The Plots of World Literature: Is it true that all stories repeat?
Aeneas and Odysseus wander the seas, Alice tries to find her way home from Wonderland, and Ellie from the Enchanted Land. Are the stories similar? Indeed they are. If you had the feeling that the stories of world literature repeat each other, then, believe me, you are not alone. Many folklorists, writers, and even psychologists would agree with you.
Literary characters are based on archetypes, that’s why their arcs develop according to the same schemes.
An archetype is an oft-repeated image present in myths, legends and works of fiction. A prototype that has passed from folklore to art and is firmly entrenched in culture.
Attempts to isolate each such story turned into classifications with descriptions of the most important points of the narrative.
It is difficult to say how many such story models there really are. Different authors cite their own typologies: some assure that there are more than thirty plots, others believe there are seven, and the American mythology researcher Joseph Campbell assured that the stories follow a single path altogether.
Let’s try to understand the number of plot archetypes and understand how this knowledge can be useful in creativity.
What is a monomyth and why is it a universal plot archetype
Before parsing the rest of the plot archetypes, it’s worth familiarizing ourselves with the most famous concept that has become an integral part of culture – monomyth.
Monomyth (unified myth) is the concept that all mythical heroes of mankind follow the same path regardless of their time and culture. Monomyth is sometimes so called, “The Hero’s Way.”
Sometimes a monomyth is used to reveal similarities in the mythologies of different regions. In that case it is called a meta-myth.
“Joseph Campbell’s The Hero’s Way.
The idea of monomyth was formulated by the American researcher Joseph Campbell in his work “The Thousand-People Hero.”
The Hero goes from the ordinary world to the realm of supernatural wonders: there he encounters incredible forces and wins a decisive victory. The hero returns from the mysterious adventure with the power to bestow boons upon his fellows.
Campbell’s research drew on the religions of various peoples. He compared Native American legends to the history of the Buddha, studied the work of psychoanalysts like Carl Jung, and parsed the stories of world literature. He borrowed the term “monomyth” from a writer, namely James Joyce in Finnegan’s Wake.
What does monomyth have to do with writing?
The main conclusion of Campbell’s research is that all stories repeat themselves. The hero is always the same. It’s just that in each incarnation he changes his face. In fact, this is a universal story archetype.
This is often used by authors to create magical plots and their protagonists.
Take a look at Ellie from The Wizard of Oz and Frodo from The Lord of the Rings, and you’ll see that they have a lot more in common than you might think at first glance. They both follow the Hero’s Way, albeit with slight variations. The same example of a Millennial Hero might be Harry Potter or Luke Skywalker.
What does monomyth have to do with writing?
The Hero’s journey consists of three stages: exodus, initiation, return.
Exodus is inextricably linked to the call of adventure, the attempt to abandon it, and the departure from home. Initiation symbolizes the Hero’s encounter with the antagonist and his subsequent transformation. Return shows the already transformed character and his way home.
Each of the stages is divided into several more parts. All in all, the entire Hero’s Way is a circle.
The Millennial Hero lives an ordinary life, but finds himself embroiled in a conflict from which he wants to escape. Finding allies, a mentor and strength in himself, he confronts Evil and wins. Of all the trends of plot development in world literature, The Hero’s Way is the closest and most understandable to us.
4 Plots by Jorge Luis Borges
Plot archetypes were also studied by the Argentine writer Jorge Luis Borges. He believed that literature is cyclical and that works of fiction are based on four main plots.
The Four Cycles
Borges called literary plots cycles to emphasize their reproducibility. That’s what his essay categorizing stories based on ancient myths is called, “Four Cycles.” You’ll find a breakdown of them below.
Plot #1: The Beleaguered City
Borges has the Iliad as his inspiration for this story:
The defenders know that the city is doomed to sword and fire, and resistance is futile; the most celebrated of the conquerors, Achilles, knows that he is doomed to die before he lives to win.
The essence of the story archetype is to fight something alien, an external enemy. The main task of the hero in such a story is to endure.
An example of this plot in literature is Griboyedov’s Woe from Wit, where Chatsky opposes Famusov and his associates.
Plot #2: The Return Home
Borges’ second plot is inextricably linked to The Odyssey:
About Ulysses, who, after ten years of wandering the formidable seas and stopping at enchanted islands, sails to Ithaca.
In such a story, the hero experiences a life-changing adventure and, transformed, returns home.
An example of it in the world literature is Tolkien’s The Hobbit or There and Back Again: Bilbo returns to the Shire after defeating Smaug, but he will never be the same again.
Plot #3: The Quest.
The quest is based on the myth of the adventures of the Argonauts and the search for the golden fleece:
It is Jason sailing for the golden fleece and the thirty Persian birds crossing mountains and seas to see the face of their god.
In Borges, the search for truth leads to ruin and is doomed to failure. The protagonist tries to find the truth only to be subsequently defeated.
Melville’s novel Moby Dick exemplifies this archetype. Captain Ahab pursues the whale to perish with him.
Plot #4: God’s Suicide
The development of the god’s suicide goes straight to the canons of the New Testament. It was the latter that inspired Borges to single it out as a separate scenario, as indicated by the line below in his essay:
Christ is crucified by Roman legionnaires.
The essence of the archetype is that a great figure sacrifices himself, thereby giving forgiveness or truth to the world. The hero takes this step voluntarily, and his sacrifice will be remembered years later.
This is exactly what happens in Gorky’s Danko: the protagonist rips out his heart in order to light the way for others.
Christopher Booker’s 7 Plots
Despite the lucid presentation, the typologies above seemed insufficient to writer and journalist Christopher Booker. He asserted that there were many more plots of world literature, and he increased their number to seven. He expressed these thoughts in his book Seven Basic Plots: Why We Tell Stories.
Why did Booker say there were seven plots?
That’s not to say that the author completely abandoned Campbell and Borges’ ideas.
Booker supported the concept of monomyth, only calling it a meta-plot, which in turn branches out into seven narrative schemes. Christopher Booker did not deviate from Borges’ system, but supplemented it with comedic and tragic plots, at the same time highlighting stories in the style of “from the dirt to the riches”.
Seven plots, seven stories
The fundamental archetypes according to Christopher Booker are the following stories:
- Overcoming the Monster.
The hero is forced into battle with a monster (it can be not only an evil creature, magician or ruler, but also the inner demon of man) and at the cost of incredible efforts wins. Bram Stoker’s novel “Dracula” fits well into this model. - From Dirt to Riches
The poor protagonist, with the help of allies or his own virtue, succeeds in life in contrast to his enemies. The classic example of such a plot is the tale of Cinderella. - Quest .
A character leaves his home for a great mission. He gathers a group of friends around him, or he sets out alone to complete a mission, like Frodo from The Lord of the Rings. - back and forth.
As in the quest, the protagonist leaves the familiar world, but returns home at the end, where he has to face the problems of the past. The experience changes the character, and he successfully overcomes all difficulties, like Jonathan Swift’s Gulliver. - Comedy
In Booker, comedy may not be a funny work. The most important thing here is the clash of characters’ interests and their confusion that creates conflict, as in Shakespeare’s Twelfth Night. - Tragedy
Terrible circumstances or a personal vice of the protagonist lead to his imminent death (“Anna Karenina”). - Revival
As in tragedy, the protagonist’s vice triggers a conflict, but the story ends happily because the character is saved or realizes his shortcomings. Mr. Darcy apologizes to Elizabeth and thereby wins her love.
How Knowledge of World Literature Plots Can Help Young Writers
So why should aspiring writers look closely at plot archetypes? Let’s try to figure it out:
- Plot archetypes help build the structure of a book and find problems/holes to fill.
- You can use them to find common ground with other cultures. As a result, your work will be able to be appreciated by people outside of your social circle.
- story archetypes reveal the most important themes for humanity. They show that characters may have doubts, but that doesn’t mean they will fail.
- Knowing the plots of world literature will help you get away from patterns and forge your own Hero’s Path.
All stories do indeed repeat themselves. But no matter how many novels bring up similar themes, reader interest in new books will not wane. Knowing archetypes can help you find the inspiration and resource to write your story, which is sure to stand out from the rest of your work. After all, you are the one writing it, with your unique style and vision.