Valerie Estelle Frankel - Buffy and the Heroines Journey: Vampire Slayer as Feminine Chosen One

Also by VALERIE ESTELLE FRANKEL

From Girl to Goddess: The Heroines Journey through Myth and Legend (McFarland, 2010)

McFarland & Company, Inc., Publishers
Jefferson, North Carolina

To all those who write heroines journey tales. And to all those about to start.

Thank you to all my wonderful critiquers, including Adrienne Foster, Andrew Zhou, C. Sanford Lowe, Charity Pettis, Deirdre Saoirse Moen, G. David Nordley, Jason Stewart, Maureen Pettibone, Mike van Pelt, Moshe Zadka, Sandy Saidak, Robin Riversmith, and Yonatan Bryant.

My passion has always been for story, especially the epicsthe great adventures of monsters and saviors, human heroism in the scariest of times. Buffythe Vampire Slayer is one of those epics, and it grabbed me in a way few shows have managed.

While planning to watch a few episodes from the library as research for a project (okay, for a Twilight parody), I got hooked instantly. Though I was busy writing From Girl to Goddess (McFarland, 2010), my academic book on the heroines journey, I devoured all seven seasons of Buffy and five of Angel. And the essay collections. And the comics. I also (taking fandom to a whole new level) spontaneously wrote 100 pages while I watched, all about how perfectly Buffy fit the heroines journey pattern. Thats the core of this book.

For if my readings shown anything, its that the Chosen One isnt always a boy.

Every culture has tales of strong girls who rescue their loved ones by guessing riddles or clutching vicious shapeshifting lovers all through the night. The heroines journey is about leaving the everyday world of family expectations to battle the mystic darkness of the unconscious world. The adolescent quests to discover the wisdom of death from the savage woman deep in the wilderness and finally descends into the underworld, dying to be reborn more powerful. Shes a protector of innocents, savior of the helpless. Sound familiar?

In a world of Percy Jackson, Harry Potter, and other hero stories, Buffy is one of the most perfect heroines journeys Ive found. She faces the death of the Good Mother (Joyce) and confrontation with the killer of innocents (Glory and the First Evil, as well as nearly uncountable vampires). She faces her archetypal Shadow, or dark side, the spacey victimized blondes and friendless slayers she chooses not to become. She wields the virgin huntresss weapons of innocence and purity, such as holy water and a crossbow, then the sacrificial death weapon of the mature woman, the Scythe.

While more than a few scholarly essays explore Spike or Faith as Buffys Shadow, or Buffys decent into death and return (twice!), these focus on Joseph Campbells heros journey model, rather than examining Buffys classically feminine path. Certainly, no ones devoted an entire book to the heroines journey in Buffy and what it might teach us about feminine epics in general and about Buffy in particular.

Buffys closest friends are strong characters, but its interesting to explore them as part of Buffys psycheWillow as Buffys vulnerable optimism, Giles as Buffys logical, cautionary side, and so on. Angel and Spike are certainly on traditional heros journeys as they face their vampire selves in terrible ordeals and grow through the process. Theres plenty written on the heros journey out there, and Id like to see much more on the heroines. When a story fits this perfectly, its nearly irresistible.

This book has heavy references to fairy tales because they are the most familiar places to find the heroines journey (childrens fantasy, occasionally mentioned, is another excellent source). My angle isnt about fairy tale allusion such as, when Buffy dresses as Red Riding Hood for Halloween (Fear Itself, 4.4). Im more interested in her consummating her love for Angel on a red bedspread with a white sheet, as she, color-coded like Red Riding Hood, is beginning to experiment with passion and maturity. Heading deeper into maturity, Buffys first nights with Riley and Parker are on fully red sheets, without the white. And then theres her night with Spike ... but thats another chapter.

This book lacks a detailed episode guide or character biographies, mostly because there are so many excellent ones on the web or in Buffy companions. Still, important moments are described in detail, with references to their episodes by name and number. While Buffy fans, including casual watchers, are the most likely to read this book, it also works as a primer on the heroines journey.

In studying the whole Buffy as epic, Ive chosen to explore not only dialogue, but also characters actions, sacred talismans, colorful outfits, and theme musicthe entire show as a complete work of art. Since I explore Buffy as story, I needed the entire plot arc (or as much as has been written to date). Only a few fragments of this arc appear on Angel episodes (generally the crossovers), so Angel references are minimal. However, I begin by exploring the original Buffy the Vampire Slayer movie that represents the characters first Call to Adventure, her first understanding of the darker world below the daylight. Whedon has also produced and written Buffy Season Eight in comic book form (recently adapted into a short cartoon DVD). While the television show ended at the perfect high point, the comics offer the next step of the journeyas the supreme queen of the world, she decides whether to let the power pass from her gracefully or cling past her time and become the next tyrant. Those readers avoiding spoilers can certainly skip the Season Eight chapter without missing too much (or read it and gain an overview of Whedons latest Buffy adventure), but I felt it was a valuable piece of the epic to include.

The canon of both the movie and the comics is debatable, as series fans may not consider them as authentically Buffy as the television series. Still, they, like the slayer comic Fray, were all written and planned by Buffy creator Joss Whedon and they explore the adventures of his characters. Unlike typical television novelizations and comics, the Season Eight characters have permission to grow and change. They begin new relationships, learn from previous seasons mistakes, and even get killed on occasion. Thus the comics, like the episodes, are strongly written heroines journey adventures by a master of the epic and are part of the great heroines journey that is Buffy.

So whats the heroines journey? Read on.