Seeing the Divine in the Web: Charlotte as the Goddess Archetype
Presentation Type
Textual Analysis
Release Option
Event
Description
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Abstract
The Hero’s Journey is often the backbone of stories we tell each other all over the world. The character archetypes as described by Joseph Campbell in his book The Hero With a Thousand Faces are important to the functionality of these stories. Children’s literature often simplifies the Hero’s Journey, but the story arc and archetypes can commonly be found within the genre. One of the most important archetypes is the figure of the Goddess. Using New Criticism, I have analyzed E.B. White’s Charlotte’s Web (1952) and found that this beloved story holds the universal truths found in the monomyth. Children’s literature may be written simply but we can see the significance the genre holds to the ongoing storytelling humanity constantly creates to pass along our cultural ideals. From the onset of their friendship, Charlotte fulfills the role of Mother for Wilbur. We can take this further and see that this Mother role is the Goddess archetype in action.
Faculty Mentor
Dr. Olivia Carr Edenfield
Department of Primary Presenter's Major
Department of Literature
Location
Room 1015
Symposium Year
2023
Seeing the Divine in the Web: Charlotte as the Goddess Archetype
Room 1015
The Hero’s Journey is often the backbone of stories we tell each other all over the world. The character archetypes as described by Joseph Campbell in his book The Hero With a Thousand Faces are important to the functionality of these stories. Children’s literature often simplifies the Hero’s Journey, but the story arc and archetypes can commonly be found within the genre. One of the most important archetypes is the figure of the Goddess. Using New Criticism, I have analyzed E.B. White’s Charlotte’s Web (1952) and found that this beloved story holds the universal truths found in the monomyth. Children’s literature may be written simply but we can see the significance the genre holds to the ongoing storytelling humanity constantly creates to pass along our cultural ideals. From the onset of their friendship, Charlotte fulfills the role of Mother for Wilbur. We can take this further and see that this Mother role is the Goddess archetype in action.
