| Title | : | From Girl to Goddess: The Heroines Journey Through Myth and Legend |
| Author | : | |
| Rating | : | |
| ISBN | : | 0786448318 |
| ISBN-10 | : | 9780786448319 |
| Language | : | English |
| Format Type | : | Paperback |
| Number of Pages | : | 376 |
| Publication | : | First published October 19, 2010 |
From Girl to Goddess: The Heroines Journey Through Myth and Legend Reviews
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I have been influenced a lot by
Joseph Campbell - in fact, my whole worldview underwent a total transformation when I read
The Hero With a Thousand Faces in my late twenties. I found a way to reconcile my atheism in the real world with my spiritual aspirations in the creative world through the writings of this path-breaking mythologist.
But there was still a nagging sense of incompleteness. Campbell talked of the "Hero"'s journey - an exclusively masculine viewpoint. I found it very hard to accept that there was no parallel "heroine's journey" - that the spiritual journey of the male psyche was a template in totality for the human experience.
Ever since then, I was on the hunt for similar feminist narratives.
Women Who Run With the Wolves: Myths and Stories of the Wild Woman Archetype satisfied this requirement to a certain extent - but I still longed for more... when I discovered this book.
Valerie Frankel delineates the heroine's journey as expressed in myths and fairy tales across the world in exhaustive fashion. It is similar to the hero's journey, yet different. In the second part, she writes about the maiden/ nymph/ crone triad, linked with the waxing/ full/ waning moon.
Fascinating stuff if you are a fan of myth and fairy tales, and a worthwhile addition to one's library. -
Frankel has been working on this book for a long, long time, and I've been waiting for it for a long time! She sifts through the world's myths and legends and their variants, all featuring female heroes. This is a world analysis, with as much attention paid to Asian, African, aboriginal, and peoples of the oceans as is paid to western tales. Frankel points out how many stories were used to teach young women their role in relation to men, mothers, families, their children, and villages far more than they were taught what was considered a more masculine kind of heroics. The analysis is witty and Frankel's respect for the great female archetypes is obvious, as is her respect for the cultures from which the stories come. For anyone who wants to read these stories and their background, and for anyone who wants to read more than just the typical western stories of female trials and magic, this book is the perfect place to start. It is scholarly but readable, and it will give the person who's truly interested a stepping-off place to explore this great, lesser-known, area of storytelling and myth.
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I’ve been reading this on and off for over a year. It’s a fascinating study, a good companion, correction possibly, to Campbell. I found lots to interest, excite, and explain. Certainly it has made me look at certain myths and characters and stories in a new light, and also inspired me to create my own. There are places where I felt a little sceptical about the conclusions being drawn but it nevertheless reads lyrically and sometimes even movingly, at least as a female reader, keen to find my own place in the world. I think it’s impossible to read a text like this and not in some way feel called to evaluate one’s own life and the society we live in. We’ll see how long that feeling lasts! Looking forward to using the bibliography and end notes as a jumping off point for further reading.
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Skip this book and read
Women Who Run with the Wolves instead. Honestly, if you are going to talk about how a myth reflects women, use the actual myth instead of the liberatto by Wagner. -
Editorial Reviews
Once you read this, you’ll never see the female journey the same way again. This book is a fascinating and engaging explanation into the feminine journey and a real treasure of storytelling. It’s at once academic in scope and yet accessible to the layman reader. It contains masterful storytelling and retelling of the myths that are used to support the thesis of the feminine journey.
-Sacramento Book Review | San Francisco Book Review
From Demeter and Persephone of ancient Greek mythology to the Armless Maiden of South Africa, Pele of Hawaiian legend, and the lesbian wise women of Native American folklore, this book gathers stories from around the world representing the heroine's journey. Frankel, a storyteller, essayist, and novelist, seeks to throw off the oppression of our culture's obsession with hero myths as she reveals the heroine's true role, not as the hero's reward, but as an embodiment of one of the goddess archetypes: magical maiden, life-source and creator mother, wise crone, and guardian angel.
-Reference & Research Book News, Inc., p. 3-4, February 2011.
Ever since I used Christopher Vogler's The Hero's Journey to plot my first novel, I have wanted this book. I sensed that my heroine's journey didn't quite fit the outline, and now Valerie Frankel shows why. In the Introduction, Ms. Frankel says, "The heroine's true role is to be neither hero nor his prize." Rather than conquering through war and battle, the heroine wins through patience, fortitude, and wit. Her goal is not to rescue the princess but--of interest to Romance writers--to re(gain) family.
...
There is an extensive appendix of folklore types, reference notes, and bibliography. I only wish it also included some of the gorgeous artwork on the website:
www.vefrankel.com
-Christie Maurer, Monterey Bay RWA Monarch News.
The questing heroine, whether a Samoan mermaid or Mayan moon goddess, seeks enlightenment and strength through a quest of ordeals leading to symbolic death. Rather than a sword, she wields magic slippers, a mirror, a chalice. Only after she has defeated her dark side, the wicked witch, can the young woman grow into a bestower of wisdom, the protecting queen and arch-crone, in this universal journey.
-Beacon News -
Great food for thought, however sometimes Frankel's claims feel a bit stretched. I do appreciate though her choice of myths and stories from all over the world, and the way she engages in discussion with pop-culture as well.
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DNF - stopped around pg 60 b/c I couldn't do it anymore.
I'm sure this book has its audience, but it isn't me.
If you are looking for an analysis of myth and legend that supports the idea that a female is not complete without a male counterpart, that marriage is the ultimate happy ending, that the home and hearth is where women belong - you're going to love this book. If you're looking for a feminist read on the heroine's journey, strong female characters, or ways that women in myth subvert the patriarchy in the ways that they could...this is not that book. -
Positives: the stories at the beginning of each chapter, the details and the cultural influence.
Cons: the ending and I wish it was updated and related to some of our more modern fairy tales and how these theories apply today.
Overall, solid read. -
The journey of goddesses and female heroes throughout history.
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I took a nice, long, slow journey through this book and found it to be life changing. This book is a masterpiece in my opinion as a writer and as a mystic. Bravo!
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Rating:4/5
I love mythology. I love it even more when I get a nice surprise and land in a book that has a nice mix of rare content you don't find in every other book out there.
I was surprised to find the myth I got my daughters name included in this book. Especially given how hard it was for me to find anything on that myth when I was choosing a name.
My favourite section was the "Two Spirits". New territory for me and very interesting.
If you're looking for a book that covers the myths you love and are used to hearing but also want something new, this is that book.
The one small change I would have made with this book would have been to include more pronunciations with names.
Some had it, some didn't and some of them that didn't were brain twisters.
The writing is smooth, the myths are easy to understand, and the content gives you plenty to think about.
It was a great read over all. I would definitely recommend it, and read it again.
A great read for those curious and seasoned mythology lovers alike.
*Disclaimer: I was given a free copy of this book for review. All opinions are my own. -
Though a bit disorganized, this book is a necessary addition to
The Hero With a Thousand Faces. I'd recommend reading it right after or along with Campbell's book, since an understanding of the Hero's Journey there presented is necessary in order for the reader to fully understand the Heroine's Journey presented here.
Like Campbell's interpretation, Frankel's vision has some outdated and questionable parts. Because she derives the heroine's journey from many old myths and folktales, there are some pieces driven by sexism and some divisions made between the feminine and the masculine that are better left in the past.
Still, I've learned a lot from this book, and I intend to use it as a reference for my own writing. It's also quite useful as a perusal of world mythology from the female perspective and has many stories I'd never before read that I was delighted to learn about.
(Showcased in
Video: My Bookshelf Tour 2020) -
An absolutely superb detailing on how the Heroine's Journey unwinds--and is so different from Campbell's well-known Hero's Journey. In the Introduction, Ms. Frankel says, "The heroine's true role is to be neither hero nor his prize." Rather than conquering through war and battle, the heroine wins through patience, fortitude, and wit. Her goal is not to rescue the princess but--of interest to Romance writers--to re(gain) family.
Using myths and folklore from many cultures, Ms. Frankel portrays the heroine's journey to overcome innocence, betrayal, misleading mentors, unconsciousness, allies and enemies, lovers, confront the father, abuse and healing, descent into darkness, the deadly mother, find the elixir, flight and return, goddesshood and wholeness. This is a must-read for any author of women's fiction. My only complaint is that it did not contain pictures of the ancient goddesses. One has to go to a website to find them. -
This book is an excellent read for anyone interested in mythology and fairytales. Not only does this book focus on stories of the heroine, it focuses on the heroine from a wide variety of cultures across the globe. Each story is first told in its entirety and then examined. Instead of being organized by country, the stories are separated into the types of journeys the hero, or in this case heroine, takes. There is also a section on archetypes, giving stories that exemplify the different types of female archetypes in fairytales. This book is perfect for anyone looking for a new view on fairytales.
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This has been a excellent read, meeting up to my expectations. Frankel has synthesized the Joseph Campbell model, bringing in the long-marginalized tales and myths of the world's great feminine heroes. But more than just restatement of the hero's journey, she incorporates Freud and Jung superbly, giving the reader the framework to see the influence the Feminine image has had in world religion and mythology. Long overdue and a must-read for this generation's authors and scholars.
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I think a great book to understanding myths and fairytale's. It also gave me opportunity to remember few fairytale's that I've forgotten, and then compare it to myths not only from Greece or Egypt, but from all over the world. Also a little pagan philosophy and journeys through different stages gave it a final topping.
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This is very useful as a reference book, and it contains stories I haven't heard before (even in my college class on Folklore and Fairy Tales). I could, however, have done with more emphasis on folklore and less on psychology.
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Exhaustive encyclopedia of worldwide girl and goddess stories. Great reference - though interpretations and analysis are sometimes a bit contradictory it is valuable as a reference that fills in gaps, complements and expands on Campbell's male centric monomyth.
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An amazing reference about myths and stories of strong women across cultures. Easily read. It makes sense of stories that otherwise can seem negative or disparaging of women. A great resource for anoyone writing about women and women's issues today.
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Filled with fairy tales and mythology to demonstrate the female's version of the "Hero's Journey" made popular by Joseph Campbell.
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Very informative and helpful in plotting the course of a strong female character!
