7 original plots

Question

So what are the 7 original plots? Everyone says they've read about them, but I've never met anyone who actually can list them.

Usenet · Accepted Answer

[nq:1]So what are the 7 original plots? Everyone says they've read about them, but I've never met anyone who actually can list them.[/nq]
Don't know about 7, but there's the mythic 36 Situations of George Polti:-

http://thinks.com/cgi-bin/books/books.pl/item-0766133206/cds.htm

DC

Usenet · Answer

[nq:1]So what are the 7 original plots? Everyone says they've read about them, but I've never met anyone who actually can list them.[/nq]
Victor Propp's Morphology of the Folktale (1928)
Seven spheres of action in fairy tales, corresponding to seven archetypal characters.
* the villain
* the provider
* the helper
* the princess and her father
* the dispatcher
* the hero
* the false hero
The son of Denis Johnston, Rory Johnston, writes
I'm not sure about plots for stories, but plots for plays is something my father Denis Johnston, had a lot to say about. Originally he thought there were seven, but then he realised there are in fact eight:
1. Cinderella - Unrecognised virtue at last recognised. It's thesame story as the Tortoise and the Hare. Cinderella doesn't have to be a girl, nor does it even have to be a love story. What is essential is that the good is despised, but is recognised in the end, something that we all want to believe.
2. Achilles - The Fatal Flaw, that is the groundwork for practicallyall classical tragedy, although it can be made comedy too, as in the old standard Aldwych farce. Lennox Robinson's The Whiteheaded Boy is the Fatal Flaw In reverse.
3. Faust- The Debt that Must be Paid, the fate that catches up withall of us sooner or later. This is found in all its purity as the chase in O'Neill's The Emperor Jones. And in a completely different mood, what else is the Cherry Orchard?
4. Tristan - that standard triangular plot of two women and one man,or two men and one woman. The Constant Nymph, or almost any French farce.
5. Circe - The Spider and the Fly. Othello. The Barretts of WimpoleStreet, if you want to change the ***. And if you don't believe me about Othello (the real plot of which is not the triangle and only incidentally jealousy) try casting it with a good Desdemona but a poor Iago.
6. Romeo and Juliet - Boy meets Girl, Boy loses Girl, Boy eitherfinds or does not find Girl: it doesn't matter which.
7. Orpheus - The Gift taken Away. This may take two forms: eitherthe tragedy of the loss itself, as in Juno and the Paycock, or it may be about the search that follows the loss, as in Jason and the Golden Fleece.
8. The Hero Who Cannot Be Kept Down. The best example of this isthat splendid play Harvey, made into a film with James Stewart.

Usenet · Answer

[nq:2]So what are the 7 original plots? Everyone says they've read about them, but I've never met anyone who actually can list them.[/nq]
[nq:1]Victor Propp's Morphology of the Folktale (1928) Seven spheres of action in fairy tales, corresponding to seven archetypal characters. * ... Be Kept Down. The best example of this is that splendid play Harvey, made into a film with James Stewart.[/nq]
OK where does this story fit in. (saw it on TV)
Woman is hired to teach at school for very retarded kids. All the kids but one boy look retarded and ugly. This kid is handsome, has a nice voice, but is just as retarded as the rest.
She puts most of her energy into helping the normal looking kid and gets very attached.
The staff tells her to treat everyone the same. And when she doesn't fires her.

Usenet · Answer

[nq:2]So what are the 7 original plots? Everyone says they've read about them, but I've never met anyone who actually can list them.[/nq]
[nq:1]Victor Propp's Morphology of the Folktale (1928) Seven spheres of action in fairy tales, corresponding to seven archetypal characters. * ... Be Kept Down. The best example of this is that splendid play Harvey, made into a film with James Stewart.[/nq]
What a splendid post! The only one this week, if not this year, worth saving, as far as I'm concerned. This is the sort of thing I had hoped, way back when, AUE was for: aside from inquires into word meanings, discussions on writing. Yeah, I know there are the various alt and misc dot writing groups, but they're loaded with spammers. AUE and her sister group are our last hope if we want to have serious discussions about the language. My hope is that more of these will be about writing itself. Oh yes, sheep and food too can't forget those.

Charles Riggs
My email address: chriggs/at/eircom/dot/net

Usenet · Answer

[nq:2]Victor Propp's Morphology of the Folktale (1928) Seven spheres of ... splendid play Harvey, made into a film with James Stewart.[/nq]
[nq:1]OK where does this story fit in. (saw it on TV) Woman is hired to teach at school for very ... kid and gets very attached. The staff tells her to treat everyone the same. And when she doesn't fires her.[/nq]
No. 2. The Fatal Flaw.
Next question.

Bob Lieblich
Couldn't figure out what to snip

Usenet · Answer

Charles Riggs filted:
[nq:1]What a splendid post! The only one this week, if not this year, worth saving, as far as I'm concerned. ... is that more of these will be about writing itself. Oh yes, sheep and food too can't forget those.[/nq]
Now I need one for the seven basic plots of situation comedy:

(1) The teenager absent-mindedly makes two dates for the same night.

(2) Two members of the same family run for class president.

(3) Someone gets amnesia and can only be cured by a second blow to the head.

(4) Evil twin impersonates good character.
(5) Boss comes over for dinner on the same night the homemaker is incapacitated.
(6) Distant relative arrives for visit and turns out to be a crook.

(7) Husband has innocent dealings with a female business client; wife becomes jealous but decides the client must be frumpy and unattractive. The client will turn out to be played by Julie Newmar.
..r

Usenet · Answer

[nq:1]Charles Riggs filted:[/nq]
[nq:2]What a splendid post! The only one this week, if ... Oh yes, sheep and food too can't forget those.[/nq]
[nq:1]Now I need one for the seven basic plots of situation comedy: (1) The teenager absent-mindedly makes two dates for ... decides the client must be frumpy and unattractive. The client will turn out to be played by Julie Newmar. ..r[/nq]
8) Somone make a bet that someone won't date someone. Someone does,the other someone discovers the bet, someone is upset, someone decides the other someone is really attractive, someone won't forgive, someone ends up forgiving, and someone lives happily ever after.

Usenet · Answer

Tony Cooper filted:
[nq:2]Now I need one for the seven basic plots of situation comedy:[/nq]
[nq:1]8) Somone make a bet that someone won't date someone. Someone does, the other someone discovers the bet, someone is upset, someone decides the other someone is really attractive, someone won't forgive, someone ends up forgiving, and someone lives happily ever after.[/nq]
Was that done in sitcoms too?...sounds to me like every John Hughes movie ever made..r

Usenet · Answer

[nq:1]So what are the 7 original plots? Everyone says they've read about them, but I've never met anyone who actually can list them.[/nq]
Robert Heinlein claimed(1) that there were three: "Boy Meets Girl", "The Little Tailor", and "The Man Who Learned Better".

(1) In his 1947 essay, "On the Writing of Speculative Fiction".

Evan Kirshenbaum + HP Laboratories >If I may digress momentarily from
1501 Page Mill Road, 1U, MS 1141 >the mainstream of this evening'sPalo Alto, CA 94304 >symposium, I'd like to sing a song

http://www.kirshenbaum.net/

7 original plots

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