recognition of the label of Ma Joad as a caregiver allows Steinbeck to portray her as a traditional and symbolic mother figure.

Notwithstanding, Steinbeck elaborates on this archetype by portraying the effects of these caregiver traits on Ma Joad's character. Rather than establishing her equally a passive maternal character which would be identifiable and understood by a commonage readership, Steinbeck reveals the universal consequences of this archetype's traits on the graphic symbol herself. Ma Joad is a universal character, yet her graphic symbol also has a universal agreement and experience of tragedy and suffering. This makes her role and sacrifices as a caregiver even more meaningful.

Example iii: Sancho Panza: Jester (Don Quixote, Miguel de Cervantes)

The virtually perceptive grapheme in a play is the fool, because the human who wishes to seem unproblematic cannot possibly be a simpleton.

In Miguel de Cervantes' novel, Sancho Panza reflects the complexity and importance of the "jester" archetype. Every bit Don Quixote's sidekick, Sancho Panza provides humor and comic relief as a contrast to the title character's idealism. However, as Sancho Panza'south character becomes more developed in the novel, his jester archetype develops as well into a vocalisation of reason and example of empathy and loyalty. This is beneficial for the reader in that, though they are contrasting characters, Sancho Panza every bit a jester abreast Don Quixote becomes a more legitimate and influential character. In turn, the jester classic legitimizes the protagonist likewise, making the novel'south fool the "most perceptive character."

Ezoic