Campbellian Monomyth
Created: 2023-01-30
Status: #soil
Foundation: #lifefoundations/becomingagreatwriter
Project:
Topic: 300 Mind Forest/306 MOCs/writing plot story structure
What is the Campbellian Monomyth Story Structure?
The Campbellian Monomyth is a story structure developed by Joseph Campbell in his book, The Hero with a Thousand Faces. It is based off of the idea that all myths, regardless of culture or time, contain common elements. It is an explanation of The Monomyth story structure.
The structure revolves around the hero's journey, which consists of 17 stages:
- The Ordinary World: This is where the protagonist starts out and establishes their normal world.
- The Call to Adventure: This is when something happens that motivates the protagonist to begin their journey and leave their ordinary world behind.
- Refusal of the Call: The protagonist may hesitate or refuse to accept the call to adventure due to fear or other reasons.
- Meeting with the Mentor: This is when the hero meets someone who provides guidance, advice, and encouragement along their journey.
- Crossing the Threshold: Once the hero accepts their call to adventure and leaves their ordinary world behind, they must cross a threshold into a new, unknown world filled with challenges and obstacles.
- Tests, Allies, Enemies: The hero will face tests along their journey and will make allies as well as enemies in this new world.
- Approach to the Inmost Cave: This is when the hero approaches an inner source of power that can help them on their quest (e.g., an inner strength or magical object).
- Supreme Ordeal: This is usually a life-or-death challenge or situation that requires courage on behalf of the protagonist in order for them to move forward in their quest for success or victory over evil/adversity/etc..
- Reward (Seizing the Sword): After overcoming this challenge successfully, there is usually some sort of reward such as gaining knowledge or obtaining a magical item that can help them on their quest further down the line.
- The Road Back Home: This is when the hero returns home from their journey with newfound knowledge and experience that helps them complete their quest successfully back in their ordinary world (e.g., defeating an enemy).
- Resurrection/Reunion/Reconciliation/Retrieval of Elixir/Return With Elixir/Mastery Over Death: Depending on what kind of story it is (mythology/fantasy/etc.), this can be either literal death or figurative death through failure; however, it usually involves some sort of resurrection or retrieval of an elixir at this point in order for them to achieve success in their quest by mastering death itself - either literally or metaphorically speaking - before returning home victorious with whatever they set out to find initially (e.g., treasure).
- Return With A Gift & Share It With Others: After returning home victorious from completing their quest, they must share whatever it was they found during said quest (elevated knowledge/magical item) with others so that everybody can benefit from it positively as well as learn from it collectively; thus concluding this part of the cycle - making it come full circle back around again for another cycle to start anew eventually down the line somewhere else if need be...