female archetypes

From Maiden to Monster, Female Archetypes

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I recently rewatched PENNY DREADFUL, City of Angels

“All mankind needs to be the monster he truly is, is being told he can.” Magda (Natalie Dormer) states in the first episode of Penny Dreadful: City of Angels. I’d forgotten how captivating this character (and her portrayal by Dormer) was when I first watched it a few years back (2020). This female character is complex, brilliant, and breathtaking, sometimes quite literally.

Sowing seeds of discord, Magda’s plan to start a race war is to whisper in the ears of men she perceives as weak. Men might be the target of this shapeshifting demon, but she uses the face of Archetypal women to enact her vision. Traditional roles, including mother, secretary, and maid, dominate the 1938 Los Angeles setting, but the heavy dose of feminine archetypes is wielded as a weapon within Magda’s grand design.

At her core she is Isis: The Destroyer: A steadfast woman who never sways from her life’s mission but sees things in black and white; she is a firm believer in “the ends justify the means” as she masterfully slithers from maiden to monster. If you’re writing women, this (first season) is a must see. Magda is nothing like women in the Penny Dreadful novels of old. She’s new and horrifying.

Follow me on my Instagram page @Femarchetype for more on Female Archetypes.

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