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Shrek Archetype Project
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Shrek Archetype Project
Nooreen Syed
Period 1
Introduction
The dictionary definition of an archetype is "a recurrent symbol or motif in literature, art, or mythology". The purpose of an archetype is to use symbols to create a deeper meaning.
Intro
Archetypes in Shrek
Shrek is filled with many arechetypes that use colors, animals, roles, numbers, shapes, nature, objects, and examples with symbolic meanings to convey a deep messege.
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Flipped Archetypes
The movie, Shrek, famously takes many archetypes and flips them around. Many of these symbolic flipped archetypes are involving colors, characters, and objects in the movie. Today, we will be looking at both standard and flipped archetypes.
Damsel in Distress
Archetypes
In the movie, Princess Fiona proves to be the "Damsel in Distress". She is trapped in a tall tower with an enchanted fire-breathing dragon guarding the tower, making her very vulnerable. She must be saved by the hero, Shrek.
Friendly Beast
Donkey is the friendly beast; he assists Shrek on his quest to save Fiona and keeps him company. Without Donkey, Shrek most-likely would have never made it out of the castle because Donket distracted the fire-breathing dragon.
Star-Crossed Lovers
Shrek and Princess Fiona are star-crossed lovers. They are engaged in a love affair that is fated to end in tragedy, due to disapproval of society ruled by King Farquaad. They accidentally fall in love on Shrek's quest to bring Fiona to marry Farquaad.
Colors: Black
Donkey and Shrek enter a black tower, filled with darkness where Princess Fiona is being held. This darkness symbolizes chaos, mystery, the unknown, evil, and death. The two characters don't know what lays ahead of them in the castle and are faced with an evil fire-breathing dragon, threatening them with death.
Nature - Forest
Forests symbolize evil, lost, and fear, which foreshadows the evnt where Robin Hood attempts to kill Shrek and Donkey. Princess Fiona as well as the other two stop them.
The Outcast Hero
Flipped Archetypes
Shrek, the main character of the movie, takes the role of two very contrasting character types. Shrek is "The Outcast", meaning that he is banished from the community due to disapproval of the society. Most are terrified by his sight as an ogre. However, Shrek is also the hero of the movie. He fulfills his task to rescue the princess, and they fall in love.
Color - Green
This flipped archetype relate to the Hero-Outcast archetype. Green is often associated with envy, disgust, and negativity, yet Shrek, the main character who begins as a disgusting ogre, is green. He is also the hero of the story even though he is green and a disgusting ogre.
Devil Figure
The fire-breathing dragon the guards the tower which Fiona is held in is the "Devil Figure". The odd thing about her is that she falls in love with Donkey and is very gentle with him a sopposed to her normal fire-breathing self. Fire symbolizes destruction, so when the dragon is gentle with Donkey, it is a large contrast moment. The reason she isn't refferred to as the "Evil Figure with the Ultimately Good Heart" is because even after showing she loves Donkey, she proceeds to try to kill Shrek.
The Outcast
A very surprising part of the movie is that heroes and villains from all fairy tales appear at Shrek's house one day. They are composed of mostly heroes but are considered outcast due to disapproval from society. These heroes are taken from their homes because of their uniqueness.
Conclusion
As can be seen, archetypes as well as flipped archetypes are added throughout the movie in order to develop the plot and provide a deeper meaning.
Conclusion
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