Murdock's Heroine's Journey vs. Campbell's monomyth

The case for

Campbell's monomyth was derived from a sample that Dundes and Toelken have shown was cherry-picked; his conversation with Murdock when she asked whether the frame fit women is documented and revealing. Murdock's arc — separation from the feminine, identification with the masculine, descent to the goddess, integration — is not a re-gendering; it is a different structure.

• — Murdock (1990)
• — Bolen (1984)

The case against

The monomyth remains a powerful analytic tool even where it is partial. Vogler's flexible-function reading (Hero as role, not identity) accommodates many of Murdock's concerns without abandoning Campbell's framework.

• — Vogler (2007)
• — Campbell (1949)

Devil's advocate

Reading Murdock 'through' Campbell is part of what she objected to. The two arcs are not commensurable; choosing Campbell as the frame already decides the question.