The Seven Basic Plots: Why We Tell StoriesThis remarkable and monumental book at last provides a comprehensive answer to the age-old riddle of whether there are only a small number of 'basic stories' in the world. Using a wealth of examples, from ancient myths and folk tales via the plays and novels of great literature to the popular movies and TV soap operas of today, it shows that there are seven archetypal themes which recur throughout every kind of storytelling. But this is only the prelude to an investigation into how and why we are 'programmed' to imagine stories in these ways, and how they relate to the inmost patterns of human psychology. Drawing on a vast array of examples, from Proust to detective stories, from the Marquis de Sade to E.T., Christopher Booker then leads us through the extraordinary changes in the nature of storytelling over the past 200 years, and why so many stories have 'lost the plot' by losing touch with their underlying archetypal purpose. Booker analyses why evolution has given us the need to tell stories and illustrates how storytelling has provided a uniquely revealing mirror to mankind's psychological development over the past 5000 years. This seminal book opens up in an entirely new way our understanding of the real purpose storytelling plays in our lives, and will be a talking point for years to come. |
From inside the book
Results 1-5 of 35
Page 17
... Aladdin , who lives in a city in China .... then one day a Sorcerer arrives , and leads him out of the city to a mysterious underground cave . We meet a Scottish general , Macbeth , who has just won a great victory over his country's ...
... Aladdin , who lives in a city in China .... then one day a Sorcerer arrives , and leads him out of the city to a mysterious underground cave . We meet a Scottish general , Macbeth , who has just won a great victory over his country's ...
Page 52
... Aladdin is led out of the city by his wicked ' uncle ' , the Sorcerer , to retrieve the magic lamp , thus embarking on the strange series of adventures which transform him into a rich and admired national hero , winning the hand of the ...
... Aladdin is led out of the city by his wicked ' uncle ' , the Sorcerer , to retrieve the magic lamp , thus embarking on the strange series of adventures which transform him into a rich and admired national hero , winning the hand of the ...
Page 55
... Aladdin is decked out by the genie of the lamp in all sorts of splendour for his wedding to the Princess, the formerly scorned little urchin win all hearts by his generosity and noble 'eloquence bearing, and and cultured astonishes ...
... Aladdin is decked out by the genie of the lamp in all sorts of splendour for his wedding to the Princess, the formerly scorned little urchin win all hearts by his generosity and noble 'eloquence bearing, and and cultured astonishes ...
Page 60
... Aladdin ; the other a well- known nineteenth - century English novel , Jane Eyre . But as we follow the essence of what is happening to the central figure in each of these stories , we begin to see clearly what this structure of the ...
... Aladdin ; the other a well- known nineteenth - century English novel , Jane Eyre . But as we follow the essence of what is happening to the central figure in each of these stories , we begin to see clearly what this structure of the ...
Page 61
... Aladdin a magic ring to protect him in case of trouble, and the boy is sent down into the underground cave where he finds three rooms containing a fabulous treasure, jewels and finely worked gold and silver, shining in the darkness. But ...
... Aladdin a magic ring to protect him in case of trouble, and the boy is sent down into the underground cave where he finds three rooms containing a fabulous treasure, jewels and finely worked gold and silver, shining in the darkness. But ...
Contents
1 | |
15 | |
THE COMPLETE HAPPY ENDING | 237 |
MISSING THE MARK | 345 |
WHY WE TELL STORIES | 541 |
The Light and the Shadows on the Wall | 699 |
Authors Personal Note | 703 |
Glossary of Terms | 707 |
Bibliography | 711 |
Index of Stories Cited | 715 |
General Index | 720 |
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Common terms and phrases
Aladdin Amleth anima Anna Karenina archetypal arrives beautiful become begins central figure centre century characters Comedy comes complete consciousness Creon Dark Father dark feminine dark figure dark masculine dark power Dark Rival death developed Don Giovanni Dream Stage egocentric egotism emerge eventually everything familiar fantasy film finally girl goal Hamlet happens happy ending heart hero and heroine hero or heroine human imagination inner James Bond Jane Eyre journey killed king kingdom liberated light lives look Macbeth married Moby Dick mother murder mysterious nature Nightmare Stage novel obsession Odysseus Oedipus ordeals Overcoming the Monster pattern play plot Princess Quest Rags to Riches realise recognise represents role seems seen sense shadow storytelling symbolic symbolised Teiresias tells Theseus thing Tragedy transformation true turn type of story ultimately uncon unconscious values Voyage and Return whole wife Wise Old woman young