Archetype

Archetype

Definition

An archetype is a reference to a concept, a person or an object that has served as a prototype of its kind and is the original idea that has come to be used over and over again. Archetypes are literary devices that employ the use of a famous concept, person or object to convey a wealth of meaning.

Example- from Macbeth

Macbeth himself as the hero.

Function

In the example from Macbeth above, Macbeth plays as the hero of the play, although it does not seem like it. In the beginning of the play, Macbeth seemed content with his place in society. After receiving the prophecy from the witches, who were also archetypes as the villain, Macbeth obtained a sort of tunnel vision focused only on gaining power and becoming king. With Lady Macbeth’s persuasion, Macbeth killed King Duncan. With that said, he was more of a tragic hero than a save-the-world type of hero.

Another example- from Animal Farm

Another type of archetype is the scapegoat. An example of a scapegoat in Orwell’s Animal Farm is Snowball. He was the character who took the blame for everything bad that happened on the farm. He was used as a scapegoat after he was expelled by Napoleon. For example, Snowball was hiding nearby and secretly visiting the farm every night. In these visits, it was said that he carried out all "sorts of mischief." Eggs would get broken, drains would get blocked, and the seedbeds would get trampled, and so every time something went wrong, the animals would immediately blame Snowball.

Non-original mnemonic

Can be found here

Original mnemonic

Being that an archetype is basically a model for making copies, arch + type would be a model for architecture.