Archetype vs. Prototype vs. Stereotype

I am listening to a book about writing and it talks about character archetypes, like lovers, outlaws, sages, heroes, anti-heroes etc. And the author claims that archetypes are very different from stereotypes, although the explanation is kind of very convincing at the time, but afterwards, I think I still feel it’s not so clear.

I have to say many lovers in fictional books of romance or kung fu or history are quite typical, if not stereotypical. And I read such a book a while ago, which is supposed to be a book of light comedy and happiness ever after. A nerdy woman meets a celebrity of her dream—totally unrealistic. Not only unrealistic, but it is a depressing plot disguised as a happy storyline. Actually the fact that she has a celebrity of her dream is very depressing to begin with.

Let’s say I can forgive all these depressing elements of the book, suspend my judgement, and read until the end. Alas!!! This woman gives up her job as a writer and comedian in a TV series, moves across the country, and settles down. Well, it is considered a common happy ending, which is in fact a sad ending in disguise.

I read the author’s bio and understand that the author herself will never do such a thing—her life’s trajectory has proved that. And she is like those women who try to persuade other women to give up their career, go back to cooking and washing, sacrificing for others. The art of persuasion. Many practice such an art of persuasion and become popular hosts of cooking shows, art craft programs, experts in various domestic areas. And of course in order for their program to be successful, they have to give up their domestic duty and dedicate themselves to their work.  

Zhao of the Ben family was such a women, living a life of tranquility in her brother’s house two thousand years ago. She was a historian and dedicated her life to write historical records, in which hardly any women appeared. Typical, isn’t it? In her spare time, she was asked by the king to write a book for women. So she did. She wrote a book of warning for women, completely ignoring the fact that if she had heeded her own warnings, she would not be a historian in the first place. She would not even live with her brother in order to dedicate herself to history. I always wonder what she must be thinking when she wrote the book, promoting an image or a bunch of theories that she would never want to be applied to herself.

I think she felt guilty, ashamed of herself as a woman who had a career as a historian. She didn’t want other women to be like her. It was a book of penance of some sort. Alternative, she might have done it under duress. The king forced her hand—if you wanted to be a historian, you had to write a book of propaganda for me first to denounce women like yourself. And what Zhao said? Obviously in order to secure her career, she said, “yes, I am willing to do anything. I am willing to write whatever you want me to write to keep you in power, keep the system strong, keep women out of history, out of property ownership, out of desire even. You name it.”