Archetypes: The Princess and the Queen
We are familiar with the iconic image of the Princess; the young woman who is on the cusp of adulthood without the demands of being an adult in society. Two of the classic images of waiting women are Sleeping Beauty and Snow White as they both only “come alive” at the end of the story once their prince-savior kisses them. In our modern society, we have some problems with this and there is both constructive and unconstructive commentary about the media portrayals of these young women to young girls. That’s not what this blog post is about. This is rather about how the Princess may evolve into - The Queen.
The Princess is typically portrayed as dainty, hyper-feminine and passively waiting for a knight/ prince/ vassal to do labor for her. These labors can vary within themselves from fighting for her in war to rescuing her from danger and to marrying her. She waits on the rescuer to decide her fate instead of taking matters into her own hands. This archetype is represented in media, classic fairy tales, as well as history. I am a firm believer that historical context matters, and this archetype is no different. For a vast majority of history, women weren’t allowed to have autonomy with their decisions. A woman’s life from birth to marriage was decided by their father, and the rest of her life was decided by her husband on all levels of socio-economic positions of power. The princess archetype is different because her lack of action is a privilege instead of lack of ability to take action. While her peers may struggle with not having the ability to make decisions, she has a more naive perspective on her reality and more heightened dependency on the decision makers around her.
The Queen is not as passive as the Princess, but is also marked by the historical context of lack of autonomy and decision making. One of her key attributes is her loyalty to her husband, but it is also an example of female sovereignty and leadership that is unseen in a Princess. She wants to both please her people, but will also act against those who try to undermine her agenda. An example in modernity would be Princess Diana; she was fiercely loyal to her family and would look past some indiscretions but like the Queen she had a breaking point to where she wouldn’t accept poor attitudes or behaviors. When looking at this with a modern context, this is a woman who commands power easily and effectively while not crossing into the territory that one might consider her to be a tyranny. She could be a homemaker or in a boardroom to still own this archetype.
There are also some spin-offs of both these archetypes - damsel in distress, complaining/spoiled princess, and Ice Queen - but the core of these two different perspectives when it comes to social ties to a man. Where the Princess waits for man to rescue her and provide her with the life she wants, the Queen is a co-ruler and more active with her influence.But with all archetypes and working with the possible different aspects of our personalities and inner worlds, self reflection is a needed tool. I personally don’t identify or choose to embody either of these archetypes because they don’t fit my life or pieces of my personality. I am an active participant in my fate - disqualification for Princess- and while I do try to impart my leadership to others it’s typically independent of a “king” - disqualification for a Queen.
