Shrek Archetype Analysis

Last week I watched “Shrek”. While watching this movie, I realized that there were numerous mythological archetypes from Greek and Roman mythology in the movie, which you will see shortly. First, here is a short summary of the movie.

Movie Summary:

This histerical movie follows the quest of an ugly ogre named Shrek, who has been sent out to retrieve Princess Fiona and return her to the King Lord Farquad.

After Lord Farquad sends out his armies to find all fairytale creatures in order to find the magic mirror, originally from “Snow White”, he discovers that he must marry a Princess in order to be considered a King, to have the “fairest kingdom of them all”. Having found the magic mirror, he sends all the useless fairytale creatures to Shrek's swamp.

Having had his swam invaded by fairytale creatures, Shrek is determined to reach Lord Farquad to make him remove the fairytale creatures from his swamp. Along his way he meets his trusty sidekick Donkey, a magical donkey who can talk. Once Shrek reaches Du Lock, the kingdom of Lord Farquad, he finds himself in the middle of a battle to weed out the strongest knight, who would be sent out to save Princess Fiona and return her to Lord Farquad so they can marry.

Coming out of the battle as the winner, Shrek makes a deal with Lord Farquad; he would save and return Princess Fiona and Lord Farquad would remove the fairytale creatures from his swamp.

Saving Princess Fiona, the breathing dragon falls in love with Donkey, and the group is able to escape from the castle. On their way back to Du Lock, Shrek falls in love with Fiona and Donkey soon finds that Princess Fiona is under a curse, which forces Fiona to turn into a “terrible, ugly ogre” at sundown, an that only “true love's first kiss” can break the spell. Having overheard Fiona's words about the ogre, Shrek is hurt, assuming she was talking about him, and returns to Du Lock and returns back the next day with Lord Farquad.

Lord Farquad takes Fiona back to Du Lock and the two prepare for their wedding. Not so long after, Donkey explains to Shrek that Fiona loves him back and assures Shrek that what he overheard was not about him.

Shrek races back to Du Lock just in time to stop the wedding and explain to Princess Fiona what had happened. The angry Lord Farquad attempts to remove Shrek from the church, but ends up being gobbled up by the fire breathing dragon that Donkey and Shrek came to the wedding on. During this time, the sun sets transforming Fiona is turned into ogre form and Shrek remembers her previous words. Fiona realizes she loves Shrek, and they both share “true love's first kiss”. Disappointed, that she remains an ogre but at the same time happy, that the curse is broken, Fiona and Shrek return to his swamp.

The last few scenes in the movie are of Shrek and Fiona's ogre wedding at Shrek's swamp, with all the fairytale creatures in attendance.

The mythological archetypes found in “Shrek” are :

Heroic archetypes

Hero as a Warrior: Shrek battles for Fiona against a fire breathing dragon.

Archetypal Journeys

The search for love: Shrek searches for Lord Farquad's lover.

Later on in the movie, Shrek searches for Fiona because he realizes that he loves her.

Stages of the Hero's Journey

Departure: Fairytale creatures invade Shrek's swamp, so Shrek must go to see Lord Farquad to rid them from his swamp.

Initiation: Once in Du Lock, Lord Farquad will only rid the creatures from Shrek's swamp if Shrek finds and frees Fiona

The Road of Trials: There are many trials for Shrek on his journey. Some include defeating the dragon, falling in love with Fiona, Saving Fiona from the dragon, bringing Lord Farquad to Fiona and letting Farquad take Fiona back to Du Lock to be married.

The Innermost Cave: Shrek lets Farquad take Fiona back to Du Lock to be married, as he realizes he really loves Fiona

Return and Reintegration with society: This occurs when Shrek returns to Du Lock and objects to their marriage, marries Fiona and returns to his swamp, still full of fairytale creatures.

Characteristics of the Hero's Journey

The hero is raised in a rural setting away from cities: Shrek was raised and lives in a swamp away from all civilization

The hero is special, one of a kind: Shrek is one of the only ogres in the land

The hero engages in tests or contests of physical strength and shows pride: Shrek battles all of the kingdom's strongest knights and shows pride when he celebrates his win.

The hero often travels on a bridge: Shrek travels on a bridge to go talk to Lord Farquad and again when he goes back to the castle having found Fiona

Situational Archetypes

The Quest: Shrek sets out on a search for Princess Fiona so she can marry Lord Farquad, and as a result Lord Farquad will remove the fairytale creatures from Shrek's swamp

Symbolic Archetypes

Lightness vs. Darkness: Light represents goodness and darkness represents evil, which is why the rest of the kingdom is in light and the castle Fiona lives in guarded by the fire breathing dragon is seen in darkness.

Colours:

Black- Castle guarded by the fire breathing dragon is black, foreshadowing the mystery,chaos and evil that exists inside it's walls with regards to the dragon.

Green- Shrek is a green ogre, showing that he is full of hope, envy, sympathy and adaptability. These traits are backed up by Shrek being hopeful in himself defeating the dragon, his obvious envy as the girl he loves gets whisked away by Lord Farquad, his ability to relate to Fiona on a sympathetic level, and his ability to change his plans when things do not go as he planned.

Fiona is also seen throughout the movie in a green dress and as a green ogre, suggesting that she is also full of hope, sympathy and adaptability. Supported by her actions of waiting for her Prince Charming to rescue her from her entrapment and her kind actions towards Shrek after her reveals that he is an ogre.

Red- Lord Farquad is seen wearing red, showing the sacrifice he is willing to make to find a perfect princess to marry.

Orange- Orange is usually used to represent ambition. In the movie, there is orange lava surrounding the castle Fiona is trapped in, this shows and enhances Shrek's ambition and drive to save Fiona to free himself from the fairytale creatures.

Numbers:

Three- There are three bachelorettes Lord Farquad can choose from, creating the idea that he will have a new life after marrying one of them.

Being the third bachelorettes, Fiona is expected to be full of life and spirit, as this is what the number three represents.

Nature:

Steam- Usually steam represents transformation, steam appears in “Shrek” as Fiona transforms into an ogre

Mountain- Representing goals and admissions, the mountain Shrek climbs to reach the castle guarded by the dragon, suggests that he has extreme goals and ambitions to reach and save the Princess.

Clouds- When Shrek reaches the castle Fiona lives in, clouds cover the sky above, creating the idea of mystery, foreshadowing the encounter with the dragon inside.

Cave- usually caves represent femininity, which would make sense in “Shrek” when Fiona decides to sleep in a cave instead of outside.

Stars- Shrek and donkey point out images in the sky made of stars, representing guidance, in this scene Shrek is guided to do the right thing, with regards to saving Fiona or making her walk back to Du Lock by herself.

Objects:

Skeleton- The skeleton usually represents mortality, so when seen scattered about the castle guarded by the fire breathing dragon, the idea of mortality is suggested, reminding Shrek and donkey of what a dangerous mission they are on.

Character Archetypes

Hero: Shrek, because he saves Fiona from the fire breathing dragon

Loyal Retainers: Donkey is Shrek's loyal retainer, also considered to be his sidekick because her is always by Shrek's side, through thick and thin.

The Evil Figure with the Ultimately Good Heart: The fire breathing dragon is the perfect example of the “evil figure with the ultimately good heart” because in the beginning she is evil and trys to kill Shrek and Donkey, however after they captured the Princess, she becomes kind and helps Shrek and Donkey stop the wedding between Fiona and Lord Farquad.

The Damsel in Distress: Princess Fiona is seen to be the “damsel in distress” in this movie, as she needs to be “rescued” from the castle. Although this character type usually needs to be protected from danger, Fiona can fend for herself, which makes me wonder if she fits into this category well or not.

The Star-crossed Lovers: This character archetype is seen as Shrek falls in love with Fiona and Fiona falls in love with Shrek. This is a little odd because Shrek is a massive ogre and Fiona is a tiny human Princess who was meant to marry a human Prince. This also changes in the end, as Princess Fiona transforms into and Ogre

Throughout Shrek, the idea of love is persistent. In the beginning, Lord Farquad sends Shrek out to rescue his Princess so he can become a king. In the end, Shrek falls in love with Fiona and marries her.

In this movie, do you think that Lord Farquad should be considered as an evil character?

Keep in mind that he sent Shrek to complete the dangerous task of saving his princess, so he would not get hurt himself. When Shrek returns with the Princess, Lord Farquad makes fun of him by calling him and “ugly ogre”.

Do you think it was right for Shrek to help someone else for his own benefit, out of his own selfishness?

Is this idea of helping someone for your own benefit found in any Greek myths?