This is K.M. Wyland and you are listening to the 542nd episode of the Helping Writers Become Authors

Podcast.

I hope you enjoyed this week's episode, Arcetypal Character Arks Part 9, The Maidens Shadow Artypes.

In so many ways we view life as a story.

Within the lifelong journey of this story, the first challenge is that of becoming an autonomous individual, an independent and responsible adult.

However obvious that may be, the journey itself cannot be taken for granted.

Indeed, although we may all grow up chronologically, the struggle to truly leave childhood behind is one that is often prolonged and even aborted for a great many of us.

Within the model of the six archetypal character arcs, this first initiatory journey is represented by the maiden.

She faces external antagonists metaphorically and often literally represented by

The Two Good Mother, the naive father, and the predator

groom who would devour her youth and innocence.

But she also faces internal danger from the shadowy counter-archotypes that, out of fear and egoism,

would prevent her from embracing a new perspective and completing her journey.

For the maiden, these shadow archetypes are represented by the Damsel and the Vixen.

The Damsel represents the passive polarity within the maiden's shadow and the Vixen the aggressive polarity.

Now before we dig into these important archetypes, I will say a quick word about both of their titles since both

archetypes are currently fraught with controversy in modern portrayals. The damsel

of course represents the much-despised damsel in distress, usually objectified within the

hero's journey, although not without cause as we discussed in the hero's

episode, since rescuing the damsel as played by any character is an important

moment within the hero arc, especially since the damsel can be seen to represent not just an individual character, but a part of the

hero's own psyche, as do all characters within any particular journey. Recognizing how the damsel has often been reduced to a stereotype though is important.

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