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The Film Shrek And Its Relation to The 17 Stages of The Heroes Journey
The film Shrek is a 2001 animated comedy film based on a 1990 picture book, Shrek, written by William Steig (Shrek n.p). The film was released in the United States theatres on April 22nd, 2001 and received massive praises from critiques, gaining an average rating of 7.8/10 for incorporating humor as well as the use of content relating to children. In the film, Shrek, played by Mike Myers is a green ogre living in solitude in a swamp until his home is invaded by fairytale creatures sent by the evil Lord Farquaad played by John Lithgow. Unknowingly to Shrek, the Lords intention is to force Shrek to rescue Princess Fiona, played by Cameron Diaz, from a prison in a castle guarded by a fire-breathing dragon, since the Lord is a coward and cannot complete the task himself. Shrek sets on a journey, guided by a magical donkey, played by Eddy Murphy to go bargain with the Lord to have his swamp back (Shrek n.p).
In the process, Lord Farquaad agrees to give the swamp back on the condition that Shrek rescues the princess, whom the Lord intends to marry to become king. Shrek completes the task successfully and in the process falls in love with the princess before the Lord can marry Fiona, Shrek eats him, confesses his love to Fiona and the two get married instead (Shrek n.p). Shreks journey can be compared to the 17 steps of a heroes journey by Joseph Campbell, in his quest to rescue a princess and have his home back. The concept was coined by Joseph Campbell to explain the steps taken by heroes in stories when they embark on their rescue missions (Campbell n.p).
In the first step, a hero is summoned to adventure and in the film, Shrek is unknowingly called on an adventure to rescue a princess. Lord Farquaad has learned that he is not destined to become a king and the only way to attain royalty is by marrying a princess. He settles on marrying Princess Fiona, who is trapped in an enchanted castle and guarded by a fire-breathing dragon. Being a coward, the Lord exiles fairytale creatures to Shreks swamp in an attempt to force him to go Farquaads home in Duloc and make a bargain for his home. In the stage where a hero refuses the call to adventure, Shrek does not have a choice because he wants his home back, and he initially does not know that the invasion is a hidden attempt of calling him to adventure (Chiou 1059).
Every hero has a supernatural aid to help him through his quest and in his case, Shreks aid is a magical donkey known as Donkey, whom he had previously rescued (Chiou 1062). Unlike most aids, Donkey is loud and annoying and Shrek is hesitant at first but since he is not familiar with the forest route to Farquaads home, he has to take Donkey with him as his guide. In the fourth stage, the hero leaves his familiar territory to embark on a mission in an unknown land just like Shrek leaves his swamp to go to Duloc. Shrek and Donkey travel through the unknown forest towards Duloc, an unknown land with a cruel leader, and accept a mission to rescue the princess in a strange land.
In the fifth step, the hero is separated from his known world, known as the stage of the Belly of the Whale (Campbell n.p). Upon their arrival in Duloc, Shrek is challenged to a duel with the Lords knights, to determine the bravest soldier to rescue Princess Fiona. The Lord is manipulative and has made people believe that the contest is an honor to rescue the princess while in reality, he is scared of carrying out the task himself. Shrek, being a brave ogre defeats all the knights and the Lord tasks him with the duty to rescue Princess Fiona. However, as Shrek is on a mission to get control of his swamp back, the Lord agrees to withdraw the fairytale creatures as soon as Shrek rescues the princess.
In the sixth step of the adventure, the hero has to face trials and challenges before successfully completing the task. Shrek has to deal with the annoying donkey who is to accompany him to Duloc because he is the guide. Upon arrival, Shrek is challenged to a fight with the Lords knights, whom he defeats easily, earning him respect in the land. Finally, Shrek has to rescue a princess from an enchanted castle, guarded by a fire-breathing dragon. Fortunately, the dragon is captivated by Donkey and ends up falling in love with him, granting Shrek the opportunity to rescue the princess (Shrek n.p). In the seventh stage where the hero experiences love, Shrek falls in love with the princess and in the process notices their similarities, even though the princess is shocked that Shrek is not the true love to grant her the first kiss and lift her curse.
Even though Shrek ought to deliver the princess to Lord Farquaad for their marriage, he is tempted to confess his love for her, just like every hero is distracted from their mission in the eighth stage. Shrek overhears a conversation between the princess and Donkey and almost confesses his love, but stops when he hears the princess refer to an ugly monster. Due to her hurtful words, Shrek decides to give up his great love and deliver Princess Fiona to the Lord for the marriage ceremony (Brabham n.p). The princess is greatly disappointed in Shrek for giving up on their love she is confused by Shreks sudden change of heart. In the atonement stage where the hero must conquer the one who holds the ultimate power, Shrek confronts the Lord before the wedding ceremony winds up, confesses his true love for the princess and conquers the Lord by eating him alive. Donkey convinces Shrek to leave his state of depression and confess his love for Fiona because when the princess was talking about an ugly monster, she was talking about herself because she is an ogress (Brabham n.p).
In the stage of peace and fulfillment, Shrek finally gets to be with the princess, his true love after he kisses her and lifts her curse. After defeating the Lord by eating him whole, Shrek is married to the princess after finding out she is an ogress when her curse is lifted, the princess finds that she is not a beautiful girl but an ogress like Shrek, and at this moment, the two monsters have found their true place. After facing challenges, the hero achieves the ultimate boon and in the case of Shrek, he successfully rescues the princess from the enchanted house (Combs 393). Finally, he achieves the ultimate prize which is the love of the princess and her acceptance into her world. After conquering all, Shrek and the princess are married and move on to live in the now vacated swamp.
At some point in their adventure, the hero is captivated and finds bliss in the unknown world, and this moment for Shrek is when he discovers that he is falling in love with the princess and the princess is captivated by him as well. At this moment, Shrek is content with his life and almost forgets the bargain he made with Lord Farquaad to rescue the princess and in return have control of his home at the swamp. In his blissful mood, Shrek almost confesses his love for Princess Fiona but as he eavesdrops on a conversation between the princess and Donkey, her words break his heart and he abandons the intentions (Combs 393). At the stage where the hero escapes with the boon, Shrek is forced to return to his swamp alone and depressed because he does not believe that the princess loves him. However, Donkey convinces him to go back to Duloc to confess his feels before the princess and the Lord are officially married.
At one point, the hero needs to be rescued from his enemy by a different person. For example, in Shrek after rescuing Princess Fiona and the three creatures were headed back to the Lord Farquaads home, they encountered Robin Hood. As the man attacks and almost kills them, Princess Fiona fights him and rescues her companions, thus saving the hero (Chiou 1066). At this point, Shrek realizes that the princess has a lot in common to him than he thought and starts falling in love with her. During the journey back, the princess catches flies with a net and feeds them to Shrek, increasing their connection further.
Finally, Shrek returns home just like every hero with wisdom to share having been in a successful mission. In his case, Shrek returns home with the princess as the two discover their love and similarities. Shrek returns with newfound confidence as he now has experience in battle, having defeated Lord Farquaads knights as well the Lord himself to show his true love for the princess. As he returns home, Shrek becomes a master of the worlds after leaving his comfort zone, defeating his enemies and finding his true love, thus learning to balance both worlds. In the end, Shrek is not afraid to die because he has achieved his ultimate mission by defeating Lord Farquaad and earning his true love.
Shrek is not the customary fairytale where a hero rescues the princess and they live happily ever after. The characters possess uncommon characteristics, for example, Shrek the hero is not a charming prince but an ugly ogre who makes jokes and does the unexpected like not slaying the dragon as the princess expected. The princess expects Lord Farquaad to be her true love, instead, Lord Farquaad is a coward with no courage to save the woman he wants to marry. The princess, on the other hand, holds an ugly secret and is afraid to let it out, as she is cursed to turn into an ogress every night. In the 17 steps of a heros journey, Shrek experiences the steps differently because he is a different kind of hero, sparing the dragon instead of slaying it and finding true love in a princess who in real life is an ogress.
Works Cited
Brabham, Daren C. Animated Blackness in Shrek. Rocky Mountain Communication Review 3.1 (2006).
Campbell, Joseph. The heros journey Joseph Campbell on his life and work. Vol. 7. New World Library, 2003.
Chiou, Lesley. The timing of movie releases Evidence from the home video industry. International Journal of Industrial Organization 26.5 (2008) 1059-1073.
Combs, Steven C. Shrek as a test of the universality of the heros quest. Heroes in a Global World (2008) 393.
Shrek (2001). Filmsite.Org, 2019, https//www.filmsite.org/series-shrek.html. Accessed 8 May 2019.
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