Good evening, squiders! Today we look at our final of the 7 Plot Archetypes (though not our final entry in the series), which is Rebirth.
(In other news, I finished my edit and sent my novella off to the copyeditor, and then I attempted to do some market research for covers/descriptions on Amazon and discovered that a) there is no Gothic Horror category, and b) all the related genres–Gothic fiction, ghost horror, ghost suspense–have no patterns, so I guess I’m going to make that up as I go. Whee! Chaos.)
Anyway, onward.
7 Plot: Rebirth
20 Plots: Temptation, Transformation, Maturation, Sacrifice, Discovery
36 Plots: Self-sacrificing for an Ideal, Self-sacrifice for Kindred, All Sacrificed for a Passion, Necessity of Sacrificing Loved Ones (all of these related to the Sacrifice 20 Plot, none for any of the others)
Again, so interesting to see how the so-called master lists of plot archetypes don’t really line up at all.
Rebirth is one of the most classical of archetypes, being found in many major religions. At its most basic, a rebirth story has its character changing and becoming a better person, perhaps by going through some sort of trial. The rebirth can be any major transformation the main character goes through, though they are almost always for the better. Often the character(s) are living in some sort of terrible state before the transformation, and a character may not be the driver of their own story, instead being forced by fate or helped by other characters to complete their changes.
Examples: A Christmas Carol, the New Testament, Beauty and the Beast, Groundhog Day, The Secret Garden, Pride and Prejudice
Our 20 Plot archetypes don’t necessarily match the generally positive outcome of the Rebirth archetype. A Temptation story involves someone being tempted (eyyy) often in a way that will be catastrophic in some way if they give into it. These do not need to be happy stories. Transformation stories include the main character changing–usually emotionally or spiritually, unlike Metamorphosis, which we discussed in an earlier week–though unlike Rebirth stories, they don’t need to follow the same beats; any change can count. However, many of these stories do follow the same path as a Rebirth story, where the character comes out a better person. Maturation is a more specialized form of Transformation, where the character becomes wiser (and older) throughout the story. Coming of age stories can and often do fall under this.
Discovery is where the character learns something that changes their world view, forcing them to adapt to their new truth.
Sacrifice is where the character gives something up, often for their loved ones or the good of the world. The connection to the Rebirth archetype here is that the sacrifice is at the end of the story, after the character has grown and learned and become the sort of person who can make such a sacrifice. I mention this one last so we can roll into our four related 36 Plot archetypes, which are all based in the Sacrifice archetype.
Self-sacrificing for an Ideal is where the main character sacrifices something for a greater purpose, such as to change the world. Self-sacrifice for Kindred is where the sacrifice is made for a loved one, which often goes along with an understanding of what is most important in life (think of those stories where a character turns down an important promotion or something so they can spend more time with their family). All Sacrificed for a Passion is where the character gives up everything for something else (someone leaving everything they know and have worked for to move for a new love, etc.) and Necessity of Sacrificing Loved Ones is where the main character is forced to sacrifice a loved one (eyyy) for a greater purpose, like when Agamemnon sacrifices his daughter so the Greek troops can reach Troy.
Again, the 36 Plot archetypes don’t have to have the generally positive outcome of the Rebirth archetype.
Well, that’s our 7 Archetypes (as laid out by Christopher Booker)! What do you think? Do you feel like all the stories can fall into those 7 archetypes? Do you feel like something is missing? Thoughts on Rebirth?
Next week we’ll look at the first of Booker’s rejected archetypes, which is Mystery.
