I'm taking a break from a series on archetypes to quickly explain what they are and how to use them, because I've not really ever explained an archetype as its own thing before.

An archetype, to simplify it broadly, is an idea that is seen repeatedly in works of art, literature, or myth.

Archetypes are concepts, not unlike words themselves, that stand for greater things. Much like words, they have connotations and denotations. When we learn to use archetypes, it is like learning to speak a new language, the language of the human condition.

There are a number of incredibly influential people who have studied archetypes, perhaps most famously Joseph Campbell. While Campbell's work is heavily academic in many cases, you are probably familiar with his Hero's Journey, if only because modern storytellers have adopted it closely.

How closely?

Star Wars is built on Joseph Campbell's theory of the Hero's Journey, to name just one example.

These archetypes resonate with audiences, and they reflect truths about reality. This may sound like a bold claim, but it is no different, again, than words in a traditional language: a "dog" is a very real thing, even if the word itself is selected arbitrarily to represent it.

Archetypes can become a language of their own, a series of tools we can use to talk about stories and even the real world: personality archetypes, such as those of Carl Jung or Carol Pearson, and narrative archetypes, such as those put forth by Joseph Campbell, can transform the ways we view the world around us.

We can use archetypes to assess the mind in ways that language cannot; words have a limited power, and so do archetypes, but the way that archetypes work is more broad. If a word is a lexical dot, archetypes draw lines and shapes. They function similarly to how our brains work when we develop a schema of the world around us, telling us likely outcomes and giving us clues about our environment. They are a filtering system that takes cognitive stress off of the brain, but still allows a high resolution of detail.

Personality Archetypes

The personality archetypes are of incredible interest to storytellers and audiences. They are also more complex, and therefore a little more difficult to identify and utilize.

Personality archetypes look at motives and methods that a person is likely to use.
In the real world, this line of pursuit may break down fairly quickly, as it would be as impossible to classify a person into one particular archetype as it would be to select an average person representative of any career field–so many variables go into every archetype that no individual will reflect a single archetype in its entirety, and even people who have a particular dominant personality archetype will still act in ways that would be unexpected given a simple study of the archetypes. Confirmation bias sometimes fuels the notion that people act predictably, but as with personality tests (themselves based on Jungian notions), most people act based on stimulus and response, with their worldview serving as a filter to their thoughts and actions.

In storytelling, however, archetypes are more universally applicable. The characters we see are simulacra, mere figments of a writer's perception of the world.

In this case, the personality archetypes become not only very useful, but they become necessary. They provide common points of reference, ways to extrapolate about characters when they themselves do not give us a full picture of their lives and motivations. They explain interactions and modes.

And good storytellers use these archetypes. Even people unaware of the archetypes in their modern forms have relied upon them heavily; the works of Shakespeare portray archetypes in their purest and most unbridled forms: the Bard of Avon may not have known about archetypes, but his characters reflect the heightened forms of certain human expressions and experiences.

William Shakespeare, painted by John Taylor

Narrative Archetypes

Narrative archetypes look a little different from personality archetypes. You could call them methods, were it not for the fact that they are often followed unintentionally.

The most well-known example of this comes from the Hero's Journey, created by Joseph Campbell.

The narrative archetypes reflect both stories and reality, despite the fact that we often think of them as such. To illustrate this point using the Hero's Journey:

• A hero sees a problem in their world.
• They may be reluctant at first, but ultimately are required to go and fix it.
• They need help getting started before they can even fix the problem.
• They learn the tools and skills they need to fix the problem.
• They meet people who help them along the way.
• They face challenges while trying to fix the problem, or are tempted into complacency.
• They face the problem head-on.
• They triumph over their problem.
• They announce their success to the world.
• They enjoy a better every-day life on account of this.

This is not something that only happens in fiction. While this explanation of the Hero's Journey may be simplified, it is not altered to fit this method.

Every person can engage in a Hero's Journey every day. It is the voyage of learning and self-discovery. Becoming aware of this can help us improve our daily habits and living; knowing our limitations and identifying our problems with the recognition that we can fix them if we use the right tools and make the right connections.

In a story, such things are incredibly powerful, but the lessons they teach us go beyond even that.

Applying Archetypes

Archetypes have been used in every creative sector of modern life, from storytelling and psychology to marketing and graphic design.

All you need to do to apply archetypes is to learn to speak the language; identify archetypes and you will begin to see how they can be used in situations throughout your life. As with learning a language, using archetypes will alter your perception of the world, allowing you to see things in new ways.