Shrek Archetypes

Shrek Archetypes

Shrek vs the World

By: Karyssa Hiller

Shrek is portrayed as gruesome ogre during the movie, and he constantly reenforces the society's stereotypes towards him. Because Shrek believes that what is told to him by Lord Farquaad and his men is true, he figures that no one will ever love him. From this, Shrek feels a loneliness through his appearance and has a hard time letting Donkey and Fiona get close to him. Shrek feels the most alone during the end of the movie, when he feels betrayed by Donkey and Fiona through a misunderstanding. However, this is soon overcomes this when Donkey talks sense into Shrek and they go and rescue Fiona. Shrek doesn't feel alone after rescuing his true love.

The Stars

During the first night of Shrek, Fiona, and Donkey together, Donkey and Shrek stare up at the stars together. Stars represent guidance, and when the two friends gaze up at the stars, they could be guiding Shrek and Fiona together because it is true love.

Light vs Darkness

The Star Crossed Lovers

When Shrek and Donkey arrive at the castle Fiona is being held in, the whole area is dark, accept for Fiona's single room. The darkness of the area could represent the loneliness that Shrek feels within himself, and her light could be them falling in love and Shrek being able to rely and love Fiona in the future.

Shrek

Shrek is considered an outsider during the movie, as he lives secluded in a swamp away from others. However, he turns into an unlikely hero and saves the princess, along with DuLoc. Shrek's role as a hero in this movie is unique because he started out as a terrifying ogre that doesn't fit into the archetype's standards that would consider him a hero. Shrek was a nuisance towards DuLoc and people were encouraged hunt him for rewards. However, as the movie progressed, the people of DuLoc and the other characters were able to see Shrek as he truly was, a lonely yet brave ogre that just wanted to be happy. The movie tries to use Shrek to show that appearance doesn't affect someones ability to be heroic, and that character is more than just skin deep.

Donkey

Fiona and Shrek were never meant to fall in love, because she was "destined" to marry Lord Farquaad. The movie does stick to the fairytale script for a while, until both Shrek and Fiona fall in love and end up being separated by Lord Farquaad. Instead of the princess and Lord being star crossed lovers like a usual fairytale, the movie instead flips the script and allows Fiona to fall in love with the uncharismatic and unruly ogre.

Lord Farquaad

Lord Farquaad was expected to be the Hero and save Fiona, but he ended up being a childish, cowardly man sending other to do his job for him. Lord Farquaad twists his role as a powerful ruler and is instead the exact opposite of expectations. He dresses in red which is usually a sign of passion and strength, but he is just compensating for his true self with the powerful color. However, he does ultimately get whats coming for him and ends up getting eaten by the dragon.

Donkey

The use of Irony in Shrek:

Donkey's archetype within Shrek is supposedly a Loyal Retainer, but throughout the movie Donkey is constantly afraid of obstacles and simple things, while Shrek is the one who often comes to Donkey's rescue. However, Donkey is the one of the only characters in the movie that never saw Shrek as the disgusting ogre he described himself as, but rather a friend. Donkey is persistent in winning over Shrek's friendship and eventually succeeds, helping Shrek with Fiona later in the movie. Although Donkey is shown as a coward during the quest, he ends up giving Shrek emotinal support and advice in order to go and win back Fiona from Lord Farquaad.

Shrek is a movie that takes the archetypes commonly found in older fairytales and reverses the role of them completely. The hero of Shrek isn't noble and romantic, and the princess disproves her label as a damsel in distress. With Shrek's use or archetypes, the movie expressed that labels are not everything.

Fiona

Princess Fiona was originally only seen as a pretty face that needed to be rescued, but she proved herself to be more independent than Donkey. Her initial role during the quest as "damsel in distress" was quickly stripped off of her within the first moments of meeting her, as Fiona was more than capable to fend off a group of bandits. Not only is Fiona capable for caring for herself, but she sees Shrek for who he really is and falls in love with him despite his looks. She feels accepted with him and safe unlike her relationship with Lord Farquaad

Dragon

The dragon of Shrek is an Evil Figure with the Ultimately Good Heart, but she is moved by someone other than the "noble" hero. Instead, the cowardly Donkey wins over the Dragon's heart with his nervous, complimenting words. This is all mostly done on accident though, and the Dragon was never meant to be redeemed in the first place, just avoided, differentiating itself from the stereotypical archetype.