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The Character Archetypes In King Arthur

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Around the world, there are very different myths and folklore, each suiting a specific culture’s beliefs. Nonetheless, amongst those different narratives, there are certain elements, such as themes, character types, and design, that keep manifesting. These recurrences are labelled as archetypes. One type of archetypes is character archetypes. Prevalent in myths from Sigurd the Volsung to The Epic of Gilgamesh, character archetypes are types of characters that are conventional amidst literature. In the Medieval British legend King Arthur three character archetypes are prominent; the Hero, the Mentor, and the Villain. These archetypes are universal, found in myths from around the world.

One ubiquitous archetype that is present in King Arthur …show more content…

The Villain is the main force opposing the Hero. They are cunning and determined, going to great extents to achieve their wish. Mordred, King Arthur’s son, is the classic Villain. The illegitimate son of King Arthur born out of wedlock with his half-sister Queen Margawse of Orkney, Mordred’s existence was not known by King Arthur. Merlin prophesied that King Arthur’s kingdom would be razed to the ground by Mordred and that Mordred did after he became a Knight of the Round Table. Mordred, “ . . . [scheming] to reign in King Arthur’s place and marry Queen Guinevere . . . ”, exposed publicly that Sir Lancelot, King Arthur’s knight, and Queen Guinevere, King Arthur’s wife, were having an affair, initiating a war between Sir Lancelot and King Arthur. During the war, “. . . Mordred had [himself] . . . crowned [as] king of Britain . . .” , usurping King Arthur from the throne. The Egyptian God of the desert, and chaos, Seth, is another prime example of the Villain archetype. In Egyptian Mythology, Seth has performed innumerable wicked deeds, from murdering his brother Osiris, to defiling his brother's remains, “. . . [tearing] the corpse . . . into fourteen pieces . . . [traveling] throughout the kingdom of Egypt, scattering the pieces of Osiris . . . ”, all to rule Egypt. Seth even attempted to murder his nephew Horus, who was Osiris’s

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The best villain that I know of is the Shadow man or as some know him Dr. Facilier. The shadow man is from the movie “The Princess In The Frog”. The shadow man turned prince Navine into a frog so that the shadows could rule New Orleans. The fake Navine, who was his non loyal servant, took his place to marry Lottie. The shadow man also messes with people's fate like prince Navine.

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It is told that at a banquet of the gods, Seth had fooled Osiris into stepping in the case, then which he had slammed shut, and trapped Osiris inside. Seth then made his way out to the Nile River and tossed it in, which made the coffin born by the river to the Delta Byblos. As it floated down the river, it became enclosed in a tamarisk tree. Isis discovered it and brought it back to Egypt. The story to this point is attested only by Greek writer Plutarch, although Seth was identified as his murderer as early as the pyramid era.

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Throughout history, every work of fiction that has been constructed has contained a hero that reflected the cultural values of the time. Whether it be Shakespeare or J. R. R. Tolkien, the hero of the tale has not only epitomized these values, but served as a paradigm for heroes in other works of fiction. Beowulf and Sir Gawain exemplify the cultural values of the Anglo-Saxons and the Middle English. Some of these values, such as honor and valor, are reflected throughout the evolution of the Early to Late Middle Ages, although some are replaced, and there is a slight paradigm shift with regard to the nature of the two heroes; this can be clearly viewed when one analyzes the archetypes in Beowulf and Sir Gawain and the Green Knight in terms

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We have all lived in the world of fairy tales and imagination but have we ever really focused on what intrigues us about these stories? The hero’s sacrifices and the villain’s decisive plots intrigue us the most in stories but these characteristics are what makes a character known for as a hero, villain and this is known as archetypes. This analyzation revolves around, The Princess Bride and archetypes that some of its character’s qualify of. According to my analysis, Westley portrays the hero, Prince Humperdinck portrays the villain/shadow and Dread Pirate Roberts portrays the Threshold Guardian. The first archetype that I have analyzed is a hero and I have identified Westley as the hero because he sacrifices many things in order to achieve his goal, a hero’s trademark.

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King Arthur was said to be a great king, who ruled over Camelot in the fifth or sixth century. King Arthur estimated to have been born around 475 A.D., “Tintagel has come to be associated with King Arthur as his birthplace, depicted by the Welsh monk Geoffrey of Monmouth” (Walker para 5). Arthurian Literature commonly depicted daring sword fights, chivalrous knights, damsels in distress and even magic. Though there are few records of a true King Arthur does not mean there is not a man behind the great legend that came forth in the mid twelfth century. “The legend of King Arthur may have been based on the life of one or more Celtic warriors who fought the Anglo-Saxon invaders of England in the late fifth and early sixth century.”

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Because of Arthur’s denial of Guinevere's affair with Lancelot, Mordred seizes his opportunity to accuse Guinevere, which causes Arthur to stage her “execution” and her rescue. Because of this, Gaheris and Gareth are placed in danger, and killed by Lancelot in his rampage, as well as many other soldiers who were only doing their duty. “” (White #) However, this has wider repercussions, and Mordred and Agravaine use Lancelot’s crime of “treason” to persuade some of the knights of the Round Table to follow his ideas. This culminates in a battle between his followers and Arthur’s, and ultimately ends in Arthur’s death, marking the end of his kingdom. “” (White #) All of Mordred’s actions would never have occurred if not for Guinevere’s affair. The chain of events causing Camelot’s collapse would never have happened if Guinevere had not loved both Arthur and

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Lancelot and Guinevere had a secret love affair, and Guinevere was married to King Arthur. One of Arthur’s knights grew suspicious of their relationship and confronted Lancelot. This led to a combat between the both of them, so that Lancelot could reveal the truth. Lancelot won the fight against Sir Meliagaunt, where he sliced his head in half. Sir Meliagaunt wasn’t the only knight that suspicious of this love affair, several of King Arthur’s knights were also aware of the situation.

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