| This thesis examines two autobiographical female coming of age narratives, Maya Angelou's I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings and Maxine Hong Kingston's The Woman Warrior: Memoirs of a Girlhood Among Ghosts, through the lens of The Heroine's Journey, created by Maureen Murdock as a feminine version of Joseph Campbell's archetypal pattern for the Hero's Journey. Stressing the lack of fulfillment so many women experience as a result of following the male heroic pattern, Murdock centers her Heroine's Journey on the individual quest for harmonious balance attained through the integration of feminine as well as masculine qualities. The two young protagonists of these works overcome analogous social dragons, including racism, misogyny, and self-hatred on their own heroic journeys toward becoming whole, integrated selves. |
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