The document summarizes Northrop Frye's concept of archetypes in movies. It identifies two main categories of archetypes: characters and situations/symbols. For characters, it lists seven common archetypes seen in movies: the hero, the outcast, the scapegoat, the shrew, the femme fatale, the star-crossed lovers, and the journey. It then provides examples for each from movies such as Harry Potter, Edward Scissorhands, and Mughal-e-Azam. For situations/symbols, it discusses common archetypes like the task, the quest, the loss of innocence, water, sun, numbers, desert, and the great fish, and analyzes examples from movies

1. Parmar Dipali K.
Roll No: 26
Topic: Unit 2 ‘Northrop Frye’s Archetypal
Criticism’
Sub Topic: Archetypes in Movies
M.A. Sem. 2
Batch: 2015-’17
Email Id: dipaliparmar247@gmail.com
Department Of English (M.K.B.U.)
Literary Theory & Criticism:
The 20th Western & Indian Poetics-2

2. Archetypes in Movies

3. Categories of Archetypes
There are two main categories in which archetypes
can be divided:
1. Characters
2. 2. Situations/ Symbols

4. A. Characters
There are overall seven parts of characters:
 1. The Hero
 2. The Outcast
 3. The Scapegoat
 4. The Shrew
 5. Femme Fatale
 6. The Star-crossed Lovers
 7. The Journey

5. 1. The Hero
Harry Potter from the series of movie
‘Harry Potter’. Has got admission in Magic
School. Has acquired an ability to do
magic. Revolutionary hero fighting with
enemies who wanted to damage the world
and people. Famous all around the world.
A. Characters

6. 2. The Outcast
Muxlowe from the movie ‘Outcast
Hero’, has three days to save his
homeland. He was thrown out of it.
Because he has an ability to generate
energy. He and his companions tries to
save their planet Tagen. But it’s sure isn’t
easy trying to save the world when you’re
not quiet yourself.

7. Edward from the movie ‘Edward
Scissorhands’, a synthetic man with scissor
hands, is taken in by Peg, a kindly Avon lady,
after the passing of his inventor. Things take
a turn for the worse when he is blamed for a
crime he did not commit.
3. The Scapegoat

8. 4. The Shrew
Vandana, Nikhil’s girl friend in Gujarati
movie Chello Divas. Very much irritating
and always complaining to her boyfriend.
Very famous for her Coffee Scene.

9. 5. Femme Fatale
Kaya, from the movie Krish 3. One of the
‘Maanvar’ made by a scientist Kaal.
Experimental figure has mixed DNA of
Human and Chameleon. Has a power to
change her figure by just a touch of the
opposite person. Femme Fatale in this
movie.

10. 6. The Star-crossed Lovers
Salim- Anarkali from the movie Mughal-
a-Azam. Father of Salim, King Akbar was
against their love because Salim was a
prince and Anarkali was a mere Dancer in
his court who entertains everyone. So at
last, Anarkali has to sacrifice their love by
going away from the prince.

11. 7. The Journey
Turbo from the movie ‘Turbo’. A snail
who dreams to run fast as the cars run in
the race. Always watches car racing and
becomes nervous because of his low
speed. How it fulfills its dream of racing
that’s a journey of his life which is
presented in this movie.

12. B. Situation / Symbols
Situation and Symbols are many in numbers. Here are some frequent
situations of symbols are described:
 The Task
 The Quest
 The Loss of Innocence
 Water
 Sun
 Numbers
 Desert
 The Great Fish
Other Colours, Serpent, Wise Old Man, Garden, Tree, Seasons, Creation etc.
are there.

13. The Task
• ‘300’ (2006)
• Ancient battle of Thermopylae King Leonidas
and 300 Spartans fight against Xerxes and his
massive Persian army.
• They face insurmountable odds when they are
betrayed by a Spartan reject.
• Directed by: Zack Sydner
• Produced by: Gianni Nunnari, Mark Canton,
Bernie Goldmann, Jeffrey Silver
B. Situation / Symbols

14. The Quest
• Anacondas: The Hunt for the Blood
Orchid (2004)
• The Quest in Amazon rainforest for the
flower known as Blood Orchid, which
could hold the key to everlasting youth.
• Directed by: Dwight H. Little

15. The Loss Of Innocence
• Blue Velvet (1986)
• Walking through a field near his home,
Jeffrey discovers a served human ear
which ignites his curiosity.
• He joins forces with detective’s daughter
to solve the mystery.
• Directed by: David Lynch

16. Water
• Waterworld (1995)
• A mysterious wanderer named the
‘Mariner’ rescues a woman and her
adopted daughter from harm and they
embark on a quest that could save
mankind.
• Here, Ocean is in the middle of all their
actions.
• Directed by: Kevin Costner, Kevin
Reynolds

17. Sun
• Koi… Mil Gaya (2003)
• Jaadu is a character of this movie. Alien
came from other planet and lost in
jungle met Rohit Mehra.
• He has a special power which he gets
from the enrgy of sun.
• Sun is the only source of food and
energy for him.
• Directed by: Rakesh Roshan

18. Number
• 100 Days (1991)
• A young clairvoyant woman has a vision
of a murder.
• She sets out to find the killer and stop
him before he commits the crime.
• Directed by: Partho Ghosh

19. Desert
• Mad Max: Fury Road (2015)
• In an apocalyptic worlds, a tyrant rules
over a stark desert, controlling every
drop of water.
• Two rebels, one escaping grief and
other reaching out to her childhood, are
the last hope for a few.
• Directed by: George Miller

20. The Great Fish
• Moby Dick (2010)
• Movie features the underwater mission
of a submarine captain, to eliminate a
massive whale that bruished in a fatal
encounter decades ago.
• Determined to hunt down the creature,
will he succeed?
• Directed by: Trey Stokes

21. Other
Movies

22. Other
Movies

23. Other
Movies

24. • www.google.com.in
• http://images.google.com
• youtube.com