The Heroine's Journey

The hero's journey, written down by the US mythologist Joseph Campbell (1904-1987) and developed by Christopher Vogler (*1949) in his WRITER'S JOURNEY is often cited by script developers and dramaturges. It is still a popular model for analyzing the development of plot and characters in terms of depth psychology and structure. However, U.S. psychoanalyst Maureen Murdock (*1939) challenged Campbell by asking why discussions typically revolve around (male) heroes. The answer was as clear as it was discriminatory, prompting Murdock to develop her own Heroine’s Journey in the early 1990s. Originally intended as a counseling and self-help concept for women, it now serves as a foundation for dramaturgical considerations regarding modern narrative forms, embraced by the two script consultants Keith Cunningham and Tom Schlesinger.

Today, many authors, consultants, and dramaturgs have grown a bit weary of the Hero's Journey and seek new impulses for story development. According to Schlesinger and Cunningham, the journeys of heroines do not necessarily tell the story of a female protagonist. Instead, they represent a dramaturgical specification, focusing on stories with complex characters and a particular narrative orientation. Rather than concentrating on a single external plot, overcoming (external) obstacles, self-assertion, and gaining power, the Heroine’s Journey emphasizes the discovery of one’s own identity and the search for a safe and nurturing community where the heroine can flourish and reach her potential.

Maureen Murdock defined the so-called duality in which female heroes are often trapped, manifesting in the metaphorical female and male principles. Specifically, mother and father represent these simplyfied gender-specific principles. The feminine is often undervalued in our society, particularly in the professional world. In the dramaturgical model, the heroine initially separates from her own 'divine femininity' to gain recognition. This also means distancing herself from the positive aspects of the feminine principle (such as community, care, and altruism). Cunningham even posited in the seminar that this struggle for recognition metaphorically begins at birth for women, as they predominantly live in male-dominated societies and are thus often discriminated against for their gender:

“Women are born into rage, because they are immediately judged for their gender. Male characters learn rage when they are lied to about what it means to be a man.”

While men are raised to self-righteous indignation and learn to assert themselves as lone fighters, women seek a community where they can thrive and be recognized: The journey to find your own authentic inner voice, to find a tribe or community to express that voice in a safe way where you’re going to be heard.

Visions and dreams arising from crisis provide direction for the narrative. However, heroines often have the freedom to choose whether or not to respond to the famous Call to Adventure. Refusing to do so and finding another path to self-actualization is also a valid choice: male heroes typically feel compelled to cross the threshold into adventure, while heroines allow themselves the freedom to decide. The 'feminine principle' is closely tied to instincts and bodily awareness. Accordingly, Schlesinger and Cunningham contrast “want and need” not with each other but with “mode and need.”

On the plot level, the story of the heroine’s journey begins when the heroine decides to rebel against a lack of recognition. This is particularly evident in the opening sequence of the pilot for THE GOOD WIFE, where Alicia Florrick fails utterly with her (female) strategy as the perfect politician’s wife. Humiliated and exposed, she is forced to publicly support her unfaithful husband at the outset. He goes to jail for embezzlement, and now she must take on the family’s financial responsibilities with a mix of fear and curiosity, returning to her profession as a lawyer. According to Schlesinger and Cunningham, this scenario serves as a characteristic starting point for a heroine’s journey: the turning away from the feminine principle (housewife) towards the masculine principle is utilized as a survival strategy.

The threshold guardians known from the Hero’s Journey are not necessarily real figures in this context; they are rather the critical and skeptical voices and opinions that women constantly hear – or that lie dormant within them, which they believe: “You are not good enough!” These self-limiting beliefs are the greatest enemy of the heroine. If she can initially overcome them, the early successes provide temporary relief. However, only the encounter with the "Goddess of Knowledge" – whether metaphorical or real – can lead to true goals.

Female characters are characterized by multifaceted, potentially contradictory traits. Cunningham explains in a brief discourse the characteristics of female goddesses from Greek mythology. However, he notes that these goddesses should not be seen as representatives of specific characters. A woman (or a female character) is not like this or that goddess; rather, the essence of the character is composed like a palette from various types.

U.S. psychologist Jean Shinoda Bolen has categorized the main goddesses into three groups: First, there are the Virgins: These women are not guided by their hearts; they are more focused on results. Among them is Artemis, the virgin huntress and protector of women and children. She is a strict, untamable goddess who not only gives life but also takes it away. There is also Athena, the goddess of wisdom and education, strategy, and warfare, as well as Hestia, who represents the essence of being and the center of the psyche. In mythology, she has no embodiment but is represented by an eternally burning flame.

The second group consists of the Wounded/Vulnerable. These goddesses are concerned with interpersonal relationships: here we have Hera, the misunderstood and betrayed. She is irritable and jealous, serving as the guardian of marital sexuality. Then there is Demeter, who stands for fertility—the fertility of the earth, grains, seeds, and the seasons. Finally, there is Persephone, the goddess of the dead and the underworld, who is receptive and influenced by others. The alchemically radiant Aphrodite, the goddess of love, beauty, and sensual desire, represents the third group. She is the muse par excellence, responsible for creativity, inspiration, and the fine arts.

Murdock views the goal of the heroine's journey as overcoming the duality that initially appears irreconcilable between the masculine and feminine principles. Schlesinger and Cunningham also describe this final stage of the heroine’s journey as the “reintegration of the positive masculine.” This means the following: when the heroine sheds all feminine wisdom at the beginning of her journey to assert herself using masculine strategies, she may initially succeed, but doubts soon set in. Only through achieving balance and overcoming duality can she find redemption. For regardless of how different the heroine's desires and goals are, or how contradictory her character may be: only the unification of both principles - the masculine and the feminine - leads to emotional wholeness and thus to the full expression of the “power of divine love.”

Using film examples (including SENSE AND SENSIBILITY and AMELIE), the seminar reflected on different types of women and how their transformations are depicted. It is noticeable that the female dilemma often comes across subtly and that the narrative change is less tied to conspicuous external factors and more to a changed environment. The attitude is more important than action. The female heroine creates a space/environment where her values are shared and where she can express her individuality. Characteristically, she also shares her wisdom with others at the end. She does not only heal herself.

A classic heroine's journey can also be seen in ERIN BROCKOVICH: the serious external theme (environmental pollution scandal) is only introduced at the end of the first act, while the focus initially rests completely on the sympathetic main character and her witty and entertaining way of navigating her (not easy) life. However, at the beginning, she also feels alone and powerless, which is typical for heroines. The various facets of her personality are reflected in her different relationships with the people around her, each relationship revealing another part of her being: the loving mother, the sexy and quick-witted woman, as well as the hardworking employee. The different levels of conflict (internal, external, and relational conflicts) run through the entire story, and there is no personified antagonist. This also fits the Heroine’s Journey, as heroines are typically much more in conflict with themselves than with the outside world.

Since establishing these various levels of conflict and their continuation requires time and space, and the heroine may take longer to decide to respond to the Call to Adventure, the heroine’s journey often does not necessarily follow classical dramaturgies and their structure. It may even be the case that the ?journey‘ is not linear at all but unfolds in repeating loops, playing out the descent into the underworld and the return to the waking world in various ways, gradually elevating consciousness to a higher level. Furthermore, female hero types do not have to change fundamentally; rather, they must reconnect with something they have long known deep within. A buried “divine wisdom” needs to be uncovered. At the beginning, Erin Brockovich also does not fulfill her potential; her inner strength has no external counterpart. But as we all know, that will fundamentally change over the course of the story. Schlesinger and Cunningham hope for the same, encouraging writers and developers to create strong characters and modern stories with a more emotional and holistic approach.

I agree with them 100%, and that's what I learned from their very inspiring workshop and from Erin Brockovich: I will forwever keep in mind (not only as a dramaturg) that real heroines don't apologize for their bodies, for their clothes or for their sexuality - and certainly not for their ambitions.

WENDEPUNKT #36, November 2016

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