Gail Carriger. The Heroine’s Journey: For Writers, Readers, and Fans of Pop Culture

Gail Carriger. The Heroine’s Journey: For Writers, Readers, and Fans of Pop Culture. (USA: GailCarriger LLC, 2020).

The Heroine’s Journey is a study of the representation of female characters in literature and the ways in which they are portrayed in various cultural narratives. This book focuses on the concept of the hero's journey and how it has been adapted to fit the experiences of female characters. It provides advice to writers on how to structure their stories using the framework.


In The Hero’s Journey, the hero (not a Greek hero glorified in song, as modelled on Homer’s epics) aims for victory through physical prowess at the expense of another. Being alone is a strength; withdrawal is voluntary; motivation is revenge. Contrastingly, in the Heroine’s Journey, for the heroine, being alone is a weakness while connection is a strength; she networks, gathers people, and asks for help. Victory is in compromise, unity, and balance. The inciting incident is the breakup of the network or family. The motivation is valuing connection and community. The outcome ensures civilisation and posterity. This is helpful. Although it is named The Heroines’ Journey, it is not specific to sex. She cites the story of the Harry Potter series as a heroine’s journey and Wonder Woman, the film, as a hero’s journey. It is a shame that it is based on the hero’s journey rather than a new name. 

 

Although I was originally impressed with this framework, I have since found there was a previous one I need to look into: In 1990, Maureen Murdock wrote The Heroine’s Journey: Woman’s Quest for Wholeness, and in 1998, she published a workbook.

I'm not sure how much others might contest her understanding of the Hero's Journey, but her proposal for a Heroine's Journey is attractive. (And more attractive than some other proposals, eg The Virgins' Journey.)

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