How is the heroine’s journey seen in the narrative structure of Alice in Wonderland, Wizard of OZ and A Wrinkle in Time?

In this essay, the Heroine’s Journey by Maureen Murdock is discussed in relation to how it compares and contrasts with Joseph Campbell’s Hero’s Journey as outlined in The Hero with A Thousand Faces (2004). This essay focuses on the female perspective and demonstrates how the language used in the description of the Heroine’s journey contrasts with the Hero’s Journey. The narrative structures utilised the films, Alice in Wonderland (Burton, 2010), Wizard of Oz (Fleming, 1939), A Wrinkle in Time (DuVernay, 2018) and Stardust (Vaughn, 2007) show the core difference between the Heroine’s Journey and the Hero’s Journey. In the Hero’s Journey the protagonist receives a physical call to arms whereas in the Heroine’s Journey the protagonist’s call to arms is to find an identity outside that of her culture and social standing. This journey is one of introspection, an internal journey that enables the Heroine to transform beyond the boundaries which have been placed upon her.