Booker’s Seven Basic PlotsPart I: The Seven Gateways to the

Underworld

Henderson

The basic premise to the basic plots:

Christopher Booker argues that all storytelling is woven around basic plots and archetypes that are inescapable and help to define the human condition. We are psychologically programmed to tell stories in a way that reflects our most basic physiological needs.

The plots are:

Overcoming the MonsterRags to RichesThe QuestVoyage and ReturnComedyTragedyRebirth

#1: Overcoming the Monster

Overcoming the Monster

Epic of GilgameshJames Bond novels and filmsMany tales in Greek mythology (Perseus, Theseus)Dragon slayer storiesGothic novels: Frankenstein, Dracula

Overcoming the Monster

Essence of the plot: A community falls under the shadow of an evil power (more on this later).The monster threatens destruction, often has in its possession a great prize -- treasure or a “Princess”The hero, often armed with a magic weapon, must confront the monster, usually near its lair.Hero makes a thrilling escape from death, slays the monster, inherits the prize and the kingdom.

Overcoming the Monster: the nature of the beast

Alarming in appearance or behavior

Horrible, terrible, grim, misshapen, hate-filled, ruthless, menacing, terrifying

Overcoming the Monster: the nature of the beast

Mortally dangerous

Deadly, bloodthirsty, ravening, murderous, venomous, poisonous

Overcoming the Monster: the nature of the beast

A deceitful and tricky opponent

Cunning, treacherous, vicious, twisted, slippery, depraved, vile

Overcoming the Monster: the nature of the beast

Mysterious, hard to define

Strange, shapeless, sinister, weird, nightmarish, ghastly, hellish, fiendish, demonic, dark

Overcoming the Monster: the nature of the beast

“In other words, in its oddly elusive way, we see this ‘night creature’, whether it is a giant or a witch, a dragon or a devil, a ghost or a Martian, representing…everything which seems most inimical, threatening, and dangerous in human nature, when this is turned against ourselves.”

Overcoming the Monster: the nature of the beast

No matter how different from ourselves the monster may superficially seem, he will always possess some qualities that are at least partly human.However, the monster can never be an ideal, perfect, whole human being.

Overcoming the Monster: three roles

Predator: the monster in its “active” role. It wanders menacingly through the world, spreading a shadow of fear and destruction.Holdfast: “passive” role. Sits in or near its lair, guarding its prize. Avenger: when its guardianship is challenged, it lashes out viciously, leaving its lair to exact revenge.

Overcoming the Monster: three roles

Note how humanlike the monster’s behavior is in all three roles. The three roles are essentially categories of human behavior when we act on self-seeking impulse.“Above all, and it is the supreme characteristic of every monster who has ever been portrayed in a story, he or she is egocentric.”

Overcoming the Monster: its downfall

The hero is the polar opposite of the monster: acting selflessly and for some higher cause.The monster is always limited in its egocentric “tunnel vision” and has a blind spot that the hero can exploit. A fatal flaw in the monster’s awareness finally brings it down.

Bilbo meets SmaugA clip from The Hobbit

Overcoming the Monster: plot outline

The Call: The monster is introduced as a threat to a community, country, kingdom, or mankind in general. The hero is called to confront it. Dream Stage: The hero makes preparations for battle; he and the monster are brought closer together. Things are going reasonably well, and there is a comfortable remoteness from danger.

Overcoming the Monster: plot outline

Frustration Stage: Hero comes face to face with the monster in all its awesome power. The hero seems inferior by comparison and may even fall into the monster’s clutches.Nightmare Stage: final ordeal begins, a nightmare battle in which the odds seem stacked against the hero. But, just when all seems lost…

Overcoming the Monster: plot outline

Thrilling Escape from Death/ Death of the Monster: in a miraculous reversal, the hero gains the upper hand and delivers a final fatal blow to the monster. Its dark power is overthrown. The community under its shadow is liberated. The hero wins his prize, his princess, and/or his kingdom.

Overcoming the Monster: constriction and release

The plot establishes a sort of internal rhythm of constriction and release. “Systole - diastole”

#2: Rags to Riches

Rags to Riches

Legend of King ArthurPygmalion/My Fair LadyThe Ugly DucklingAladdin

This plot is one of the earliest we come to know as children.

Rags to Riches

The plot is rooted in folk tales from around the world and is regarded as one of the most basic stories in the world.

Rags to Riches: the hero or heroine

We are introduced to the central figure in childhood, or at least before full maturity. We know immediately that the story is about the process of growing up.The hero or heroine is usually inferior: an orphan, or the youngest child and disregarded by family and peers.They languish in the shadows of a dominant, antagonistic “dark” figure.

Rags to Riches: the dark figures

Adult figures: wicked stepmothers, domineering aunts or uncles, etc. This figure usually replaces the parent.Young figures: wicked stepsisters, fratricidal brothers, scornful ducklings. This figure acts as a rival to the hero or heroine.The dark figures are often a combination of characteristics we see from Overcoming the Monster.

Rags to Riches: the central crisis

Early on the story, the inferior hero experiences some success and is elevated from his original lowly status.However, these changes in fortune are superficial, and soon the hero encounters a CENTRAL CRISIS in which all seems lost. (Ex: Jane Eyre’s failed attempt at marriage, and her subsequent desperate wandering around the moors.)

Rags to Riches: the central crisis

It is this central crisis that highlights some aspect of the hero or heroine’s immaturity. He or she must grow from this central crisis in order to attain the true, complete happy ending.

Rags to Riches: plot outline

Initial wretchedness at home & “the call”: we are introduced to the hero in his lowly and unhappy state. The dark figures are the source of his misery. This phase ends when something happens to call them out into a wider world.Out into the world, initial success: early efforts are rewarded, and the hero may have some glimpse of the greater glory he will someday achieve.

Rags to Riches: plot outline

The central crisis: reduced to a new powerlessness, this is the worst part of the story for the hero or heroine.Independence and the final ordeal: the hero is discovering in himself a new independent strength. The hero is put to a final test, in which a dark rival may stand between the hero and ultimate fulfillment.

Rags to Riches: plot outline

Final union, completion and fulfillment: the reward is usually a state of complete, loving union with the “Prince” or “Princess”. They may also succeed to some kind of kingdom. The implied ending is that “they lived happily ever after”.

Ever After trailer

#3: The Quest

The Quest

Arthurian/Grail legendsDante’s Divine ComedyHomer’s OdysseyThe Lord of the RingsIndiana Jones movies

Essence of the plot

Far away, there is a priceless goal, worth any effort to achieve: a treasure, a promised land, 30 sliders from White Castle, something of infinite value. The hero sets out on a hazardous journey to attain the goal and overcomes any number of perilous hindrances in order to achieve the objective.

The Quest: the call

The quest usually begins on a note of urgency: it is no longer possible for the hero to stay “at home” or stationary. Something has gone disastrously wrong, or a faraway threat looms. (Ex: the Aeneid begins with Aeneas fleeing the sacked and smoldering city of Troy.)

The Quest: the hero’s companions

A distinctive mark of the Quest is that the hero is not alone in his adventures.The companions can be large in number and “throwaway” extras like Odysseus’ retinue; orAn alter-ego of the hero whose most oustanding feature is his fidelity (Samwise in The Lord of the Rings); orAn alter-ego who serves as a foil (Don Quixote and Sancho Panza, King Lear and the fool)

The Quest: the journey

The constriction-and-release rhythm emerges here as the hero and his companions undergo terrifying ordeals, then experience periods of respite from helpers along the way.Often the terrain itself presents a problem to the company: waste lands, labyrinths, forests, mountains, etc.

The Quest: four obstacles

Monsters: Polyphemus (Odyssey), harpies (Aeneid), Shelob (The Lord of the Rings), Black Knights (Arthurian legend). Threatens the hero through confrontation.Temptations: the Odyssey is chock-full of tempters, from Circe to the Sirens to the Lotus Eaters. Threatens the hero through seduction and guile.

The Quest: four obstacles

Temptations pt.2: if the tempter is subdued, he/she often becomes a helper for the hero. (Circe in the Odyssey)Deadly Opposites: the hero must travel an exact path between two great opposing dangers (Scylla and Charibdys). Lotsa room for allegory here.

The Quest: four obstacles

The journey to the underworld: sometimes just a horrifying experience, but more often a chance for the hero to contemplate his future, life and death, actions and consequences, etc. The hero can consult with others long dead for guidance on his quest.

The Quest: helpers

“The old man” and “young woman” are two benevolent figures that feature prominently in Quest tales (Virgil and Beatrice in Dante’s Divine Comedy)

The Quest: final ordeals

The journey in a Quest only makes up half of the story; when the goal is finally within sight, the hero must face a final ordeal or series of ordeals.It is this final struggle which is necessary for the hero to lay hold of his prize and secure it.

The Quest: plot outline

The Call: life in some “City of Destruction” has become oppressive and intolerable, and the hero recognizes that the only way to rectify the situation is to take a long and perilous journey to achieve some related goal.The Journey: a systole-diastole series of ordeals.

The Quest: plot outline

Arrival and frustration: the hero arrives within sight of his goal, but a singular or series of terrifying obstacles looms before him. The final ordeal: time to kick butt in said obstacles.The goal: after a last “thrilling escape from death”, the life-renewing goal is achieved.

“He chose…poorly.”

#4: Voyage and Return

Voyage and Return

Goldilocks and the Three BearsAlice in WonderlandThe Time MachineRobinson CrusoeProdigal Son parable from the BibleGone with the Wind

Voyage and Return: essence of the plot

The hero or heroine travels out of their familiar, everyday “normal” surroundings into another world completely cut off from the first, where everything seems abnormal. The early experience might feel exhilarating, but eventually a shadow intrudes. By a “thrilling escape” the hero is returned to his normal world.

Voyage and Return

While this plot is as old as storytelling itself, it became much more fashionable in Western literature after the Renaissance, when voyagers were traveling to every corner of the globe.These stories generally fall into two types: a) the hero is marooned on a deserted island, or b) the hero visits a land of some strange people or civilization

Voyage and Return: variations

As fewer areas of the world were left to be explored, more authors sent their heroes into different parts of time or spaceA “social” voyage and return features a hero who finds himself in a different group of people with whom he would not normally associate (sample clip on the next page)

The Devil Wears Prada

#5: Comedy

Comedy: a history

Etymology of “comedy”: a banquet, a jovial festivity, a festal processionSpeculated to have begun in the villages of ancient GreeceMany of the conventions of the comedy plot have scarcely changed in 2,000 years

Comedy: a history“Old Comedy”

The plays of Aristophanes, performed between 425 and 388 BCAt heart of his comedies lay an agon, or conflict, b/w two characters or two groups of charactersOne side is life-giving, the other side life-denying (freedom vs. oppression)The losing side (always the meanies) is suddenly forced to recognize something so important about themselves that it changes their ways and leads to reconciliation. (Anagnorisis)

Comedy: a history“New Comedy”

Emerged with the plays of the Athenian Menander, and later with Romans Plautus and TerenceBiggest mutation is that comedy became a love storyCentral characters are a hero and heroine; the purpose of the confusion or conflict in the story is to keep the two apart until they are brought triumphantly together in the closing scenes

Comedy: a history

More on the “New Comedy” plot:There are two ways that the lovers are kept apart until the end…1. Two lovers passionately desire to get married, but a selfish and unrelenting father (the dark figure) prevents them from doing so.2. There is quarrel and confusion between the lovers themselves, based on a misunderstanding

Comedy: conventions

Always present in comedy, but more explicit from New Comedy onward, is the device of mistaken identity. Identities can be confused through:

Mysterious births and originsCharacters in disguise or deliberately assuming new identitiesCross-dressingCharacters concealed in exile, or eavesdropping in closets or nearby rooms

Comedy: conventions

The anagnorisis, then, often relates to a physical recognition of a character’s true identity. This is material to the greater shift from life-denying to life-giving.

Comedy: Shakespeare

Yes, he revolutionized comedy so much that he gets his own category. Yay for Bardolatry!

Comedy: Shakespeare

The Renaissance revival of classical comedies gave Billy Shakes tons of creative material to tinker withThe Bard wrote 16 comedies -- nearly half his dramatic outputThe key mutation in his comedies was simply the new richness and complexity of the plot

Comedy: Shakespeare

The plots go further back in the “history” of the characters. In New Comedy, the lovers are already established. In Shakespeare, the plot is dialed back to the wooing stage. “Getting the girl” becomes a central focus of the plot.The main action then shifts to the pairing off process itself.

Comedy: Shakespeare

But good ol’ Bill doesn’t always pair his characters off neatly. His plays feature an ensemble of potential lovers who often embroil themselves in a confusing “love tangle” that propels the conflict forward.The anagnorisis allows the couples to sift themselves into their proper places.

Comedy: Shakespeare

“What has happened, in fact, is that the range of Comedy has been extended, not just by Shakespeare, but in Renaissance literature generally, to include virtually every combination and permutation possible in the human experience of love.”

What allows all the pieces of a

comedy to come together in a

comprehensible plot is the action of the “recognition”.

Four processes must occur for the anagnorisis -- and

therefore the comedy as a whole -- to be complete.

Comedy: steps of recognition

1. The dark figures imprisoned in an unloving state must be softened and liberated by some act of self-recognition and change of heart.

2. The identity of one or more characters must be revealed in a more literal sense.

3. Characters must discover who they are meant to pair off with.

4. Wherever there is division, separation or loss, it must be repaired.

Ending to Much Ado About Nothing

Comedy: movement from dark to lightDARKDark figuresTrue identities/natures

are hidden or unclear

Lovers are in a state of uncertainty

Families or communities are divided or out of sorts

LIGHTDark characters either

change or are exposed and punished

True identities are revealed

Each lover is united with the “other half”

Reunion and restoration

Comedy: above/below the line

Above the line: characters representing the established order, an upper social level and hierarchy; authority of men over women, adults over childrenBelow the line: servants, people of inferior class, wives, the rising generationThe chief source of darkness in the story is on the upper level; the road to liberation lies on the lower levelThe road to resolution lies below the line!

“The essence of comedy is that some redeeming truth has to be brought out of the shadows and into the light.”

…so where do the laughs come from?

Almost uniformly, the aspect of comedy that elicits laughter from the audience is a character’s egocentricity, his tunnel-vision, his inability to see the world as it is.

Christmas Vacation (sorry ‘bout the language, but it’s part of point.)

Pride and Prejudice

The Hangover

#6: Tragedy

Tragedy (1): Five Stages

Since you should already be familiar with many of the basic tenets of tragedy, this section will focus mainly on the genre’s relationship to comedy (seriously -- you’ll be surprised by the number of structurally parallel elements) and archetypal variations. If you want a refresher on classical definitions of tragedy, please see the ppt on tragedies in the English III H section of my website.

Tragedy (1): Five Stages

“We might almost say that, for a story to resolve in a way which really seems final and complete, it can only do so in one of two ways. Either it ends with a man and a woman united in love. Or it ends in death.”

Tragedy (1): Five Stages

1. Anticipation Stage: hero is in some way incomplete or unfulfilled. Some object of desire or course of action presents itself to the hero. When the hero succumbs to this desire or thought, he has found his “focus”: Macbeth decides to assassinate King Duncan, Icarus yields to his desire to fly close to the sun; Dr. Jekyll drinks his potion.

Tragedy (1): Five Stages

2. Dream Stage: hero commits to his focus, and for awhile everything is peachy. He feels gratified and seems to be getting away with his crime or error.3. Frustration Stage: Things begin to go wrong. Hero feels restless and insecure, commits further dark acts to secure or retain his position and feelings from the Dream Stage.

Tragedy (1): Five Stages

4. Nightmare Stage: Things are now slipping completely out of the hero’s control. Forces of opposition and fate are closing in on him; hero falls into rage or despair.5. Destruction or Death Wish: either by the forces he has aroused against him, or by some final act of violence which precipitates his own death, the hero is destroyed.

Tragedy (II): The Divided Self

Unlike the “Call” that enters early into a Quest or Overcoming the Monster plot, the focus in tragedy is of ambiguous value and is better identified as a “Temptation”

Tragedy (II): The Divided Self

As the hero yields to his temptation, we are intuitively aware of the fact that he is willing to violate and defy some prohibition, law, convention, or duty.Initially a part of the hero is reluctant to commit to the Temptation, leading to a “divided self”

Tragedy (II): The Divided Self

It comes back to “light” and “dark” (again). The dark, shadowy side of the hero is the one initially hidden from the world, the one which attaches itself to the Focus/Temptation and then consumes the hero.“The heroes and heroines of Tragedy are becoming ensnared by some obsessive desire which springs ultimately from themselves.”“They are set more and more at odds with the reality of the world around them -- until finally it begins to close in on them, demanding a reckoning.

Tragedy (II): The Divided Self

The very essence of tragedy is that the hero or heroine becomes separated from society.They break the bonds of loyalty, family, friendship, and all the elements required for a happy ending. The only resolution left is death.The tragic hero destroys relationships with a few key archetypes (notice the parallel with the Quest)…

Tragedy (II): The Divided Self

The Good Old ManThe Rival or ShadowThe Innocent Young GirlThe Temptress

Tragedy (II): The Divided Self

The Good Old ManOlder than the heroRepresents the established authorityOften a kingly or father figureDuncan, killed by Macbeth; Julius Caesar, killed by Brutus

Tragedy (II): The Divided Self

The Rival or “Shadow”A figure who is in some way on the same level as the hero (age, rank, similar background)Becomes the “opposite” of the increasingly dark hero and is a threat to him/her

Tragedy (II): The Divided Self

The Innocent Young GirlOne of the most poignant of the hero’s victimsThe “good angel” who fails to sway the hero back to his light selfOthello’s murder of Desdemona is a dramatic example and illustrates the correlation of such an event with the Nightmare Stage

Tragedy (II): The Divided Self

The TemptressThe other feminine figure often present in tragedies is a “dark” figure herself.Leads the hero onAlmost invariably dies a violent death, often adjacent to the hero

Tragedy (II): The Divided Self

The tragic hero as an incomplete, egocentric figure who meets a lonely and violent end sure sounds like a figure from another plot already discussed. Can you guess which one?…

Tragedy (III): Hero as Monster

Recall the chief modes of behavior for the Monster, and consider how accurately they can be applied to the tragic hero:

PredatorHoldfastAvenger

Tragedy (III): Hero as Monster

Some tragedies can end on a note of solemn rejoicing because the hero/life-denying monster has been destroyed, and life can begin to flow again.“Ultimately the destruction of the dark hero has been a victory for light.”

#7: Rebirth

Rebirth: synopsis

A hero or heroine falls under a dark spell which eventually traps them in some wintry state, akin to living death: physical or spiritual imprisonment, sleep, sickness or some other form of enchantment. For a long time they languish in this frozen condition Then a miraculous act of redemption takes place, focused on a particular figure who helps liberate the hero or heroine from imprisonment.

Rebirth: Plot points

1. Hero falls under the shadow of a dark power.2. Poison takes some time to work up to its full effect.3. Total isolation: the darkness emerges in full force4. Nightmare stage: odds seem stacked against a rescue of the hero5. Reversal/ awakening: imprisoned figure is freed by the power of love

The Universal Plot

The Universal Plot

The overlap and interrelationships between the plots are immediately recognizable. What is really to be gained from this exploration of seven plots is NOT the compartmentalizing of stories, but rather the joining together of all stories into basic universal elements.

The Universal Plot

The Beginning: a hero is undeveloped, frustrated, or incomplete. This state sets up the tensio that drives the plot.The Middle: The hero falls under the shadow of a dark power. This power may exist outside the hero or within the characters themselves.The End: Through a reversal or unknotting, the dark power is overthrown.

The Universal Plot

Fundamental movements:Dark to lightIsolated to integrated, or vice versaIncomplete to wholeJuvenile to matureConstriction/releaseIgnorance to self-realization

The End! Woohoo!