Archetype In Literature

In fairy tales and literature, they all have a common archetype which is setting. Every fairytale has a different setting, but in Cinderella, Snow White, and Sleeping Beauty they all have a common setting. The common setting of these fairy tales are the forest and the castle. In “Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs” when the Queen tries to kill Snow White. “...she ordered one of her huntsmen to take Snow White into the forest and kill her... He told her to run into the woods and never return.”(Buchholtz)The Queen sent the hunter to kill Snow White but instead he left her in the woods. Also, Snow White lived in the forest with seven dwarfs to hide from the Queen. “Snow White and invited her to stay with the proviso that she would do all the household
chores for them. She happily agreed.”(Buchholtz) The seven dwarfs let Snow White stay at their cabin in the forest to hide from the Queen. When the Queen found out Snow White didn’t die, she poisoned an apple, gave it to Snow White and Snow White fell to the floor dead. A Prince came around and fell in love with Snow White. “...when the prince said he would surely die without her because he loved her so, they took pity and allowed him to have his men carry the coffin off to his castle... Soon she was sitting up, wondering where she was. She rode off with the prince to his castle to celebrate a splendid wedding.”(Buchholtz, Jutta) Snow White ended her happiness at the castle when she married Prince.
Cinderella had a similar archetype setting like Snow White. When Cinderella tries to go to the ball but her step mom and step sisters ruined her dress. But her fairy godmother helps Cinderella turn into a princess. “...the fairy godmother repeatedly says “Bibbity bobby boo,”....”(Garry, Jane, and Hasan El-Shamy) By midnight Cinderella ran away because when it hits midnight Cinderella turns back to her old dress. When Cinderella was running she ran into the forest and back home. “In fairy tales an unlikely protagonist must usually journey beyond the familiar world into the realm of the unfamiliar. Often the unfamiliar is depicted as a forest, subterranean, or marine environment.”( Haase) In “Sleeping Beauty” Princess Aurora was sent away with three fairies to keep her safe away from Maleficent. The three fairy came to a cabin in the forest far away from the castle. “Symbolically the primitive levels of the feminine psyche, protective and sheltering.” (Archetypes in Literature World Literature) When it was Aurora sixteen birthday the three fairies told Aurora who she really was a Princess, they brought her to the castle and put her into a room so she wouldn’t hurt herself. In the end, she did prick her finger on a spindle and fell into an enchanted sleep from the castle tower.
Each fairy tale has their own unique way to tell the story.
Snow White, Cinderella, and Sleeping Beauty have different plots, but they have similarities like the hero. “ Joseph Campbell in the Hero with a Thousand Faces, “a hero is any male or female who leaves the world of his or her everyday life to undergo a journey to a special world where challenges and fears are overcome in order to secure a quest, which is then shared with other members of the hero’s community.”(Jung, Campbell, and Frye) In “Snow White” the seven dwarfs are the heroes to Snow White. “When the dwarfs returned home that evening, they found Snow White lying on the floor as if dead— but they quickly noticed that she was laced up too tight and cut the lace... The disguised wicked queen stuck the poisoned comb into the girl’s lovely black hair and again Snow White fell to the floor as if dead—the dwarfs found the poisonous comb, pulled it out and saved the girl...”(Buchholtz) The seven dwarfs saved Snow White’s life not once but twice. The wicked Queen tries to kill Snow White with a poisoned comb and laced up, but the dwarfs noticed the laced and the poisoned comb they quickly cut the lace and pull the poisonous comb out. “ The hero or heroine model one who struggles yet eventually succeeds by taking potent action, and by their example may stimulate others to do the same.”(Kiernan) The Seven Dwarfs saved Snow White twice from her evil stepmother. They not only save Snow White, they also took her in when Snow White was running away from the
Queen.