Compare Contrast Essay

Despite the apparent differences between ancient oral myths and the contemporary myths often depicted in brightly animated films, the “cultural force” of a myth exists within its deep structural components and not within its medium. One contemporary myth, Beauty and the Beast (1756), and one ancient Sherente myth, “The Planet Venus”, have different geographical and temporal origins. However, with the aid of Claude Lévi-Strauss’s structural analysis of myth, this essay will analyze the structural elements of both myths to expose their homologous deep structure and meaning. Subsequently, the same structure found in both myths transcends the limitations of time and functions in a present day myth that has devastating consequences.
In order to

Between M1 and M2, multiple homologous mythemes appear. Modelled after Lévi-Strauss’s comparison of Cinderella and Ash-boy, this chart lists the common mythemes in both myths, as well as how these mythemes manifest:

However, as Lévi-Strauss argues, mythemes are not “isolated relations” but “bundles of such relations”. Thus, the meaning of these mythemes exists in their relation to one another and through these relations comes meaning. Therefore, from these bundles of relations arises a general structure embedded within both myths. These similarities in general structure can be seen in this chart, modelled after a conceptual chart from Lévi-Strauss’s The Raw and the Cooked. Both myths include a visual transformation, a common motif in many myths, of a pure, clean being (M1: man; M2: celestial being) into its binary opposition (M1: beast; M2: afflicted man) by means of a supernatural process. Subsequently, in both myths, a female virgin, whose role in the myth is facilitated by her father, functions as healer for the afflicted individual. Finally, the female virgin benefits from this process. Thus, the myth involves two structural sequences: 1. a transformation of an afflicted individual, and 2. a virgin, faced with an unpleasant dilemma, who self-sacrifices to save her family, and ultimately

Thus, while structural analysis illustrates the high degree of parallelism between M1 and M2, a third myth can be compared without difficulty. This myth, that HIV-positive individuals can be cured by having sex with a virgin, has the same “virgin healing the afflicted” motif as both M1 and M2. The “Virgin Cleansing Myth” is widespread in South Africa, where there is increasing anecdotal evidence that links belief in the myth to an increase in child rape. This myth includes the same transformation sequence as M1 and M2: an HIV-negative (pure) individual transforms into an HIV-positive (impure) individual and must utilize a virgin to transform back to their original state. The individual must solve their unpleasant problem with an equally unpleasant solution. However, the “Virgin Cleansing Myth” ultimately lacks the resolving elements of self-sacrifice with benefit on part of the virgins, lending to a much bleaker ending to the