The Heroine's Journey step by step in Star Wars The Force Awakens

1. The Heroine’s Journey
In Star Wars: The Force
Awakens

2. Campbell's Model: The Hero's
Journey
My Model: The Heroine's Journey
World of Common Day World of Common Day
Call To Adventure Call To Adventure- A Desire to
Reconnect with the Feminine
Refusal of The Call Refusal of The Call
Supernatural Aid The Ruthless Mentor & Bladeless
Talisman
Crossing The First Threshold
Belly of the Whale
Crossing the First Threshold:
Opening One’s Senses
Road of Trials Sidekicks, Trials, Adversaries
Meeting With The Goddess
Woman as Temptress
Marriage to the Animus,
Confronting the Powerless Father
Atonement with The Father
Apotheosis
Atonement with the Mother.
Apotheosis through the Feminine
The Ultimate Boon Reward: Winning the Family
The Magic Flight Magic Flight Reinstating the
Family
Master of the Two Worlds Power over Life and Death

4. Common Day
The tale begins in the humdrum world of
kitchen chores and powerlessness.
The hero or heroine lives with an absent mother
and brutal stepmother. The father figure,
if there is one, is equally obstructive.
More than anything, the girl longs for
an escape, an adventure. Here the story begins.

5. Call to Adventure
Without a catalyst, Cinderella might remain in
her kitchen forever. Some event, either a
chance at freedom and happiness or a
devastating act of destruction propels the
heroine from her place of safety and into the
frightening world of the spirit.

6. Hero
• Heroes quest to
defeat the Dark Lord
and rule as the High
King

7. …and Heroine
The heroine quests to save loved
ones, a quest as dangerous as any
journey of the hero.

8. Modern Questors

9. Refusing the Call
Here, the hero is
faced with the
unknown. By contrast,
home represents
safety and security, a
place the child is
loathe to leave.

10. Threshold
The heroine must surrender
her reliance on logic and
willingly enter the world of
emotion and fantasy.

11. Lightsaber: Male Talismans
• Warrior Woman often have male
weapons, clothes, mentor, nemesis.
• Mu Lan, Atlanta, Athena, Artemis, Éowyn,
Batgirl, Xena, Buffy, Katniss

12. Feminine weapons
• More feminine warriors are more likely to
fight with distance weapons – bows,
spears, the lasso, the whip, and the
chakram.

13. Rey’s Weapons
• Staff (distance weapon, linked with nature)
• Han’s blaster is a silver distance weapon,
suggesting deeper mysticism.

14. Ruthless Mentor, Bladeless Talisman
While heroes almost always
receive a sword (wand,
lightsaber…) from their kindly old
mentor, girls walk away with
household objects. All of the
heroines accomplish their quests
without violence, needing
cleverness and fortitude more
than Excalibur.

15. The Heroine’s Treasures
Feminine symbols:
amulet, apple, bag, ball, bird, bow, cauldron, cave,
circle, cloak, clothing, comb, crown, cup, egg, eye,
flowers, forest, girdle, glove, grail, helmet, home,
hood, hoop, jewelry, keys, lasso, mirror, moon, night,
oven, ring, rose, serpent, slippers, spindle, spiral,
thread, tree, vase, veil, voice, water, web, well, whip.

16. Sidekicks,
Trials, Adversaries
Animal helpers & advisers
generally represent part of
the heroine’s psyche,
pointing out things she
doesn’t notice and teaching
her how to outwit her
adversary. They guide her
along her path, bolstering
her courage when the
quest seems daunting.

17. Shapeshifter/Bluebeard
In the game of love, the hero and heroine each view their
partner as a shapeshifter with frightening mood swings
and unpredictable desires. Hence, many tales appear
about enticing swan maidens from the sea or taming
beastly monsters into Prince Charmings. Finn is such a
transformer. Some stories have a murderous spouse or
stalker whom the heroine is trapped with and must
evade.

18. Prince Charming:
The Helpless Father
At some point, the heroine returns home to
discover the prince, or father-figure, cannot save
her. She must leave the patriarchy and rely on
herself.

19. Descent into Death
The heroine descends
into the realm of
darkness toward
initiation and wisdom,
seeking her own elusive
dark side. There she will
find her greatest
challenge…herself.

20. Prince’s Castle
• While the hero visits the realm of death
(the feminine sphere), The Little Mermaid
and The Six Swans see heroines trapped
in the patriarchy’s tower where they have
no power.

21. Facing the Shadow

22. Villains: The Child-Killer

23. Villains: Patriarchal Destroyer

24. Reward
Triumphant, the heroine wins what she has
sought for so long. She snatches her lover
from the Fairie Queen’s horse, or saves her
child from certain death. She may find the brief
romance she’s sought for so long. Still, the
quest has not ended, until she returns safely
home.

25. HeroinesJourney.net
More on the journey