Maria Tatar
In The Heroine with the 1,001 Faces, Maria Tatar interrogates Joseph Campbell’s definition of the hero and the heroic quest in his landmark book, The Hero with the Thousand Faces. She argues Campbell’s definition is masculine-centered and blind to the heroism of women simply because women operate under a different set of constructs.
That women do not conform to Campbell’s model of heroism does not negate their status as heroines. Using examples from mythology, folktales, fairy tales, and a host of other works, Tatar argues for expanding our definition of heroism. As she convincingly demonstrates, women have traditionally operated under a different paradigm of heroism by using use a variety of woman-centered skills and tools at their disposal to save themselves and to rescue others. Words are wielded as weapons through their story-telling. And information is shared in women’s circles through what has pejoratively been labeled old wives’ tales or gossip. When women are denied voice, as in the case of Philomela whose tongue was cut out to prevent her from reporting her rape, women spin and weave and write their stories to warn others and to demand justice.
From mythology, Tatar moves to fairy tales and folktales; to contemporary re-tellings of myths which give prominent voice to women who had been marginalized in male-centered heroics; to novels; to what female authors and their female characters have said about finding voice; to popular young adult novels about female detectives; and to current examples on television, films, and social media. She discusses the evolving definition of female heroism, women’s fight for social justice, and female vigilantes.
Tatar interrogates the word “curiosity.” She provides illustrations in mythology and fairy tales of women punished for all forms of curiosity, including sexual curiosity. Women’s curiosity has historically been muffled, silenced, or repressed. Tatar argues that rather than being a drawback, a woman’s curiosity is an invaluable asset for generating knowledge. It makes women particularly adept at solving mysteries, observing details in speech and action that others have overlooked, asking questions, investigating, cultivating an ethic of care and compassion, and pursuing social justice.
Tatar’s research is extensive; her examples are wide-ranging. Her expansion of the definition of heroism allows us to recognize the heroic work of a Shahrazad as we invite her to step up to the platform to receive her accolades alongside traditional male heroes. Who is to say that when Shahrazad rescues her community of women through story-telling she is any less worthy of praise than a blood-splattered hero emerging victorious from battling enemies? Her tools may be different, but her struggle and the struggle of all women who use their voices and the tools at their disposal to pursue social justice are worthy of the honorific title of heroines.
Maria Tatar’s exceptional, well-researched, and accessible study, with its extensive notes and index, makes an invaluable contribution toward re-defining our concept of heroism to include woman-centered voices and woman-centered work.
Highly recommended.