To BEAR 🐻 both feminine and masculine traits...

     Disney Pixar’s Brave tells the story of Merida, a Princess of the DunBroch clan in the Scottish Highlands. Being Pixar’s first-ever female protagonist, the movie shows Merida’s untraditional “princess behavior” and her clear dislike of the customs and rules that are intended to guide her life as a princess. Throughout the movie, it is easy to see how Maureen Murdock’s template of the heroine’s journey matches the plot of the movie. Maureen Murdock’s version of the heroine’s journey,

begins with the breaking away from feminine ideals and the turning towards the

patriarchal values. Then comes the experience of spiritual death, and turning inward

to reclaim the power and spirit of the sacred feminine. The ending stages consist of

union of both the masculine and feminine values (Heroine’s Journey).

 

    Although I may not agree with the fundamental idea of not completing your journey until finding a balance of masculine and feminine traits, Merida’s journey portrays Murdock’s template well.

At the beginning of the film the 16-year-old princess, Merida, nears the day when first-born sons of the allied clans of the DunBroch will fight in the Highland games. The winner of the games will become Merida’s future husband. Immediately, it is clear to see how Merida breaks away from feminine ideals. She resents dainty and feminine things, dislikes dresses for their impracticality, does not enjoy sewing, and refuses her parents' wish for her to marry the winner of the Highland games. Her bitterness toward the feminine can also be shown by her strained relationship with her mother, who is shown as proper and ladylike and supports the customs of the clan. Furthermore, her interests and mannerisms tend to be much more masculine. She belches at the table, is a skilled archer, is not afraid to interrupt and speak her mind, and is much closer to her father than to her mother. This demonstrates the first two steps in Murdock’s template, the shift from feminine to masculine and the identification with the masculine. The second step is further shown when Merida decides to enter the Highland Games to compete for her own hand in marriage. This is a great example of identifying with the masculine as she competes in and wins an event designed for men.

The third and fourth steps, the road of trials and experiencing the illusory boon of success, occur after the Highland Games. Following an intense argument with her mother, Queen Elinor, Merida tears their family tapestry leaving her mother heartbroken. Merida runs away into the woods in search of an old witch. The road of trials is shown when she must argue with the witch for the spell to “change her fate” and the illusory boon occurs when she receives the enchanted cake that she is told will do so.

The cake unexpectedly turns Elinor into a bear. Panicking, Merida and her mother (in bear form) go back to find the witch. They do not find the witch, but they learn they must “mend the bond, torn by pride” to turn her mother back. When they return to find chaos among the clans, and Merida’s triplet brothers also as bears. This is when the descent/meeting with the goddess takes place. The descent/meeting with the goddess is when “Crisis falls upon the heroine…The heroine meets with a goddess figure, who represents all the positive values of femininity… she is inspired to return to femininity” (Heroine’s Journey). The crisis is shown by the chaos occurring all over the castle. The goddess figure is portrayed by her mother, in bear form. Although she has been showing feminine traits throughout the movie Merida starts to notice and admire them instead of resenting them. The sixth step, yearning to reconnect occurs when Merida, “wants to reconnect with her feminine side and may try to rekindle a bond between herself and the mother” (Heroine’s Journey). To fix the mess she has caused Merida must learn to sew (a feminine hobby she once hated) to fix the tapestry. While doing so she develops a new respect for her mother and the feminine traits she represents.

Finally, the reconciliation with the masculine and the union occurs. Murdock comments that the stage of reconciliation with the masculine, “involves Healing the Unrelated or Wounded Aspects of her Masculine Nature… becoming aware of the positive aspects of her masculine nature that supports her desire to bring her images into fruition, helps her to speak her truth and own her authority” (Heroine’s Journey). Merida’s story depicts this through Merida’s mending of the quilt and reconciliation with her mother which heals the poor relationship she once had with her mother due to her masculine nature. After this reconciliation takes place, she can “fully accepts and understands both sides of her true nature. She will find balance between both sides and actively work towards keeping that balance” (Heroine’s Journey). Both Merida’s masculine and feminine traits begin to show, and she fosters strong relationships with both her mother and her father. To please her mother and show more feminine traits she becomes more nurturing and displays more ladylike manners. She also shows her masculine traits by remaining strong-spoken, defiant, and reluctant to let her future be determined by a man.

 

 

Works Cited

“Heroine's Journey.” Wikipedia, Wikimedia Foundation, 14 July 2022, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Heroine%27s_journey#Shift_from_feminine_to_masculine.