The Seven Basic Plots
Christopher Booker · 2004 · 7 plot shapes
Booker argued that all stories reduce to seven archetypal plot patterns, each reflecting a fundamental psychological journey. Explicitly Jungian: Booker frames each plot as a mode of individuation.
Overcoming the Monster
The hero confronts and defeats a threatening force of evil.
Psychologically: Shadow confrontation: facing and integrating the threatening other.
connects to: Stages of Shadow Integration
Rags to Riches
The humble hero discovers their true worth and achieves their full potential.
Psychologically: The Self emerging from beneath the Persona's limitations. Individuation as unfolding of latent potential.
connects to: The Divine Child · The Golden Shadow
The Quest
The hero and companions journey toward a vital goal, overcoming obstacles.
Psychologically: Individuation as directed journey. The hero assembling inner resources (allies) for the central task.
connects to: Psychic Energy / Libido (Jungian)
Voyage and Return
The hero travels to a strange world, experiences it, and returns changed.
Psychologically: Ego entering and returning from the unconscious. Katabasis and anabasis.
connects to: The Puer Aeternus (Eternal Youth)
Comedy
Confusion, misunderstanding, and mistaken identity resolve in harmonious union.
Psychologically: The Trickster and Persona at play. Confusion (unconscious interference) leading to a more authentic arrangement.
connects to: The Trickster
Tragedy
The hero's fatal flaw leads to their downfall and destruction.
Psychologically: Failed individuation: the ego's one-sidedness (the 'flaw') destroys the personality because Shadow material was never integrated.
connects to: The Shadow · Inflation and Deflation
Rebirth
The hero falls into a dark state (death, enchantment, imprisonment) and is redeemed by a transformative event.
Psychologically: Death-rebirth: the most direct individuation plot. The old self dies; the new self is born.
connects to: The Divine Child