Archetypal/Mythological Criticism

"A mythological / archetypal approach to literature assumes that there is a collection of symbols, images, characters, and motifs (i.e. archetypes) that evokes basically the same response in all people. According to the psychologist Carl Jung, mankind possesses a "collective unconscious" that contains these archetypes and that is common to all of humanity. Myth critics identify these archetypal patterns and discuss how they function in the works."

--Maria Jernigan

Batman Begins
Character Archetypes:

The Hero: Batman

The Soul Mate: Rachel

The Outcast: Bruce Wayne

The Mentor: Fox, Alfred

 Archetypes '

             In Batman Begins, Christopher Nolan utilizes many age old archetypes in his portrayal of the timeless hero, the Batman. Just as in Oedipus, Christopher Nolan builds a model of the heroic journey rich with archetypes that will stand the test of time.

Situational Archetypes:

[NICK STONE WAS NOT HERE ON MONDAY AND THIS WAS HIS PART TO COMPLETE.]

The Dark Knight

 * Though the second movie in the Dark Knight Trilogy lacks the usage of the archetypal journey that the first and third movies own, the archetypes are plenty. The movie contains character, symbolic, and situational archetypes. These are used as a shortcut for the viewers, so they can better understand a character without having to know a lot about them. Christopher Nolan used this piece of knowledge perfectly by creating characters that a viewer could quickly connect with.


 * Character Archetypes are everywhere in the second movie. Beginning with the most obvious, the hero. Batman fills the role perfectly. "The hero is a protagonist whose life is a series of well-marked adventures." -Maria Jernigan. The biggest part of the hero is that he will risk his life for the good of the people around him. Batman does this throughout the second movie, as dealing with the joker is very risky business. Rachel plays the part of the Damsel in Distress in the in the scene where death is inevitable. She was a vulnerable woman who needed to be rescued by the hero. Though she wasn't saved by Batman in the story, she did need him for the sake of her survival.


 * The Dark Knight focuses more around the plot line of having the archetypal "task" as opposed to the "quest." The quest is more of a need to find something, as contrasted to the the task is more focused on destroying something. Batman's main goal in life, and the reason of his existence, is to rid the city of evil-doers. In the very nature of the film, the plot is needed to follow the lines of a task.


 * The Symbolic Archetypes in The Dark Knight consist of "Light vs. Dark" and "Heaven vs. Hell." The Light/Dark analogy is very previlent and obvious in the movie, however the viewer must dig to see the heaven vs. hell. Heaven, in this analogy, would be a perfect Gothem, the hell is the current state of Gothem. Also, colors have symbolic meanings, here are two that are easily seen:


 * Black: (Shown by overall darkness in movie) darkness, chaos, mystery, the unknown, death, evil.
 * Red: (Shown by make-up on Joker's Face) disorder
 * White: (Shown by hair, light complexion on Harvey Dent) purity, light.

Dark Knight Rises


In Christopher Nolan's film, The Dark Knight Rises, the story traces Bruce Wayne as the archetypal hero. Being the third film in the trilogy, this film truly grasps the full heroic journey.

When the film starts, Bruce Wayne is cooped up in his mansion, wasting his life away as a hermit. He feels that Batman is not needed anymore, thus Bruce Wayne is not needed anymore. During the celebration of Harvey Dent Day, Selina Kyle, an infamous jewel thief, breaks into Mr. Wayne's room and steals his mother's pearls. This serves as his call to adventure: Wayne was intrigued by Ms. Kyle and was brought out of his hermit-like lifestyle by her.

Throughout the trilogy, the absence of Bruce's father creates many opportunities for a mentor figure to be present in Bruce's life. These mentors primarily include Mr. Fox and Alfred. Fox is more of the mentor to Batman by providing what is necessary while Alfred is a mentor to Bruce himself. Alfred has a deep, fatherly love for Bruce that resembles the love between God and Jesus.

Bruce, in the form of Batman, crosses the threshold when he first gets back into action. When Bane and his men capture the stock exchange and take hostages, Batman makes his reappearance. After this encounter with Bane and his men, Bruce realizes that he is up against more than he has ever experienced. Inevitably, Batman will face many tests as he attempts to stop Bane.



The first time that Batman truly fights Bane one-on-one, he is defeated, he is broken, he is dead to Gotham. This represents his death in the death and rebirth portion of the cycle. Bane puts Bruce in his prison, a "hell on Earth," as it is called. This bottomless pit is meant to break Bruce mentally, then kill him slowly. Of course, there is always the rebirth portion to the cycle. Bruce harnesses his fear and climbs out of the pit, thus resembling his rebirth.

When Bruce returns to Gotham, he returns with elixer-- his fiery symbol burns over the city signifying Batman's return. Hope is felt among the good citizens of Gotham.

This is where Batman strays a bit from the typical archetypal heroic hourney. Once Bruce Wayne is back to Gotham, he saves the city. He does not do this in any ordinary fashion though; instead, he sacrifices himself and carries the massive nuclear weapon over the bay, out of harms way, saving the city and killing himself. Of course, this in itself is archetypal, but it does not follow the heroic journey.

There is another theory to Batman's end. In the last few scenes of the trilogy, Bruce Wayne is seen by Alfred in a cafe somewhere in Europe, just as he had imagined earlier in the movie. We prefer to believe this ending, a happy, uplifting ending praising the unsung hero of Gotham.

Character Archetypes:

The Hero-- Bruce Wayne perfectly fits the mold for the hero, not only in this film, but in the whole trilogy.

The Outcast-- Batman was the outcast at the beginning of the film. He took the blame for killing Harvey Dent, thus resulting in banishment. Because of this, Bruce Wayne banishes himself as an outcast.

Star-Crossed Lovers-- Selina Kyle (Catwoman) and Bruce Wayne (Batman) could be portrayed as star-crossed lovers. They each have feelings (to say the least) for each other, but would never be able to have a relationship within the confines of Gotham due to their circumstnaces. They are completley opposite in every way imaginable; class, morals, background, etc.

Situational Archetypes:

The Task-- Bruce Wayne's journey to save his city fits the mold for 'The Task' perfectly. Bruce's motives are the epitome of the task.

Symbolic Archetypes:

Light vs. Darkness-- Though Batman is dressed in all black, he still resembles the light of Gotham. Bane obviously represents the darkness that suffocates the city. Batman is hope and renewal, while Bane is death and despair.

Heaven vs. Hell-- The idea of heaven and hell incorporates two parts of the film: the prison in which Wayne is thrown into by Bane, and also Gotham City itself when Bane rises from the sewers. In this portion of the film, the sewers resemble the hell in which these evil men have been festering, and the actual city resembles heaven, though it is being burned by the evil ones.

The Tower-- The tower could be represented by Bane's strongholds. In the beginning of the film, the tower would be the sewers, but once Bane controls Gotham, the tower is symbolized by the entire city.

Colors:

Black-- Black is primarily the only archetypal color depicted throughout the film, but it is depicted constantly. Bane is shown in darkness (black). He is says that he grew up in the darkness. Along with the villain, even the hero, Batman, is depicted as black, always. Bane represents the evil, darkness, chaotic side of the archetypal color while Batman illustrates the mysterious, unknown, and wise side of the archetype.