Elsa and the Heroine’s Journey

I just discovered Maureen Murdock’s Heroine’s Journey (a theory that is similar to Joseph Campbell’s Hero’s Journey theory of the monomyth). As a quick overview, here are diagrams of both models:

It made me wonder how these models could be applied to Elsa and Anna’s stories in the Frozen movies. Thankfully someone in academia has already done this great analysis of Frozen 1, explaining how Anna’s journey follows Campbell hero’s journey model, while Elsa’s follows Murdock’s heroine’s journey model.

*spoiler alert for Frozen 2*

I am trying to remember the details of Frozen 2 (a perfect excuse for a rewatch!), and I can’t yet decide which model applies to Elsa and Anna’s journeys. My first thought was that Elsa follows the traditional Campbell Hero’s Journey in Frozen 2, with Anna as more of the helper role this time around (the archetypal Han Solo role in Star Wars).

But looking at Murdock’s model, I’m starting to think that Elsa’s story may be the Heroine’s Journey again. The Heroine’s Journey has been described as a repeating circle, as well as a spiral that ascends upwards, which would make sense given that Frozen 2 is a continuation of the journey of self-discovery that Elsa began in Frozen 1. The revelation where Elsa sees a vision of her mother would be a direct correlation to Murdock’s “healing the mother daughter split”, as is atoning for her grandfather’s actions is in line with “healing the wounded masculine.” Elsa’s journey may be a hybrid of the 2 models.

Anyway I’d love to connect the dots more (or see someone with more time, energy, and academic grounding to do it!) as this is such a rich subject area to be mined. The more I think about Frozen 2, the more layers there are to uncover about the story. I don’t think there’s been a story constructed quite like this (at least, not a Disney princess story!) where the heroines undergo such a unique journey that transgresses the underlying power structures of their society.

(As an aside, having read some of Joseph Campbell’s work in college, I’m rather disappointed to learn that Campbell had dismissed Murdock’s Heroine’s Journey model, but that’s patriarchy for you.)