Review: The Heroine's Journey by Maureen Murdock
The Heroine's Journey is an excellent analysis of the role of women in myths and legends and what they are expected to be today. Casting a critical light on the Hero's Journey (which was advocated for by Joseph Campbell)-- Maureen Murdock argues with keen insights that the model of the Hero's Journey oftentimes neglects the experiences of women. While women are acknowledged as having roles in the hero's journey-- they are oftentimes limited to a handful of duties. Women who undergo journeys are usually expected to produce more than men while often being held to a higher standard and without being provided the resources to succeed or the appropriate compensation. Murdock also explores the disparities that many women face regarding representation and competition from other women and their male peers. She also explores how a lot of the heroine's journey is not only about the quest to obtain new information...but rather to rediscover the inherent value that a woman already has inside her.
Much of Murdock's insights are the result from her own lived experience, the interviews she conducted with other women, and with the research she conducted on women's lived realities and their representation throughout myth, legend, culture, and narrative. In her quest to explore the trials and tribulations that women endure...she creates a model that addresses these overlooked elements that are not found in the Hero's Journey. One of the things that I love that Murdock does throughout her novel is that she draws insights from a variety of cultures and traditions. She exposes a strange phenomenon--while many cultures adore powerful women characters they also want to relegate them to the side so that they are passive players in the stories of men (or even sometimes outright vilified).
Perhaps one of the most important points that can be raised about this novel is that Murdock explores both the masculine and feminine with critical lenses. Rather than assigning blame entirely to one particular category, Murdock picks apart the expectations and the realities that these two entities embody. Highlighting that all people have these forces inside them-- she raises several critical notions about validity, interdependence, and coming to terms with both masculinity and femininity.
One of my favorite quotes by Maureen Murdock is as follows: "Women find their way back to themselves not by moving up and out into the light like men, but by moving down to the ground, to the depths of their being (Murdock 89)."
What I would love to see is if Murdock's narratives can be applied universally across women of different cultural backgrounds or if there is more room to flesh them out. What Murdock highlights is that the heroine's journey requires the heroine to leave the feminine and to endure the trials of the masculine world, so as to reincorporate this newfound knowledge with the wisdom inherent in the feminine. Some might argue that this analysis-- while thorough-- may only have one particular identity in mind. However, I am curious to see what others would add or take away.
