Rapunzel: The Heroine’s Journeys are Tangled

We’ve examined Victoria Lynn Schmidt and Maureen Murdock’s Heroine’s Journies separately and how they relate to different stories, but there is also overlap between the two templates. In fact, many stories featuring a female main character seem to fit with both Murdock’s and Schmidt’s versions of the Heroine’s Journey. 

One example of a movie that can fit both Heroine’s Journey templates is Disney’s Tangled, following the story of a girl named Rapunzel, a princess born to the king and queen of the kingdom of Corona. The queen nearly dies of illness while pregnant with Rapunzel but is saved by a magical healing flower that blossomed from a drop of sunlight hitting the ground. Unbeknownst to the king and queen, an old woman named Gothel had been using the flower to restore her youth for many years and is no longer able to use it now that it was taken from the ground to save the queen. Rapunzel is born with golden hair that holds the same magical powers as the flower, and Gothel, unwilling to give up her eternal youth, kidnaps baby Rapunzel and keeps her locked in a remote tower, using her hair to stay young. The kingdom now sends hundreds of floating lanterns into the sky each year on her birthday in hopes that the lost princess will one day return to the palace. Rapunzel always sees the lanterns from the top of her tower but dreams of going outside to see them in person. The movie tells the story of Rapunzel’s journey towards fulfilling her dream of seeing the lanterns and learning to live outside of the sheltered life Mother Gothel has given her.

        At the beginning of the movie, we get a glimpse of Rapunzel’s life with Mother Gothel. This stage of the story coincides with Schmidt’s “Illusion of the Perfect World” stage. Rapunzel is extremely sheltered, never leaving home. We learn that she’s tired of staying in the tower but copes with her discontent by painting, reading, and baking. Viewing the beginning of the movie through the lens of Murdock’s Heroine’s Journey, Rapunzel’s obedience and closeness to Mother Gothel is her association with the feminine. She is trapped in her attachment to Gothel and her life in the tower but is starting to see that her world isn’t ideal.

Soon before Rapunzel’s 18th birthday, a thief named Flynn Rider steals a tiara from the Corona castle and climbs up the tower while on the run from castle guards. Rapunzel knocks him out and stuffs him in a closet, hiding the crown. Later the same day, she asks Gothel to leave the tower just once on her birthday to see the lanterns. Gothel, of course, refuses, so Rapunzel waits for her to leave to go on a 3-day trip out of town and strikes a deal with the now-conscious Flynn. She agrees to give the stolen tiara back to Flynn, and in return, he takes her out of the tower to see the floating lights.

        Mother Gothel’s refusal to let Rapunzel out of the house is the “Betrayal” stage of Schmidtt’s Heroine’s Journey, followed by the Realization that she can’t always obey Gothel if she wants to achieve her dream of seeing the lanterns. Her perfect world is shattered, and the things she does to cope with being stuck in the tower are no longer enough to keep her happy. She experiences the “Awakening” when she decides to take matters into her own hands and see the lanterns without Gothel’s permission and seeks help from Flynn. This part of the movie is also the “Identification with the masculine” stage of Murdock’s template. She shifts from the sheltered world inside the tower to entering the scary outside world without approval and sheltering from Gothel.

        The  “Road of Trials” (Schmidt) phase of Rapunzel’s journey occurs as Rapunzel and Flynn face judgement from the men inside the Ugly Duckling (a pub near the tower) narrowly escape from castle guards, and almost drown. She experiences “Descent” (Schmidt) when Gothel finds her and Flynn and she begins to doubt and regret her choice to leave the tower. The “Eye of the Storm” (Schmidt) and “Illusory Boon of Success” (Murdock) coincide when Rapunzel and Flynn see the lanterns, only for Rapunzel to be confronted once more by Gothel and forced to return to the tower. Flynn was knocked unconscious and tied to a boat, making it look like he betrayed her and didn’t care about her. This is Rapunzel’s “Death” (this stage is in both Murdock and Schmidt’ s templates) and “Descent to Goddess” (Murdock). 

        Rapunzel reconnects with her mother and returns to the tower, thinking that her mother might have been right for sheltering her and teaching her not to trust people from the outside world. However, upon returning, she realizes she is the lost princess and Gothel kidnapped her as a baby (Schmidt’s “Rebirth”). Gothel ties her up so she can’t leave, and Flynn comes to the tower to rescue her. He cuts off her hair, which kills Gothel and frees Rapunzel from a life of confinement.

The story ends with Rapunzel meeting her real parents and marrying Flynn. This ending lines up with Schmidt’s “Return to the Perfect World” and Murdock’s “Integration of Masculine and Feminine.” Rapunzel now leads a happy life with the safety and stability of having her parents around and a real family, and she was able to escape the confines of the tower and Gothel. Her experiences have taught her to not let anyone hold her back from finding her true self and achieving dreams.