by K.M. WEILAND - USA
Within the saga of the six archetypal character arcs representing the cycle of human life, the two “elder” arcs that comprise the Third Act of life are perhaps the least dramatized. These arcs are those of the Crone and the Mage.
In studying these arcs, it becomes evident that the Third Act of story structure is, in itself, rather more mysterious than we give it credit for. In our modern storytelling, the Climax is meant not only to be the point, but also the most exciting moment in the story. But many views of story structure (not least the classic Hero’s Journey) instead emphasize the Midpoint as the most significant moment in the plot, with the Third Act acting as more of a resolution or summation.
Although that is a discussion for another time, it is interesting to acknowledge the parallels in this view of structure with that of human life itself. In many ways, a person’s Third Act is the “quietest” time of life. What happens within it is massively influenced by the choices that have come before in the previous two acts. Now we have only to see how everything pans out.
But this is, in many ways, only a surface view of the final act of life. If the Elders are no longer so embroiled in the challenges of survival and power that mark the earlier acts, they are no less involved in the final and in many ways the greatest challenge—the conundrum of a life that must end in death.
In our deeply death-averse Western culture, we have largely avoided stories about the Third Act of life. This is both cause and effect to the reality that just as our modern societies lack crucial initiations for the young (such as found in the Maiden and Hero Arcs), they also suffer from a dearth of true Elders—those who have completed all previous life arcs and are able to not only undertake their own final and most crucial arcs, but also to act as the archetypal Elders and Mentors who are so catalytic in the younger arcs.
In short, I believe these arcs are desperately important and under-served. It is, in fact, difficult to think of many suitable story examples. Most of the time when a Crone or a Mage shows up in a story (especially a popular or genre story), they appear as a supporting character within the arc of a younger protagonist.
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