Carl G. Jung (1875-1961) was a Swiss psychiatrist and founder of analytical psychology. Sigmund Freud considered Jung his successor in the advancement in psychoanalysis. Freud and Jung parted ways over different philosophies. Nevertheless, Jung’s contributions to psychology included the concept of Archetype, Collective Unconscious and his Theory of Synchronicity.

Under analytical psychology, Archetypes are a model of a personality or person. The Archetypes serve as an universal prototype of ideas to describe distinctiveness and to unconsciously recognize characteristics, motivations and behaviors.

While there are many Archetypes, Jung emphasized four major ones:

1. The Self - the center psyche of the individual.

2. The Shadow - the mysteries, dark and disagreeable to the self.

3. The Anima - the female image and qualities in a man’s psyche.

4. The Animus - the masculine image and qualities in a woman’s psyche.

Other notable Archetypes include:

· The Hero

· The Wise Old Man

· The Trickster

· The Child

In the 1977 movie “Star Wars“, Jung’s archetypes are represented in each of the main characters. The Self represented by Luke Skywalker, which is also the Hero. Darth Vader represents the Shadow, Princess Leia represents the Anima, Han Solo the Animus and Obi-Wan Kenobi is the Wise Old Man.

Many new theories of storytelling, such as Dramatica, have incorporated in some way some of the Archetypes. Additionally, these Archetypes can be seen in many forms of literatures and motion pictures. From Shakespeare’s Hamlet, to the movie “The Matrix”, archetypes can be found.

Could you find any Archetypes in your favorite movie or story?

Post your comments or thoughts.