Buffy and the Heroine's Journey: Vampire Slayer as Feminine Chosen One

by Valerie Estelle Frankel

Overview

The worlds of Percy Jackson, Harry Potter, and other modern epics feature the Chosen One—an adolescent boy who defeats the Dark Lord and battles the sorrows of the world. Television's Buffy the Vampire Slayer represents a different kind of epic—the heroine's journey, not the hero's.

This provocative study explores how Buffy blends 1990s girl power and the path of the warrior woman with the oldest of mythic traditions. It chronicles her descent into death and subsequent return like the great goddesses of antiquity. As she sacrifices her life for the helpless, Buffy experiences the classic heroine's quest, ascending to protector and queen in this timeless metaphor for growing into adulthood.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780786467921
Publisher:	McFarland & Company, Inc., Publishers
Publication date:	03/12/2012
Pages:	236
Product dimensions:	5.90(w) x 8.90(h) x 0.70(d)
Age Range:	18 Years

About the Author

Valerie Estelle Frankel teaches English at Mission College and San Jose City College. The author of more than 90 popular culture books and more than 100 stories and essays, she lives in Sunnyvale, California.

Table of Contents

Table of Contents

Acknowledgments     
Introduction     

1. The Hero’s and Heroine’s Journey     
2. Departing the Ordinary World—The Film     
3. Refusing the Call, Accepting the Call     
4. Allies and Enemies     
5. Angel/Angelus     
6. Embracing the Shadow: Faith     
7. The Rewards of Growing Up     
8. Terrible Mother, Powerless Father     
9. More Allies, More Enemies     
10. Lover/Beast     
11. The Powerful Feminine     
12. Season Six and the Pain of Return     
13. Leading the Next Generation     
14. Downfall in Season Eight     

Conclusion     
Appendix I: Archetypes     
Appendix II: Episode List, by Season     
Bibliography     
Index     

Editorial Reviews

analyzes events in each season of Buffy, to demonstrate how the series combines contemporary female teenage life with aspects of classic mythic traditions as Buffy moves through each stage of her heroine journey”—Reference & Research Book News; “a must-read...fantastic...the meticulous research and knowledge of Buffy are very obvious”—Poetic License; “for the viewer who wants a wise guide back through the darker inner circles of the Buffyverse, this book is an admirable Virgil”—Mythlore; “Frankel skillfully interweaves her knowledge of fairy tales and folklore, archetypal criticism, and psychoanalysis to reveal how the adventures of Buffy Summers, the heroine...embody the various stages of the heroine’s journey. Building on her expertise on the heroine’s journey, Frankel shines in her discussion of Buffy as epic...maintains an air of sophistication, supported by solid research, that scholars expect in a critical text...will surely earn a place on your own shelf”—Journal of the Fantastic in the Arts.

From the Publisher

"for the viewer who wants a wise guide back through the darker inner circles of the Buffyverse, this book is an admirable Virgil"

Mythlore

a must-read...fantastic...the meticulous research and knowledge of Buffy are very obvious

Poetic License

analyzes events in each season of Buffy, to demonstrate how the series combines contemporary female teenage life with aspects of classic mythic traditions as Buffy moves through each stage of her heroine journey

Reference & Research Book News