Ashley Chambers
English
Thesis Advisor: Dr. Downey
HAB Member: Dr. Aune
Second Reader and Librarian: Dr. Sittler
Keywords: Monomyth, Lichtman, Jemisin

Table of Contents
Introduction ..........................................................................................................................1
Literature Review.................................................................................................................3
Campbell’s Monomyth ........................................................................................................9
The Call to Adventure....................................................................................................10
Refusal of the Call/Supernatural Aid .............................................................................11
The Crossing of the First Threshold ..............................................................................13
The Belly of the Whale ..................................................................................................14
The Road of Trials .........................................................................................................15
The Meeting with the Goddess ......................................................................................16
Woman as the Temptress ...............................................................................................17
Atonement with the Father ............................................................................................19
Ultimate Boon and Apotheosis ......................................................................................20
Criticisms .......................................................................................................................21
Lichtman’s Model of the Great Goddess ...........................................................................23
The Original Virgin Birth ..............................................................................................24
The Adventure of Choice ...............................................................................................26
Sexual Initiation .............................................................................................................27
The Transformation of Conception................................................................................30
Birth as Threshold ..........................................................................................................31
The Maternal Warrior ....................................................................................................32
The Reconciliation of Female Heritage .........................................................................33
Repository of Wisdom and Experience .........................................................................34
Mistress of Life and Death.............................................................................................34
Criticisms .......................................................................................................................36
Monomyth+ .......................................................................................................................38
Removal of the Oedipus/Electra Complex from Atonement with the Father................38
Removal of Male/Female Superiority from Meeting with the Goddess ........................41
Removal of Sexist Language .........................................................................................43
Works Cited .......................................................................................................................47

Abstract
This thesis focuses on applying two major models of the hero's journey to a
singular contemporary fantasy novel, The Hundred Thousand Kingdoms by N.K.
Jemison, where the novel is a contemporary vehicle for analysis of antiquated theories.
The first part of the thesis focuses on applying Joseph Campbell's monomyth to the
protagonist (Yeine Darr) and her journey, while criticizing gendered aspects of the
monomyth. The second part of the thesis applies Susan Lichtman's Great Goddess model
to The Hundred Thousand Kingdoms, and also identifies complications with using a
female-focused hero's journey model. The third part of the thesis suggests a resolution
called Monomyth+ to create a ubiquitous monomyth while maintaining the foundation of
Campbell's original theory.

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Introduction
Much of my thesis focuses on relatively old material. Campbell himself has been
dead for thirty years (Campbell xi), and the struggle for gender equality predates anyone
alive today. Structuralism gave way to post-structuralism half a century ago; however, all
of it is still significant and has an impact on today’s society. “Though we are told we live
in a post-structuralist world, there is much about the structuralist enterprise that has
survived and contributes today to furthering our understanding of human cognition”
(Sangster 1). When we look at the monomyth, we are not taking an abstract look into
narrative patterns in stories written by faceless machines. Theories like the monomyth
exist because of people. Even if the elements of the hero’s journey are meant to be
applied to fiction, “Examples might be multiplied, ad infinitum, from every corner of the
world” (Campbell 48).
Whatever the relation between life and art, history indicates that one cannot thrive
without the other. When considering a novel, real life issues are inserted either by the
writer, whose intention it may be to call attention to a problem, or by the reader, who may
be searching for an answer in what she believes to be a role model. The hero is not an
abstraction. He or she acts as a model for the everyday person to imitate, or to sympathize
with. The heroes’ problems stem from ours, and how they overcome their problems gives
us guidance.
And, when the hero is given so much attention and significance, one could only
hope to find heroes that represent or stand for oneself. It is discouraging when a character
cannot fulfil the criteria of having completed a hero’s journey simply because her status
of woman inherently means that she cannot, or that her journey is just “different.” The

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days of “separate but equal” have long since passed, and the female hero deserves an
equal role to her male counterpart, instead of the latter being the model for the woman to
apply to herself, as described by Creed:
discussion and analysis of hero myths have historically been produced in
relation to the male. These narratives invariably draw upon masculinised
spaces (exterior, outside domains), masculinised tests of courage (battle,
combat), masculinised obstacles (the enemy as “other”), masculinised
desire (for the femme fatale, forbidden woman), masculinised victories
(saving the kingdom/preserving the status quo) and masculinised rewards
(power, fame). (15)
In this system, the woman is always at the disadvantage. Although Creed suggests that
the best way to fix the solution is to create a new system entirely, I believe that we can
analyze what doesn’t work and fix it.

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Literature Review
My thesis falls into the larger discussion of structuralism. Outlining the structure
of a story or myth is nothing new, but the discussion continually evolves and generates
new content. For example, Campbell published his ideas on the monomyth in 1949, and,
in the decades since, writers like Lichtman and Creed have criticized what they perceived
to be flaws, and then posited their own version of the hero’s journey. This flowing
discussion is hardly limited to the hero’s journey, but covers several aspects of narrative
and form. One of the more famous structuralists is Vladimir Propp. Propp’s work is
largely grounded in the idea that, “…in order to establish what constitutes a genre, one
has to demonstrate that there is a constant repetition of functions in a large body of tales”
(Propp ix). By examining these patterns of repetition in narrative storytelling, Propp laid
the groundwork for discussing stories in terms of the organized forms of structuralism.
Although many other authors added to the discussion, one of particular importance is
Carl Jung. Although his work was originally intended for use in psychology, literary
analysis often has a strong psychological backing to support it, and structuralism is no
different. Of particular importance, “The collective conscious and archetypes, as
mentioned earlier, are part of Jung’s theory of personality and what makes up the
underlying forces of the human mind” (Darowski and Darowski 29). Although his work
was firmly grounded in archetypal patterns, there are many theorists that go against the
idea, with one such example as the theories of Levi-Straus. “In Lévi-Strauss’
structuralism there are no archetypes, no ‘heraldic and emblematic substantialism,’ as
with Jung” (Sangster 186). I do not mean for my thesis to inherently promote any specific
form of structuralism, but to exist within the larger context of people looking for patterns.

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My research focuses on the hero’s journey, and some of the problems that exist in the
current models used to examine narrative structures.
In short, N.K. Jemisin's The Hundred Thousand Kingdoms is the first novel of
The Inheritance trilogy, and it is the baseline for my comparison of the different models
of the hero's journey. It is a contemporary work of fantasy by an American female author,
and follows the story of Yeine Darr, an orphan who leaves her home at the behest of her
maternal grandfather, Dekarta Arameri, emperor of the very many kingdoms that
constitute their world. Along the way, she searches for information surrounding her
mother’s death, and finds more than she can initially handle. She is legitimized by her
grandfather in order for her to be a viable sacrifice so that the next Arameri head can be
chosen. As a result of her mother’s negotiations with the gods, Yeine had been bestowed
with the soul of a goddess before her birth. To prevent the goddess’s return, Yeine is
murdered before she can be sacrificed. Her divine soul causes her resurrection, and
ultimate rise to power as a goddess herself.
The application of the monomyth as described in Joseph Campbell’s The Hero
with a Thousand Faces to Jemisin’s The Hundred Thousand Kingdoms was the original
focus for my thesis, which eventually branched out to include a conversation on gender
roles and a critique of the sexism in Campbell’s monomyth. The Hero with a Thousand
Faces is a book split into two parts, with the most relevant for my thesis being The
Adventure of the Hero. The monomyth consists of three chapters or overarching sections:
Departure, Initiation, and Return. Each section has five or six sub stages (for a total of
seventeen), and each of which is described in detail in the larger thesis when they are
applied to Yeine Darr’s journey.

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Bill Moyers’ interview with Joseph Campbell, The Power of Myth, was used to
help supplement Campbell’s theories. The book is, essentially, an edited transcript of a
PBS interview, though, as editor Betty Flowers says, “…the book has its own shape and
spirit and is designed to be a companion to the series, not a replica of it” (Moyers ix). In
the interview, Campbell expands on his views of myth and mysticism, though its use in
this thesis largely focuses on understanding Campbell’s view of the female role in myth,
and the relations between father and son.
Susan Lichtman's book, Life Stages of Woman's Heroic Journey: A Study of the
Origins of the Great Goddess Archetype, outlines a tripartite model of a female hero's
journey, which consists of the life stages of Virgin, Mother, and Crone. Virgin, the first
overarching life stage, has three parts: The Original Virgin Birth, The Adventure of
Choice, and Sexual Initiation. The three stages for the Mother stage are The
Transformation of Conception, Birth as Threshold, and The Maternal Warrior, and,
finally, the three stages for the Crone life stage are The Reconciliation of Female
Heritage, the Repository of Experience and Wisdom, and Mistress of Life and Death. Her
work is the basis for the second major comparison of a hero’s journey used in my thesis,
and, thus, each stage is discussed in-depth as it is applied to Yeine Darr’s heroic journey.
Mary Kirk's article on "Vision of The Possible: Models for Women's Heroic
Journey Applied to Madrone's Path in The Fifth Sacred Thing" was my original
inspiration for researching models other than Campbell's monomyth. In her article, Kirk
applies two models of the female hero to a character named Madrone in Starhawk's The
Fifth Sacred Thing. The two models used by Kirk are Susan Lichtman’s Life Stages of
Woman's Heroic Journey: A Study of the Origins of the Great Goddess Archetype and

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Pearson and Pope's The Female Hero in American and British Literature. This exposure
to Lichtman’s model ultimately served as the inspiration to discuss her model in terms of
The Hundred Thousand Kingdoms. Kirk’s article, highlights the necessity of
differentiating from Campbell’s monomyth because “…women don't fit Campbell's
model for the heroic journey” (Kirk 48). Her analysis, while critical, is not particularly
antagonistic. In her first endnote, Kirk says, “I have profound respect and appreciation
for Joseph Campbell's immense contributions to understanding world mythology. In fact,
he is the reason that I became interested in the questions explored in this thesis. However,
Campbell was not a feminist…” (Kirk 68). Her article invites discussion of the roles of
women in literature and invites new perspective on established myths.
Annis Pratt discusses common themes by female authors in Archetypal Patterns
in Women's Fiction. In my thesis, her expertise is vital to the discussion of rape and the
trauma associated with it (Pratt 24-29), as Yeine’s rape is significant to the development
of her character. Pratt covers a plethora of other archetypes in her book, from puzzlement
in Love between Men and Women (Pratt 82) to Single Women and Sex (Pratt 118).
Though I used only one of her archetypes in my discussion of the female hero’s myth,
many more are applicable. Pratt’s focus on women’s fiction is especially applicable, as
Jemisin is a female writer.
Barbara Creed's "The Neomyth in Film: the Woman Warrior from Joan of Arc to
Ellen Ripley," and Mary Gergen's "Feminist Reconstructions in Psychology: Narrative,
Gender, and Performance," were both used in my thesis to a smaller extent than some of
the other feminist critiques. Creed’s article focuses primarily on the application of female
heroic models to different characters in movies. Her work was part of a larger collection,

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Women Willing to Fight: The Fighting Woman in Film. Creed discusses her term,
neomyth, to describe the structure of the heroine's journey. She goes on to define the
neomyth by saying that it is "...divided into three parts and consists of eight main
structures" (Creed 20), which is similar to Campbell's tripartite main structure. Creed
challenges the current status of the woman hero by saying "...in a phallocentric world, the
heroic journey has become thoroughly masculinized. There are no formal narrative
structures to use as a template for the mythic journey of the female hero" (Creed 17). In a
structuralist fashion, Creed challenges the lack of existing forms to analyze the role of the
female hero in narratives. Creed also addresses the Campbell's monomyth directly by
saying "Although Campbell refers to both male and female heroes...his focus is
predominately on the male figure. Woman does not fit comfortably into the structures of
the hero's mythic journey as set down by Campbell" (Creed 18). Her neomyth is written
in response to this lack of a suitable structure for discussing the female hero. "Although
this paper focuses on the cinema, the neomyth can equally be applied to the female hero
of myth and legend, literature, popular culture and the arts" (Creed 19-20).
Gergen also directly criticizes the monomyth. Although I used only a small part
of her book in the discussion of the monomyth, Gergen's eight-chapter book discusses
male/female relations, woman's development, and the development of women's
narratives. In reference to Campbell's work, Gergen says, “The monomyth is the hero's
myth, and the major Manstory. (I wonder, where is the woman in this story? She is to be
found only as a snare, an obstacle, a magic power, or a prize.)” (Gergen 57).
I used Virginiae Blackmon’s article on the Oedipus complex to criticize
Campbell’s use of discredited Freudian research within his monomyth, and I specifically

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reference that “…historical data now prove incestuous behaviors are extremely rare in all
societies worldwide. Psychiatrists have dismissed much of what Freud had to say on the
subject” (Blackmon). The article itself covers the mythological basis of the complex,
wherein “…Oedipus becomes king of Thebes and marries the widow of the former
king—his biological mother, Jocasta” (Blackmon). In addition, Blackmon defines and
discusses Sigmund Freud's use of the theory in psychoanalysis. Essentially, "Freud
believed all male children deal with aggression toward their fathers and dream of making
love to their mothers at some point in their development" (Blackmon). Blackmon also
discusses the modern take on Freud's Oedipus complex. A significant section of
Campbell’s work focuses on the idea of the Oedipus complex, and Blackmon’s article
provides context for analyzing the impact of the monomyth.
Many others discuss the discredited aspect of Freud’s research on the Oedipus
complex. One example that goes into detail of Freud’s criticisms is found in Jess and
Gregory Feist’s Theories of Personality: “…the current trends in neuropsychoanalytic
research neither confirm nor even mention Freud’s psychosexual stage theory, especially
its more controversial elements of Oedipal conflicts, castration anxiety, and penis envy”
(Feist and Feist 57). Essentially, Feist and Feist suggest that there are two main reasons
that Freud is critiqued: he does not understand women, and he is not a scientist. “Given
his upbringing during the middle of the 19th century…a tendency to exaggerate
differences between women and men, and his belief that women inhabited the ‘dark
continent’ of humanity it seems unlikely that Freud possessed the necessary experiences
to understand women” (Feist and Feist 59). Given that the main point of contention for
universal nature of the monomyth is that it imperfectly applies to women, and also given

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that Campbell frequently cites Freud to support his theories, and Freud is here criticized
on the basis of not understanding women, then it is logical to conclude that the grounding
of the monomyth in Freud’s theories is at least partially responsible for its crumbling
foundation.
Campbell’s Monomyth
Since 1949, the leading source for describing the hero’s journey has been Joseph
Campbell’s The Hero with a Thousand Faces, where he describes the varying stages of
the monomyth. Even today, his analysis and interpretations have continuing merit, as
scholars continue to reflect back on his words and apply his theories to literature.
However, Campbell’s work has not been without its criticisms. One of the major
criticisms is that Campbell’s monomyth has lost some merit because it is founded in
discredited Freudian theory. In fact, “…the current trends in neuropsychoanalytic
research neither confirm nor even mention Freud’s psychosexual stage theory, especially
its more controversial elements of Oedipal conflicts, castration anxiety, and penis envy”
(Feist and Feist 57). This is a valid criticism when serious scholars do not even mention
these aspects of Freud’s work---aspects which Campbell relies on heavily in his research.
In addition, The Hero with a Thousand Faces tells the story of a hero, or a male
protagonist: “The monomyth is the hero's myth, and the major Manstory. (I wonder,
where is the woman in this story? She is to be found only as a snare, an obstacle, a magic
power, or a prize.)” (Gergen 57). So, while it does not altogether omit women from the
analysis, it does create a gendered and skewed version of their tales. His work is not
entirely antiquated, but it does show its age. Still, it has many merits for its use in
analysis. Campbell’s description of the hero’s journey from his The Hero with a

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Thousand Faces has applications for contemporary fantasy, in this case N. K. Jemisin’s
The Hundred Thousand Kingdoms, but falls short in a few key stages (The Meeting with
the Goddess, Woman as Temptress, and Atonement with the Father) because the
monomyth is gendered to describe the journey of a heterosexual male, while Jemisin’s
protagonist is a heterosexual female.
The Call to Adventure
Yeine Darr, the protagonist of The Hundred Thousand Kingdoms, begins her
journey mostly the same as her male counterparts. “This first stage of the mythological
journey--- which we have designated the ‘call to adventure’---signifies that destiny has
summoned the hero and transferred his spiritual center of gravity from within the pale of
his society to a zone unknown” (Campbell 48). In Yeine’s case, the summons for her
adventure comes in the form of an invitation to the capital of the empire in which she
lives: “One month after my mother died, I received a message from my grandfather
Dekarta Arameri, inviting me to visit the family seat. Because one does not refuse an
invitation from the Arameri, I set forth” (Jemisin 4). Yeine identifies strongly with her
homeland, and is often criticized for what others consider to be her savage nature.
Moving from her place of strength to pursue this summons places her far out of her
element into what Campbell describes as the “zone unknown” (48).
However, the nature of her departure from her homeland shows a feminine
obedience to a patriarchal structure. While a hero may quest for honor or glory, Yeine
sets out to obey a social summons from her old grandfather, who just happens to also be
what is essentially an emperor. This does not seem to be a fault of the monomyth, and,
instead, is a result of Jemisin’s narrative. Mary Gergen, social psychologist and author of

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Feminist Reconstructions in Psychology: Narrative, Gender, and Performance, writes,
“In general, the cultural repertoire of heroic stories requires different qualities for each
gender. The contrast of the ideal narrative line contrasts the autonomous, ego-enhancing
hero, singlehandedly and singleheartedly progressing toward a goal, with the longsuffering, selfless, socially embedding heroine...lacking the tenacious focus demanded of
a quest” (58). This tendency for an author to portray a female hero is more likely the
result of societal implications, rather than any explicit sexism by the author. In this way,
the society in which the author lives shapes the author’s perceptions and world view,
which, in turn, impacts the female heroes the author writes. Jemisin, an American writer,
depicts Yeine in a way that shows the influence of the author’s society. Mark Kirk, a
professor with a doctorate in Women's Studies, writes, “As Campbell says, our stories
reflect our cultural beliefs, and U.S. American women live in a limited and limiting
culture based on spiritual systems that place women in inferior positions” (67). Yeine is
forced to obey the summons because she is an inferior position, and has no feasible
alternative in that lower status.
Refusal of the Call/Supernatural Aid
At this point, Campbell’s theory of the monomyth splits into two paths: the
Refusal of the Call and Supernatural Aid. “For those who have not refused the call, the
first encounter of the hero-journey is with a protective figure (often a little old crone or
old man) who provides the adventurer with amulets against the dragon forces he is about
to pass” (Campbell 57). Yeine fits into the latter category, as she states, “Because one
does not refuse an invitation from the Arameri, I set forth” (Jemisin 4). Refusing the call

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is simply not an option for Yeine, though traveling to the capital at her grandfather’s
behest ultimately proves to be just as dangerous, if not more so.
Fortunately, Yeine is not without help. Once she arrives in Sky, the palace where
her maternal family resides, she is offered help by the Enefadeh, which are essentially
three gods bound to the service of her family: “Perhaps I should not call them gods, since
no one worships them anymore....There must be a better name for what they are.
Prisoners of war? Slaves? What did I call them before---weapons?” (Jemisin 14-15).
This help is offered after she is told to submit to receiving a sigil on her brow. On her
first night there, T’vril informs her,“The Enefadeh are the reason we wear the blood
sigils, Lady Yeine. No one may pass the night in sky without one. It isn’t safe” (Jemisin
18). In addition, Virane explains the use of the mark as it “[k]eeps the Enefadeh from
killing you, among other things” (Jemisin 42). While still so vague as to be nearly
meaningless, it does identify the Enefadeh as one of the primary dangers in Sky. Later, it
is revealed that the mark gives her other abilities, such as the power to control the
Enefadeh, but it also enslaves her, in turn. The master sigil, held by the head of the
Arameri family, has power over those below him: “The master sigil outranks all the rest;
whoever wears it has absolute power over us, the rest of the family, and the world”
(Jemisin 163). Sieh places his own sigil on Yeine: “I will mark your brow with a
sigil,..One that cannot be seen. It will interfere with the sigil Viraine intends to put on
you. You will look like one of them, but in truth you’ll be free” (Jemisin 38). The sigil
placed by Sieh prevents the controlling influence that would otherwise make her helpless
to act against the head of the Arameri family, or anyone else who outranks her. With this

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new mark, given to her by divine forces, Yeine can not only survive in this competitive
environment, but she can also keep her freedom.
The Crossing of the First Threshold
Yeine continues her journey in keeping with Campbell’s monomyth. The next
stage is Crossing the Threshold, and,“[w]ith the personifications of his destiny to guide
and aid him, the hero goes forward in his adventure until he comes to the ‘threshold
guardian’ at the entrance to the zone of magnified power” (Campbell 64). Before she
even made it to face the guardians, Yeine is rejected at the threshold: “At the gates of Sky
(the palace) I was turned away, though not for the reasons I’d expected” (Jemisin 5).
However, it soon becomes apparent that she is not truly being rejected. When she is
granted an audience with her Grandfather, she is legitimized: “‘Granddaughter,’ he said
and the titters stopped. The silence was heavy enough to hold in my hand. He was head
of the Arameri family, and his word was law” (Jemisin 9). This acceptance is symbolic
for her crossing the threshold from being an outcast to being part of the most powerful
family in the world.
After being accepted into the fold, Yeine still has to face the real threshold
guardians: the Enefadeh, and, in particular, Nahadoth. Yeine is startled to note
that“Behind me rose an inhuman howl, like the voices of a hundred wolves and a hundred
jaguars and a hundred winter winds, all of them hungry for my flesh. Then there was
silence, and that was most frightening of all” (Jemisin 24). As Campbell wrote about the
guardians, “...to deal with them is risky; yet for anyone with competence and courage the
danger fades” (Campbell 68). At this juncture, Yeine still lacks the competence because
she does not understand the nature of the Enefadeh, and she has not been marked with a

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sigil. Later, when she is marked and knows how to handle the Enefadeh, she can use
them to her advantage.
The Belly of the Whale
The next phase occurs slightly out of the traditional order for Yeine Darr. The
next phase is typically the Belly of the Whale. “The idea that the passage of the magical
threshold is a transit into a sphere of rebirth is symbolized in the worldwide womb image
of the belly of the whale. The hero, instead of conquering or conciliating the power of the
threshold, is swallowed into the unknown, and would appear to have died” (Campbell
74). For Yeine, instead of occurring when crossing the threshold into Sky, this stage
occurs much later, towards the end of the novel, although this difference results from
Jemisin’s storytelling, rather than from Yeine’s status as a woman. After all, the
experience itself is no different for Yeine than it would be for a male hero. As Campbell
states, “...the physical body of the hero may actually be slain...” (Campbell 77). Yeine’s
physical body is killed with a knife:
I blinked, not sure what had happened. Something made me look down.
There, poked through the bodice of my ugly dress, was something new:
the tip of a knife blade. It had emerged from my body on the right side of
my sternum, just beside the swell of my breast. The cloth around it was
changing, turning a strange wet black.
Blood, I realized. The stone’s light stole the color even from that.
Lead weighed my arm. What had I been doing? I could not remember. I
was very tired I needed to lie down.
So I did.

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And I died. (Jemisin 344)
The knife penetrating her may be a phallic symbol, but she is not the first hero, female,
male, or otherwise, to be killed with a knife. Practically speaking, the assassination had to
be quick and clean, and there are only so many ways a character in a fantasy world can be
killed. There is always a certain tragedy and beauty in the silent and sudden stabbing of a
beloved character, which would be lost with the use of a blunt object, like a cudgel.
Given the author’s world-building and the necessity of Yeine’s death, the use of a knife
bears no more gender significance than any other weapon of choice. Similarly, the fact
that her death occurs so late in the novel is also not determined by either her sex or
gender, but rather occurs there because her death leads to culmination in her apotheosis.
The Road of Trials
Before her death, Yeine experiences a number of hardships, typical of the hero’s
next stage, The Road of Trials. “Once having traversed the threshold, the hero moves in a
dream landscape of curiously fluid, ambiguous forms, where he must survive a
succession of trials” (Campbell 81). For Yeine, these ambiguous forms are found in every
living soul she encounters, from the servants to the Enefadeh. Yeine has no way of
knowing if the people she meets are enemies or potential allies. The promises of the
Enefadeh and their protection ultimately proves to be self-serving, as the Enefadeh seek
her death for their own needs.: “...if the Arameri did not kill me, I had no illusions about
the Enefadeh. I was the sheath for the sword they hoped to draw against Itempas, their
sole means of escape” ( Jemisin 198). Even Viraine, one she cautiously regards as an
ally, ultimately ends up betraying her and by killing her, saying only “It was necessary”

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(Jemisin 345). All around her, the alignments and roles of people shift, often without
warning.
The Meeting with the Goddess
The next stage, Meeting the Goddess, is where Yeine’s path takes a distinct
divergence from Campbell’s monomyth. Yeine does meet with the major goddess figure
of her world, but the meeting does not satisfy the same impulses or needs outlined in the
monomyth. Campbell originally intended for this to be part of the phase of reconciling
one’s Oedipus complex:
The mystical marriage with the queen goddess of the world represents the
hero’s total mastery of life; for the woman is life, the hero its knower and
master. And the testings of the hero, which were preliminary to his
ultimate experience and deed, were symbolical of those crises of
realization by means of which his consciousness came to be amplified and
made capable of enduring the full possession of the mother-destroyer, his
inevitable bride. With that he knows that he and the father are one: he is in
the father’s place. (Campbell 101).
As Virginiae Blackmon writes in the Salem Press Encyclopedia of Health, it is important
to note, in terms of the Oedipus complex, that “...the idea that the incestuous relations
between children and adults are the result of (unconscious) desire on the part of the child
is now discredited” (Blackmon). The basis for the self-actualizing hero replacing his
father and marrying this mother figure of a goddess is outright antiquated, even if it does
still find a place in old myths and other literature.

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Instead, for Yeine, Meeting the Goddess has entirely different connotations. The
story is largely told through flashback as a conversation between Yeine and the goddess
Enefa as Yeine comes to terms with the events leading up to her death. For her struggles,
Enefa grants Yeine her divinity, and, in essence, Yeine assumes the place of the goddess,
but not in a way that makes her subservient or lesser than the male figures. When she
joins Nahadoth and Itempas in their divinity and frees the three Enefadeh from their
slavery, Yeine notes, “Out of Three had the universe been formed. For the first time in an
age, Three walked again” (Jemisin 360). Itempas had never been subdued, Nahadoth is
restored through his freedom, and Yeine replaces Enefa to form the trinity. She is an
equal part, neither stronger nor subservient. She gains all the power of Enefa, but
maintains her identity. Most importantly, however, she does not fulfil Campbell's idea of
the goddess/woman being subdued into a mastered, secondary position. The replacement
does not entail any Electra connotations, and she has equal power and status as her male
counterparts. Instead, Yeine’s evolution demonstrates a reward for her suffering, and as
the culmination of her acceptance of what happened.
Woman as the Temptress
The next phase is Woman as Temptress, where the role of women takes a turn
from revered goddess to something darker: “Where this Oedipus-Hamlet revulsion
remains to best the soul, there the world, the body, and woman above all become the
symbols no longer of victory but of defeat” (Campbell 102). The woman gained in the
previous phase reminds the hero of some kind of wrongdoing. At this stage, “No longer
can the hero rest in innocence with the goddess of the flesh; for she is become the queen
of sin” (Campbell 102). This dark transformation seems contradictory to a universal

Chambers 18
myth. Campbell states that the monomyth is meant to stand for everyone: “The whole
sense of the ubiquitous myth of the hero’s passage is that it shall serve as a general
pattern for men and women, wherever they may stand along the scale” (Campbell 101),
yet it is antiquated in its portrayal of women’s roles, and the conjugal implications of the
temptress seem misplaced in a woman’s journey. Women are no more sublime or devilish
than their male counterparts, but, in Campbell’s theory, “‘woman’ is an encounter on the
‘real’ hero’s journey” (Kirk 47). The gender of this trial is specific and deliberately
chosen. Substituting the opposite, male as tempter, only then serves to objectify the
opposite sex. This can be due, in part, to the fact that Campbell analyzed existing, ancient
myths, which have a preponderance of male heroes, but his theories fall short when
analyzing contemporary women.
For example, in the case of Yeine, a heterosexual female, she finds temptation not
in a member of her own sex, but in male divinity. This is the only connection between her
experience in the stage and the way Campbell describes it: the heroine does covet a god.
Succumbing to her desires does not indicate that she has taken the place of her mother, as
would occur in the Electra complex (in the way that Campbell intended for this stage),
but actually a state of understanding and enlightenment. Instead of the figure of
temptation acting as a trial to be overcome, her union with Nahadoth shows a progression
of Yeine’s character. After the god is weakened, a mortal’s expectations would alter him
completely: “‘It isn’t just your eyes,’ Kurue said, ‘It’s your expectations, your fears, your
desires. You mortals want him to be a monster and so he becomes one...’” (Jemisin 275).
Truly being with Nahadoth requires Yeine to clear herself of any desires or expectations,
which Yeine accomplishes almost perfectly. Her understanding leaves Nahadoth almost

Chambers 19
entirely unaltered, save for the color of his skin (Jemisin 305). Yeine still has room to
develop, but she is vastly improved from the beginning of the novel.
Atonement with the Father
The last stage or trial before Yeine’s development is complete is Atonement with
the Father. If not immediately obvious, this stage is also gendered, and thus falls short of
describing a “ubiquitous” (Campbell 110) myth. Although Campbell states that the hero
is “...only to find, in the end, that the father and mother reflect each other, and are in
essence the same” (Campbell 110), it does not change the fact that certain preconceptions
of motherhood and fatherhood exist, in part because these generalizations make
understanding between the writer and his or her audience happen more quickly. The idea
of sameness is lost because of the connotations of the gendered terms. Campbell can
imply that they are the same, but he chose to posit atonement with the father, or, in the
general sense, the parent with the same sex as the hero. In addition, Campbell implies
that sons and daughters have different motivations for rivalries with their parents (hence
the need for atonement at all), as “...the son against the father for the mastery of the
universe, and the daughter against the mother to be the mastered world” (Campbell 115).
This disparity between purpose based solely on sex is dissatisfying because it implies
dominance of one sex over the other, which hardly fits the idea of woman as hero.
Yeine comes to understand both her maternal and paternal figures. One of Yeine’s
motivations through the novel is discovering the cause of her mother’s death, and, in
doing so, Yeine uncovers a side to her mother that she never knew. “Perhaps I was still
young enough to see her through the worshipful eyes of childhood, but the ways I’d heard
my mother described since coming to Sky simply did not fit my memories....That was

Chambers 20
another woman, with my mother’s name and background but an entirely different soul”
(Jemisin 122). Yeine’s coming to terms with her mother’s dual-identity does not mean
she supplants her and takes her place. Rather, it shows her progression as a human being
as she comes to understand the complicated events that led to her existence. Coming to an
understanding of her mother is Yeine’s form of atonement, as she is finally at one with
what happened to her, and the thoughts no longer plague her. The mystery of her death is
solved, and she can move on.
Her father is only a minor character, associated almost entirely with solving the
mystery of her mother. The character that serves as Yeine’s paternal figure is actually her
maternal grandfather, whom Yeine originally suspects of murdering her mother. The
mistrust, however, is mutual, and so is their grief at not realizing their mistakes sooner.
When Yeine is about to walk into her own death, the truth is revealed that neither of them
murdered Kinneth, Yeine’s mother. “Dekarta nodded, then gazed at me for a long, silent
moment before speaking. ‘I’m sorry,’ he said very softly. An apology that covered many
transgressions” (Jemisin 340). This reconciliation almost comes too late, but Yeine is
finally at peace knowing that the animosity between her and her grandfather was only the
result of a misunderstanding.
Ultimate Boon and Apotheosis
Despite gender divergence, Yeine Darr still reaps the same rewards as her male
counterparts. Usually, the Ultimate Boon and the Apotheosis are considered to be
separate stages. In Yeine’s case, they are one and the same, as she gains ultimate power
through her newfound divinity. “Like the Buddha himself, this godlike being is a pattern
of the divine state to which the human hero attains who has gone beyond the last terrors

Chambers 21
of ignorance” (Campbell 127). This represents Yeine’s final transformation, as the novel
ends shortly after her ascension. The Hundred Thousand Kingdoms is primarily told
through flashback, in a dreamlike dialogue between Yeine and Enefa, as Enefa’s soul had
been housed in Yeine’s body. Once Yeine’s mortal body dies, Enefa tells her,“Your body
must change. It will no longer be able to bear two souls within itself; that is an ability
only mortals possess. I made your kind that way, gifted in ways that we are not, but I
never dreamt it would make you so strong. Strong enough to defeat me, in spite of all my
efforts. Strong enough to take my place” (Jemisin 354). Once she is given the gift of
divinity, she has almost unlimited power to change the world in her image.
What she does with this power is of more significance. Campbell states
that“...instead of thinking only of himself, the individual becomes dedicated to the whole
of his society, The rest of the world meanwhile (that is to say, by far the greater portion
of mankind) is left outside the sphere of his sympathy and protection...” (Campbell 133134). This conflict is something that Yeine almost immediately addresses. After freeing
the Enefadeh from their slavery, her dying grandfather asks, “What of us, Goddess
Yeine? What of your human kin?” (Jemisin 371). To this effect, she eliminates the threat
to her home nation of Darre, names a new heir for the Arameri line, and ultimately
restores balance.
Criticisms
The last third of the monomyth is classified as the return, which is omitted from
Yeine’s tale. Instead of returning to Darre, Yeine and her divine friends “...left Sky and
Itempas and the mortal world behind...” (Jemisin 373). Ultimately, this omission has little
impact on gender divergence from the monomyth, as not every hero goes through the

Chambers 22
monomyth in the same order. Still, its application for a female hero is imperfect, for more
reason than not matching up exactly. The Hero with a Thousand Faces falls short of
describing a ubiquitous myth because woman is “...positioned as an ‘obstacle’ in his path,
a trial or temptation to be overcome” (Creed 19) in a few of the key stages, including
Woman as Temptress and The Meeting with the Goddess, and also because his
supporting evidence for character motivation, including many of Freud’s theories, has
been largely discredited. To be more specific, many of the stages, especially Atonement
with the Father, focus on either the struggle with or the resolution of the Oedipus
complex. As discussed earlier, the Oedipus complex is no longer validated by research:
“…historical data now prove incestuous behaviors are extremely rare in all societies
worldwide. Psychiatrists have dismissed much of what Freud had to say on the subject”
(Blackmon). Then, there is also the overarching theme of woman’s role and place in
society. Campbell’s writings are not any more sexist than the culture in which he lived,
but the end result is that the monomyth is not for the female hero. The monomyth shows
its age, and, instead, a newer model should be used to describe a woman’s journey.

Chambers 23
Lichtman’s Model of the Great Goddess
In order to compensate for the gendered stages of the monomyth, it is important to
explore the facets of a distinctly feminine heroine’s journey to determine if that
alternative is more applicable for a woman hero. Contrast is essential to narrow down
which of the many models for the hero’s journey will result in complete and equal
coverage for all heroes. In this case, many believe that a female hero’s journey will serve
to complement Campbell’s monomyth. There are a few models for a female hero’s
journey, including Susan Lichtman’s Life Stages of Woman's Heroic Journey: A Study of
the Origins of the Great Goddess Archetype. Of some of the popular female hero’s
journey models, Lichtman’s Great Goddess model seemed to be the most applicable and
accessible for comparison against the monomyth. For instance, the Great Goddess model
is similar to Campbell’s journey in that they are both tripartite. While Campbell’s outline
focuses on the Departure, Initiation, and Return of the hero, Lichtman’s is separated into
the life stages of Virgin, Mother, and Crone. In her introduction, Lichtman states that she
chose to "...employ virgin, mother, and crone as biological markers, not to limit woman
to biology but to use biology as a source and resource for understanding the potential of
woman's mind and body" (Lichtman xii-xiii). Because of the parallelism, if not for theme,
the structure makes for a simple and effective comparison to Campbell’s monomyth,
particularly as compared against another possible model proposed by Maureen Murdock
in The Heroine's Journey, which has ten main categories (rather than three) and has
somewhere in the area of seventy unique stages (as opposed to Campbell’s monomyth
and Lichtman’s model, which have seventeen and nine, respectively).

Chambers 24
The Original Virgin Birth
Unlike the monomyth, Lichtman’s Great Goddess model more thoroughly applies
to Yeine’s character and her development in all nine stages of the Great Goddess model.
Virgin, the first overarching life stage, has three parts: The Original Virgin Birth, The
Adventure of Choice, and Sexual Initiation. The first stage of woman’s journey, then, is
The Original Virgin Birth. For the woman’s journey, it is important to note that "[t]o see
the virgin state as a state of initiation into the mysteries of the female body is a definition
more worthy and more relevant to women than one based on property or marital rights, or
upon the integrity of the hymen" (Lichtman 22). In the state of The Original Virgin Birth,
before the onset of menstruation, girls typically know little about the state of their own
bodies. Unfortunately, Yeine is nineteen when The Hundred Thousand Kingdoms begins,
and well past the onset of menses, which means that any information about her virginal
life is indirect at best.
To compound the issue, little is known to the reader about Yeine before the events
of novel takes place. Although the majority of the novel is told through flashback, few of
the instances go further than Yeine receiving the summons to head to the capital. She and
other characters recount her past, which does illuminate some of the mystery surrounding
her birth. Like most characters who are not involved in ironic prophecy, Yeine was born
from a woman. One of the first passages of the novel is associated with her birth: “My
people tell stories of the night I was born. They say my mother crossed her legs in the
middle of labor and fought with all her strength not to release me into the world. I was
born anyhow, of course” (Jemisin 3). Part of Yeine’s motivation for exploring the palace
of Sky is to uncover the mystery surrounding her mother’s strange behavior and ultimate

Chambers 25
murder. Ultimately, it turns out that Yeine’s mother, Kinneth, made a deal with the
Enefadeh that alters her birth state. Sieh explains, “We cured your father...That was your
mother’s price. In exchange she allowed us to use her unborn child as the vessel for
Enefa’s soul” (Jemisin 158). Because of the deal she made, Kinneth fights against her
own daughter’s birth.Yet, Yeine is brought into the world, unique in her possession of
two souls. For Enefa, this might be considered a rebirth, though she has no direct control
or influence over Yeine’s body. For Yeine, this is the prelude for her hero’s journey.
Being born seems to be a rather generic prerequisite for heroism, but Lichtman
places distinct emphasis on the transition between life stages. As such, this state of
innocence is supposed to herald a transition to a new life stage. She compares her
description of the journey with the monomyth:
Joseph Campbell writes that the beginning of the hero's adventure
involves a descent into unknown or unfamiliar surroundings. The hero
descends in response to a call that beckons him from his safe world of
daylight into a night world of mystery and danger. So too does the
beginning of a woman's journey toward self actualization commence with
a descent initiated by a call to traverse worlds and begin her own heroic
adventure. This call for woman is the onset of menses. (Lichtman 23)
Before menstruation, then, is the time before the call that the hero or heroine must
answer. Exploring this time allows for a unique understanding of the massive transition
the call must allow. For a woman, according to Lichtman, the call to action occurs as her
body continues to develop.

Chambers 26
The Adventure of Choice
As might be expected, the onset of menses leads to the next stage for the Virgin,
which is the Adventure of Choice. Even less is known about Yeine in this life stage,
which emphasizes the protagonist becoming empowered before her sexual initiation. If a
female hero’s journey utilizes life markers as important milestones, then the inclusion of
the onset of menstruation makes sense, as "The singular psychological import of the first
menstruation and nocturnal emission (traditionally considered pubertal markers) is
undeniable..." (Gilmore and Meersand 126). Puberty, be it menstruation or other markers
in adolescent development, is a time of both physical and psychological development,
where adolescents are in a stage of delicate transition. Lichtman further explains, "To see
the onset of the menses as an empowering rather than debilitating occurrence is to confer
the gift of decision-making to a young woman. The responsibilities inherent in her
choices must be made clear so as to allow her the power of choice" (Lichtman 29). Yet,
even in the events of the story, Yeine frequently acts as if she does not have a choice in
her fate. When she answers her grandfather’s summons, she states, “Because one does
not refuse an invitation from the Arameri, I set forth” (Jemisin 4). Denying the summons
is seemingly a thought that never crosses Yeine’s mind, and is never proposed as an
alternative. However, as the story progresses, Yeine begins to act with more purpose,
rather than blindly following orders. During her time in Sky, she makes conscious effort
to unveil information about her past and the events surrounding her mother’s death.
Instead of following the course set before her, and instead of dying because she believes
she has no other choice, she uses her life as a sacrifice to help the Enefadeh and the
Arameri. Though they had planned to use her life all along, her knowledge of their plight

Chambers 27
lets her adjust the terms of her arrangement to better suit her own wants. When Sieh
offers her homeland protection in exchange for her sacrifice to free the Enefadeh, she
says, “I want that and one thing more....I want to win this contest” (Jemisin 166), Though
the terms are ultimately failed, Yeine has begun to exert control over the circumstances in
her life.
Her real empowerment comes after her sacrifice. At that point, as a goddess,
Yeine has considerably more power to exert over the people around her. She does much
to change the political structure that caused her death, and to change the power dynamic
of the gods. Freed from her mortality, Yeine frees the Enefadeh of her own volition, and
then enslaves Itempas in turn (366). With the loss of the Enefadeh, Dekarta wonders what
will become of the country, as they lost a great deal of influence and strength. Yeine then
names his heir for him: her distant cousin T’vril, and extends her grandfather’s life to see
her will enacted (373). Yeine breaks the narrative at this point to say,“There was much
more to be done, but those were the parts that mattered” (Jemisin 373), summarizing the
first important events of her divinity, where she finally has the power of choice.
Sexual Initiation
The final stage of the Virgin life stage is the sexual initiation, which is relatively
self-explanatory. One distinction that Lichtman takes care to note is that the sexual
initiation of the female hero is distinct from what is typically found in past stories: “In
contrast to this powerlessness in these traditional fairy tales is a mythic tradition in which
the female remains the hero of her own adventure journey, even after the appearance of a
male lover” (Lichtman 32). Some females in literary history disappear into the sidelines

Chambers 28
once she has sex or otherwise gives herself to the male, but it is important that, for the
female hero, "...self possession is hers alone..." (Lichtman 34).
In Yeine’s case, her sexual initiation was rape. Though it technically occurs
before the events of the novel take place, her rival forces her to recount the terrible
experience. In Yeine’s home culture of Darre, the women are systematically raped once
they come of age. Scimina says, “Now a girl just survives alone in the forest for a month,
and then comes home to be deflowered by some man her sponsor has chosen....the girl
must either defeat him in public combat and therefore control the encounter, or be
defeated...” (Jemisin 155). Yeine is nineteen at the start of the story (Jemisin 4), and she
says that “Six years had passed since that night” (Jemisin 157), making her around
thirteen-years-old when forced to undergo the initiation into adulthood. Her grandmother,
her sponsor, “...chose the strongest of [the] male warriors...” (Jemisin 157). It was never
her grandmother’s intention for Yeine to emerge victorious, but Yeine somewhat
manipulates the competition. She fights through the rape “[e]nough to satisfy the
requirements of the ritual” (Jemisin 157), and says, “Then I stabbed him in the head with
a stone knife I had hidden in my sleeve” (Jemisin 157). Though the rape was largely out
of her control, Yeine manages to recover from the trauma and go on to become a heroine.
She does not fade into obscurity, but instead sets out to shape her own destiny. Certainly,
she cannot control every aspect of her life. Like many things in Yeine’s life, the timing of
her trauma was out of her hands; she could only influence in what manner they occurred.
Just as her death was inevitable, so is her having to face the warrior initiation ritual, and
just as she controls what happens when she dies, she acts against the norm for her
initiation to emerge with some sense of victory. Though she is forced to do these things

Chambers 29
somewhat against her will, she mostly manages to retain her sense of self, and redefines
what she cannot preserve.
The warrior initiation ritual seems out of place in Yeine’s society. Annis Pratt
suggests in her Archetypal Patterns in Women's Fiction that, when a woman hero exists
in a patriarchy and believes in "erotic freedom" (Pratt 24), "[n]ot only is the feminine
Eros discouraged, but its opposite, rape, is proffered as a substitute" (Pratt 24). Part of the
reason that Yeine’s own ritual was particularly difficult is because she was vying for a
leadership position, which indicates that the Darre society acknowledges female
leadership as legitimate. How, then, does a society at least partially run by women
condone systematic rape? Perhaps, in part, it is followed because it is simply tradition,
but Yeine discusses it both in terms of experience and as a proving. Yeine says, “It taught
me to do whatever was necessary to get what I wanted” (Jemisin 156), and was also
necessary to be marked as ennu, as “No one would follow me if I let some man use me in
public and then crow about it all over town” (Jemisin 157). For whatever reason it occurs,
"The event of 'rape,' in that it involves the violation of the self in its psychological and
physical integrity, thus becomes central to the young woman's experience..." (Pratt 24).
The trauma helped to shape Yeine into the woman that stands strong against the gods and
the Arameri and emerges victorious. The novel does not describe if she struggled with the
trauma, only saying that “They made me ennu two years later” (Jemisin 157). The
influence, however, inevitably shaped her character, revealing, at least, a ruthlessness in
her.
After Virgin, the next life stage for Lichtman’s model is Mother. This stage
focuses less on the individual, and more on what the individual can do for her society:

Chambers 30
"To be a mother, in this sense, is to accept personal responsibility for the present as well
as for the future; it is a commitment to a society or social group to improve the condition
of its humanity, and to ensure its perpetuation for another generation" (Lichtman 44).
Despite the term Mother, it does not mean that women have to give birth to a physical
child. Though a child is also a perfectly acceptable way for the woman to be considered a
Mother, the female hero’s efforts can also be put towards creating something else to help
society: "...lesbians, homosexual and heterosexual women, women who adopt, women
who choose to give birth, women who are forced to give birth, women who choose to
remain childless can all achieve motherhood if motherhood means nourishing and
investing in the present for better survival in the future" (Lichtman 44). The three stages
for this life stage are The Transformation of Conception, Birth as Threshold, and The
Maternal Warrior.
The Transformation of Conception
The Mother is a transition from focusing on the individual, to the individual’s
focus on society. This is what is meant by The Transformation of Conception, where the
act of conceiving transforms the woman from the individual to the societal focus. "In
terms of the hero's journey, the virgin begins the descent into self, but the mother
continues the process of self development by enriching the personal dialogue begun by
the virgin between desire and self-denial" (Lichtman 45) because "[u]nlike the virgin, the
mother exists within and for her social group whose very survival is dependent upon
propagation and cooperation" (Lichtman 45). During the events of the story, Yeine does
not produce a child, and therefore does not satisfy the traditional requirements of
motherhood. However, she does change her focus from the individual to the betterment

Chambers 31
of society. When she knows that she must sacrifice herself, she agrees to use her death to
help the Enefadeh. This willingness seems to be exactly what Lichtman describes when
the woman must choose between desire and self-denial. She strongly desires to live and
frequently laments that she must die: “...I lay on the bed and trembled and wept and
might have continued to do so for the rest of the day--- one-sixth of my remaining
life...”(Jemisin 198). However, she acknowledges that she needs to die for the betterment
of society. The Arameri require her death for the next heir of the empire to be named, and
the Enefadeh need her to release Enefa’s soul, and she agrees to both.
Birth as Threshold
The next stage, Birth as Threshold, sees the completion of Yeine’s attempts to
create a better world. When her sacrifice fails to be the proper means, she uses her
newfound divinity to reshape the world into what she thinks will be a better place
(freeing the Enefadeh, naming a new successor to the Arameri throne, enslaving Itempas,
and so on, as discussed in the Adventure of Choice). Yeine’s investment in securing a
better future for everyone, humans and divinity alike, indicates that she recognizes the
importance of the society around her. As Lichtman points out, "The creation of objects
and systems points to a recognition of necessity's outliving one individual lifespan"
(Lichtman 49). In helping her kin, Yeine says, “The amount of relief I felt surprised me.
Perhaps I had not left my humanity so very far behind after all” (Jemisin 370). Although
her lifespan is now presumably infinite (unless she is slain like Enefa), it seems that some
of her mortality stuck with her, as she still found it necessary to help them in the first
place. Therefore, her transition to divinity and lack of a terminate lifespan does not mean
that Yeine loses sight of the values of the society she was once a part of. She still remains

Chambers 32
bonded enough to her society that she sympathizes with them, and places distinct
importance on protecting her countrymen, which fulfils this part of the Mother life stage.
"In terms of the hero's journey, motherhood becomes the link between the individual and
society. She alone must concede the importance of social context and must balance the
needs of the group with the autonomy of the individual" (Lichtman 50). Even at the
expense of her life, Yeine was willing to help everyone around her secure a better future.
The Maternal Warrior
The final stage or aspect of the Mother is the sense of sacrifice explained in The
Maternal Warrior. "Through maternity or motherhood, women learn the nature of self
sacrifice for the betterment of the larger social group, and if they are successful, they
teach that nature to their children" (Lichtman 55). Though Yeine was saved through
divine intervention on behalf of the goddess’s soul inside of her, she still shows the
commitment and resolve to go through with the sacrifice to help others. It is unknown
whether or not her children, (in this case, humanity, as it is the progeny that she attempts
to secure a better future for) heed her lesson, as the book ends shortly after Yeine enacts
her will. Their appreciation, or lack thereof, does not undermine what Yeine was willing
to do for her people. She still went through with the ultimate sacrifice for the success of
her people, her family, and the gods themselves.
The final life stage of the Great Goddess model is Crone, and Lichtman describes
it as having three sub-stages, including The Reconciliation of Female Heritage, the
Repository of Experience and Wisdom, and Mistress of Life and Death. Despite her
youth, Yeine does manage to fulfil some of the criteria for these categories, but not all.

Chambers 33
The Reconciliation of Female Heritage
The first stage, The Reconciliation of Female Heritage, is particularly ill-fitted.
Lichtman describes the worth of the female hero at this point in these terms: "Her ability
to recall experience and history became a hallmark for her wisdom and worth to her
society" (Lichtman 64). At nineteen-years-old, Yeine has little history, experience, and
wisdom to impart on humans or gods. Certainly, she undergoes a dramatic transformation
over the course of a few days, but she is hardly revered for her wisdom. As wisdom is an
abstract concept, the definition used largely determines her aptness. In one definition
proposed by Roger Walsh, “Wisdom is deep accurate insight and understanding of
oneself and the central existential issues of life, plus skillful benevolent responsiveness”
(Walsh 282). Yeine’s death and rebirth would certainly give her a unique perspective on
life, and she seems to act (mostly) benevolently when reshaping the world, but regardless
of whether or not she has actually ascertained any wisdom in her short life, the point
remains that others view her knowledge as having little worth, and her wisdom is neither
revered nor appreciated. If anything, her human kin seem to treat her with disdain, though
it is almost certainly due in part to the relationships she built before her death. When
approaching her grandfather, she notes that “He lifted his chin and regarded me
imperiously” (Jemisin 371). Perhaps she will be respected later, but it is equally likely
that Yeine could be hated for taking the gods from their enslavement. As Dekarta points
out, “Without the gods, every nation on this planet will rise up to destroy us. Then they’ll
turn on each other” (Jemisin 371). Instead of leaving humanity in a stable and secure
state, she may simply cause massive unrest.

Chambers 34
Repository of Wisdom and Experience
Similarly, the second stage, the Repository of Wisdom and Experience, does not
fit very well for Yeine, for almost exactly the same reasons. Because she has not lived
long enough to gain experience, she lacks the wisdom required to be revered for her life
experiences. However, she does manage to fit one of the criteria for this stage: "As the
repository of wisdom and experience, the crone also dispenses laws that govern the
relationships between people" (Lichtman 69). Even if she is not respected for her age, her
authority and power are respected in the sense that she is a deity. When she outlines how
the Arameri are going to govern, at least in the immediate future, the people question her
judgment (as in Dekarta’s protests about the stability of the empire), but still go through
with her will. She creates laws, or at least guidelines, for the Arameri, and they respect
her authority.
Mistress of Life and Death
The final stage, Mistress of Life and Death, seems to fit Yeine the best, only
because her transformation into a goddess requires her human form to die. Her ultimate
resurrection serves to help her reach her full potential, which is in line with Lichtman’s
guidelines: "In the myths of woman's self actualization, this transformation or rebirth is
symbolized by the death and resurrection of the female hero" (Lichtman 72). In part, this
also applies to Enefa, whose soul was stored in her body for safe-keeping. Although
Enefa relinquishes the body, her spirit was still born again, even if the resurrection was
only temporary. For Yeine, whose resurrection is more permanent, the death/rebirth is
more symbolic."This sense of transformation allows the passage from death (crone) to
birth (virgin); without this transformation, death ceases to have purpose for the natural

Chambers 35
world..." (Lichtman 71). The diction and terms that Jemisin uses to refer to Yeine’s
resurrection indicate that her divinity is a form of rebirth. As she resurrects, she notes,
“As with any birth, there was pain” (Jemisin 357). Though her new form is “...less a body
than an embodiment...” (Jemisin 357), Yeine successfully (if inadvertently) crosses the
threshold between life and death, and has a considerable amount of influence over that
boundary, as evidenced by her extending Dekarta’s life and ending Kurue’s. Kurue,
though a fellow deity, died easily at her hands. As she strokes her hair, Yeine notes “I let
it trail through my fingers as Kurue fell to the floor, dead” (Jemisin 370). Killing seems
to be easy enough for humans, but killing a goddess demonstrates a certain level of power
and control over life and death. Similarly, killing humans is a simpler task, but saving one
from death is another thing entirely. Both her ability to kill a god and save a mortal
demonstrate her control as Mistress of Life and Death.
At first glance, it may seem that Lichtman’s Great Goddess model is a better fit
for Yeine, and, by extension, the female hero. However, there are several issues to
consider, most of which revolve around the central question of “Are male and female
heroes so different that they need their own journeys?” While Lichtman explores and
outlines the idea of a female hero’s journey largely in contrast with Campbell’s
monomyth, as evidenced by her directly comparing the two, “Joseph Campbell writes
that the beginning of the hero's adventure involves a descent into unknown or unfamiliar
surroundings....So too does the beginning of a woman's journey toward self actualization
commence...” (Lichtman 23), a lot of the ideas contained within the overarching theme
correlate with Campbell’s. The sense of a hero’s sacrifice, for example, is important to
both, as is the hero sharing his/her boons/knowledge with the society that he/she came

Chambers 36
from. Largely, this is because the qualities of a hero are not gender-specific. Readers
expect a hero of either sex to be brave, self-sacrificing, virtuous, and a plethora of other
noble adjectives. Men can be compassionate heroes, just as women can be courageous.
The distinction and differentiation of male and female heroic journeys is largely
unnecessary, and categorizing them only serves to create more of a sexist divide.
Criticisms
Campbell’s monomyth has already been criticized for its sexist themes, but there
are also prejudiced ideas in models for the female hero. Lichtman’s model, for example,
focuses heavily on a heterosexual female. It may be a bold claim, considering that
Lichtman takes special care to include all kinds of women in the Mother stage, but there
is distinct emphasis on the heterosexual female during her sexual initiation. Lichtman
states, “In contrast to this powerlessness in these traditional fairy tales is a mythic
tradition in which the female remains the hero of her own adventure journey, even after
the appearance of a male lover” (Lichtman 32). By specifying the appearance of a male
lover, Lichtman is then excluding the possibility of a female lover. This could easily have
been avoided simply by excluding the word male. In addition, the stage of sexual
initiation entirely fails to acknowledge other sexual orientations, and indicates that a
woman cannot be a hero if she is not sexually initiated. Though it is not said directly, an
asexual woman, or a woman who otherwise lacks the desire for sex, simply cannot be a
hero, even if she manages to slay a dragon or save the world, as she has failed her sexual
initiation.
Having a distinctly male or distinctly female hero/heroine’s journey is simply not
necessary, and ultimately serves to alienate heroes by forcing them into arbitrary roles,

Chambers 37
and exclude others altogether. The qualities of a hero do not change depending upon
whether or not a hero has ovaries or testicles (or neither or both), and so there should not
be separate heroes’ journeys. Instead, there should be one singular, true, androgynous
monomyth. By emphasizing heroic qualities, rather than making amendments per gender,
the focus is kept on what is important: on what makes a hero.

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Monomyth+
Some may consider it necessary to start from scratch to create an allencompassing monomyth to describe a wider range of heroes, or to make significant
changes to an existing model of the hero’s journey to the point it would be almost
unrecognizable. However, Campbell’s original version has a good foundation and, with
some small improvements, might serve well as a ubiquitous way of examining a story.
The three main areas of weakness for a ubiquitous monomyth are Atonement with the
Father, Woman as Temptation, and Meeting with the Goddess, as they are all gendered in
some way, and have certain connotations about gender roles that are somewhat limiting
to prospective heroes.
Removal of the Oedipus/Electra Complex from Atonement with the Father
One step towards adjusting the monomyth to be more ubiquitous would be to
remove any hints of the Oedipus/Electra complex, which would mostly affect Atonement
with the Father, as that stage focuses on resolving the complex of a male-oriented hero’s
journey to come to peace with his same-gendered parent. This struggle is emphasized in
the development of the hero: “…there is a new element of rivalry in the picture: the son
against the father for the mastery of the universe, and the daughter against the mother to
be the mastered world” (Campbell 115). Although Campbell does not explicitly name the
struggle here, this rivalry is embedded in the Oedipus/Electra complex, as the son wants
to replace the father, and the daughter wants to be the mother, and, by extension, the son
wants to master the mother, and the daughter wants to be mastered by the father. Such
implications are uncomfortable for obvious reasons, but, thankfully, “...the idea that the
incestuous relations between children and adults are the result of (unconscious) desire on

Chambers 39
the part of the child is now discredited” (Blackmon). Still, in his interview with Bill
Moyers, Campbell says, “You know what the Freudians say, that the first enemy is the
father, if you are a man. If you are a boy, every enemy is potentially, psychologically
associated with the father image” (Moyers 93), which is further evidence that Campbell
grounded his work in Freudian theory. Campbell further clarifies the role of the father in
the lives of his children by saying, “When the child outgrows the popular idyll of the
mother breast…it passes, spiritually, into the sphere of the father--- who becomes, for his
son, the sign of the future task, and for his daughter, of the future husband” (Campbell
115). Again, there are overtones of the Oedipus complex, but it is important to remember
the implications of the many assumptions at play. By assuming those strict
mother/daughter father/son gender roles, the stage is somewhat limiting even as far as
sexuality is concerned, implying that sons seek to emulate their fathers while daughters
want to marry a husband, let alone the complications if either child should one day
assume a different gender.
Although there is no easy, one-step solution, the essence of this stage can be
adapted for new purposes. Because it is so firmly grounded in discredited Freudian theory
(as explained earlier), any changes that would be done would have to be massive
revisions that completely change the essence of the stage. However, it is impossible to
deny a narrative significance to reconciliation with parental or guardian figures, and, as
such, simple removal of the stage would deny an important step for heroes’ psychological
growth.
Rather than have the stage’s foundation in the Oedipus complex, the stage can
focus on healthier relationships between parents/guardians and children. Instead of

Chambers 40
“Atonement with the Father,” the stage could be called “Reconciliation with
Parents/Guardians.” Not only would this new title remove the necessitation of coming to
terms specifically with the assumed same-sex parent (where heroes are assumed to be
male, and thus must come to terms with their fathers), but it would also allow for the
inclusion of non-traditional familial structures, as are often found with orphaned or
abandoned heroes. The focus changes from understanding the hero’s place within an
incestuous structure, and instead focuses on the hero’s journey towards achieving selfactualization. “Self-actualizing people can accept themselves the way they are….In a
similar fashion, they accept others and have no compulsive need to instruct, inform, or
convert. They can tolerate weaknesses in others and are not threatened by others’
strengths. They accept nature, including human nature…” (Feist and Feist 291). By
accepting their own natures and the natures of those around them, heroes can develop
psychologically, with the ultimate reconciliation acting as a milestone to show their
development.
In Yeine’s case, her reconciliation occurs with her grandfather, Dekarta, at the
end of the novel. One of Yeine’s strongest motivators for staying in the capital was her
desire to find out who murdered her mother. Just as Yeine believes that Dekarta may
have been responsible, Dekarta is equally suspicious of Yeine. Although it is too late to
undo the damage that has already been wrought on their relationship, they finally come to
a kind of understanding. Dekarta says, “Now I see that you are innocent, and by killing
you I only destroy what remains of her,” (Jemisin 339), and apologizes as Yeine steps
forward, prepared to die for him, the rest of the Arameri, and the Enefadeh.

Chambers 41
Removal of Male/Female Superiority from Meeting with the Goddess
Although the Meeting with the Goddess has a few different significances,
including awe and respect, Campbell’s stronger emphasis is on the more derogatory idea
of possession of a womanly figure (the goddess) that is later corrupted, rather than the
respect that may otherwise be present for a higher power of any gender. Certainly, there
are minor undertones of revering the immortal being, but the true emphasis is on
possession of the female figure. As such, the basic premise of the stage needs to be
revised for an androgynous monomyth. Instead of focusing on the “mystical
marriage…of the triumphant hero-soul with the Queen Goddess of the World” (Campbell
91), or worse, for a female hero, “…When the adventurer, in this context, is not a youth
but a maid, she is the one who, by her qualities, her beauty, or her yearning, is fit to
become the consort of an immortal” (Campbell 99), it is better to focus on the fulfilment
of a spiritual connection and remove any trace of sex from the equation. In both instances
that Campbell provides, the woman becomes mastered by a male force. Arguing a
contrary position to include a female mastery would only alienate both sexes. Therefore,
focusing on the spiritual aspect is the better alternative, as it removes the idea of
mastery/superiority altogether (regardless of sex), and replaces it with another step
towards the hero becoming a self-actualized being.
Removing sex from the Meeting with the Goddess and changing the essence of
the stage removes the connection between Meeting with the Goddess and Woman as
Temptress, as the male hero is originally supposed to witness the corruption of the
revered female figure, but instating the purpose of self-actualization draws new
connections between stages. Now, this new stage, Meeting with a Higher Power, is

Chambers 42
connected with the Reconciliation with Parents/Guardians (formerly Atonement with the
Father) through the common goal of self-actualization. Religion and spirituality can be
powerful factors towards human improvement:
As stated earlier, in defining the constructs of religion and spirituality, Hill
et al. (2000) argued that both involve a search for the sacred. They
described ‘search’ as an attempt to identify, articulate, maintain, or
transform. It can be inferred that as an individual performs these steps, he
begins to break his boundaries and grow and by doing that, he is actively
and willingly creating a process of change and therefore involving his
personal growth initiative. (Ivtzan et al. 920)
It is important that the stage have some concrete foundation, and, once again, selfactualization seems to be a more cohesive goal. Ultimately, the hero works his or her way
towards apotheosis, and this moment in the hero’s journey, the Meeting with a Higher
Power, helps the hero undergo a revelation that advances their understandings of the
world so that the hero is prepared for the final stages of the journey.
Yeine’s case is unusual as the novel begins with her speaking with the goddess
Enefa, and the entire plot is revealed through their discourse in Yeine’s dying moments.
When taken chronologically, as in, assuming the moment that Yeine and Enefa meet in
relation to the plot’s events, rather than according to what the audience is told first, Yeine
meets Enefa towards the end of her journey, directly before her apotheosis and the
reception of her boon. When Yeine finally reaches this point as she recalls the events of
her life, Enefa simply says, “And here we are,” (Jemisin 353). This succinct summation
reveals the perhaps self-evident but never-the-less essential premise that all of Yeine’s

Chambers 43
prior experiences, the many trials she has gone through and the boundaries she has
crossed, have led to this single moment of her death. Speaking with this goddess has
revealed to her everything she has ever known and helps her to come to terms with what
has already come to pass, and what has yet to happen. Yeine says, “I carry the truth
within myself, future and past, inseparable” (Jemisin 344), marking that she has come to
this long-awaited understanding. Enefa’s last words to Yeine are “Thank you. And
farewell,” (Jemisin 354), which indicates that the understanding is mutual. As Enefa and
Yeine re-lived Yeine’s life, this time with their added discourse, the mortal girl and the
slain goddess not only come to terms with the events, but also gain an appreciation for
each other. Enefa respects the woman that Yeine has become, and Yeine is almost a
completely different woman from the girl that left Darr. Her quest for knowledge, both
worldly and spiritually, leads to her self-actualization which culminates in her ultimate
apotheosis.
Removal of Sexist Language
Simpler revisions to remove sexist language would easily allow for better
coverage for all heroes. Instead of “Woman as the Temptress,” for example, the stage
could be renamed “Facing Temptation.” In this version, the object of the temptation is not
strictly male or female, or even a person at all. Overcoming temptation is a theme in
many journeys, with one famous instance being Orpheus’s temptation to look back upon
Eurydice as they leave the underworld. In this way, it does not forbid the woman being
presented as a temptation, as she is for some heroes, but it opens the door for other
interpretations and sexualities that are equally as valid. A heterosexual female hero, such
as Yeine Darr, may now have her sexuality properly discussed in terms of the hero’s

Chambers 44
journey. Though it is a simple revision, it does have vast implications for potential
changes in meaning, but it also holds the same core principles at the heart of Campbell’s
original theory, while eliminating the somewhat blatant sexism that otherwise exists.
Originally, the idea was that “[n]ot even monastery walls, however, not even the
remoteness of the desert, can defend against the female presences” (Campbell 104), as if
women had an inexplicable power over men, but, in the revised version, all genders can
face their own sources of temptation equally without demonizing the others.
In this way, Yeine’s journey does not change much from the way it was described
earlier. Because she only pursues men in The Hundred Thousand Kingdoms, as she has
sex with T’vril and Nahadoth, it can be assumed that she is a heterosexual female, and, as
such, would not affected by a “Woman as Temptress.” However, I already discussed this
part of her journey in the corresponding section of my analysis on Campbell’s
monomyth, so there is no need to go into detail here. In essence, one of the ways to make
Campbell’s model fit for a female hero was simply to reverse the gendered implications
of the stages. Rather than reverse the implications, it is better to remove the gendered
terms entirely. In this way, the essence of the stage is maintained, where the heroes still
struggle against temptation (which may include a man or a woman as a temptation
figure), but the wording of the stage is changed so that it is inherently androgynous,
rather than implied.

Chambers 45
Conclusion
At first, my thesis started simply as an application of the monomyth to N. K.
Jemisin’s The Hundred Thousand Kingdoms, where I analyzed the journey of young
Yeine Darr. The majority of the application went smoothly, but there were some major
obstacles that I faced where the monomyth either simply did not apply to Yeine because
of sexist wording, or where it was hard for me to reconcile the monomyth’s roots in
Freudian psychology. In an attempt to find a better fit for Yeine’s hero’s journey, I turned
to Lichtman’s Great Goddess model, but was ultimately disappointed in how it compared
to the monomyth. I liked the foundation of the monomyth, and looking for an alternative
model just because of a few flaws seemed extreme.
I never intended for this thesis to be harshly critical of Campbell’s monomyth.
The flaws or criticisms found in my analysis could be written off by many as simply a
product of the time, where Freudian psychology was more accepted and the perception of
women differed from today’s views. Rather than write it off or excuse these flaws, I
propose the Monomyth+ to expand on the existing foundations of Campbell’s monomyth
and to revise it to apply to heroes from all walks of life, not just heterosexual males.
Because Campbell largely references classical or other comparatively ancient heroes, it is
easy to see why the monomyth was so deeply rooted in the idea of that strong male hero,
but the simple fact remains that the hero’s journey should be ubiquitous, and part of that
goal requires the monomyth to be androgynous.
This series of revisions is only one possible way to edit Campbell’s monomyth to
create an androgynous model for the hero’s journey. Revising the monomyth in these
ways may not create a perfectly ubiquitous monomyth, but it is a step in the right

Chambers 46
direction. Without similar steps, male and female heroes will continue to be needlessly
polarized, when all the necessary components to heroism are the same, regardless of
gender.

Chambers 47
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