In 2004 Christopher Booker published his momentous book, The Seven Basic Plots. It is reputed to have taken him 34 years to complete. Through an extensive analysis of stories originating from around the world, he stipulates that all stories can be reduced to seven fundamental narrative structures. He claims that these seven plots are embedded in our collective unconscious and the human psyche.
Plot might be largely intuitive, but at BPA, we have observed that structure is an issue both for beginner and experienced writers. By reading about structural techniques and theory, such as the theories laid down in Booker’s book, you can learn to improve the shape of your story by making it tighter and more inherently satisfying to a reader. With that in mind, let us now take a look at Booker’s seven basic plots.
1. Overcoming the Monster
In this, the oldest surviving story type, a hero or heroine has to face and overcome an evil force. This “monster” is invariably egocentric and seemingly all-powerful, although it has a blind spot that will ultimately be its downfall. The Hero, in direct opposition to the monster, acts selflessly, for some higher cause.
The story often presents a similar pattern or structure. We will use Ian Fleming’s Dr. No as an example:
- Anticipation Stage and ‘Call’: First awareness of monster and call to confront it.
‘M’ summons James Bond to give him a mission to investigate the disappearance of Commander John Strangways in Jamaica.
- Dream Stage: All preparations for the battle are going well.
Bond has a first encounter with the ‘monster’ and is victorious. He receives a basket of poisoned fruit and almost dies by a deadly centipede hidden in his bed. He meets the beautiful Ms. Rider.
- Frustration Stage: The hero/heroine comes face to face with the monster, who seems unbeatable.
No’s men capture Bond and Rider. No tells Bond that he is working with the Russians to sabotage US test missiles.
- Nightmare Stage: In the final ordeal, all seems lost, when there comes a ‘reversal’.
No forces Bond through an obstacle course where he suffers electric shocks, burns and an encounter with large, venomous spiders. Bond uses improvised weapons to defeat a giant squid.
- The Thrilling Escape of Death, and Death of the Monster: The hero or heroine miraculously overthrows the monster. The community living under its shadow is liberated. The main protagonist is generally granted a prize: a great treasure, succession to a kingdom, someone’s hand in marriage.
Bond saves Rider then kills No. He enjoys a night with Rider.
This story structure has been used frequently in War stories, Hollywood Westerns, Science Fiction (such as Star Wars) and Thrillers, including James Bond. It is in a sense the most basic of all the plots.
2. Rags to Riches
In this narrative structure, a young person of seemingly little significance is sent out into the world where they meet with a series of adventures which improve their fortunes, but also bring them to a state of personal maturity, revealing them to be of exceptional character.
They are overshadowed by ‘dark’ figures who may either be adult figures, such as the wicked stepmother in Cinderella, or peers to the main protagonist, closer in age and status, such as the fellow ducklings in The Ugly Duckling. They are invariably egocentric and share a ‘blinkered’, dismissive vision of the main protagonist.
‘Rags to Riches’ is built upon two stages separated by a central crisis. We will use Aladdin as an example:
- Initial wretchedness at home and the ‘Call’: Introduction to the young hero or heroine in their initial lowly, unhappy state. Dark figures scorn or maltreat them. Something happens to send them out into the world.
Aladdin is an unruly boy. A sorcerer pretending to be Aladdin’s uncle sends Aladdin on a mission to recuperate an old lamp. When the boy refuses to turn it over, the sorcerer traps him in the cave. The boy inadvertently rubs the lamp and a genie appears.
- Out into the world, initial success: A first, limited success. A glimpse of what they might attain. The poor protagonist acquires things such as power, wealth, and a mate.
Aladdin escapes and builds a life for himself and his mother. He falls in love with the Princess Badr-al-Budr, and thanks to the lamp, marries her. He boasts about his successes when, in fact, they are all due to the lamp.
- The central crisis: Everything goes wrong. All seems lost. The dark figures return.
While Aladdin is away, the Sorcerer creeps into the palace and offers to replace old lamps with new ones. The Princess gives him the magic lamp. Immediately, the sorcerer spirits her and the palace away to Africa. The King is so furious, he gives Aladdin 40 days to return his daughter or die. Aladdin encounters a less powerful genie. The genie has just enough power to send him to the palace in Africa.
- Independence and the final ordeal: The hero or heroine discovers new, inner strength as they grow as a person. This personal growth will enable them to win the final battle against some dark figure.
Aladdin disguises himself as a beggar to enter the palace. He gives the princess a sleeping potion to administer to the sorcerer and when he is asleep, he kills him.
- Final union, completion and fulfilment: They are rewarded by a loving union with their love interest. They have evolved from childhood to a state of completeness and maturity.
The monster is overcome. Aladdin can return the palace and princess home. United with his other half, he has learned to not depend on his magical powers, and he is now fit to rule wisely and justly over the kingdom.
The Dark Variants:
There exist dark twists on this version whereby the hero or heroine follow a similar climb from rags to riches but fail to enjoy the rewarding ending. This might be because they acted through egotistical desires that ultimately bring about their destruction. A good example of this would Stendhal’s Le Rouge et Le Noir, in which Julien Sorel rises to a position of power by acting cruelly and selfishly. He ends up guillotined (spoiler alert).
3. The Quest
The ‘Quest’ focuses on a hero or heroine’s journey towards a distant goal – a priceless treasure, a new home, freedom – and it is only when this goal is secured that the story is resolved.
The main protagonist is generally accompanied by companions. These might be the faithful companion, such as Sam Gamgee in the Lord of the Rings. Or the ‘alter-ego’, who displays opposing qualities to the hero, such as in Wooster and Jeeves. They might also be a group of very different individuals whose varying qualities add up to a ‘whole’, complementing each other in helping the main protagonist (Umbrella Academy, Watership Down).
It is structured like this:
- The Call: Life has become intolerable and a long, difficult journey has to be undertaken to change the current state of affairs.
- The Journey: The main protagonist and their companions set out across hostile terrain, encountering monsters and temptations, such as the deadly Sirens in The Odyssey.
These are punctuated with periods of respite, during which they receive help or advice, stereotypically from wise old men or beautiful young (or ageless) women, embodied by the wizard Gandalf and the queen Galadriel in Lord of the Rings.
- Arrival & Frustration: The protagonist is in sight of their goal, but a new and formidable set of challenges arise which they must overcome to secure the goal.
- The Final Ordeals: There is a last series of tests (often three in number), culminating in a great battle or ordeal. The main protagonist has matured throughout the story so that they are now ready the decisive confrontation with the power of darkness.
- The Goal: There is a thrilling escape from death! The main characters achieve their goal, and there is the assurance of a renewed possibility of life and peace.
Dark Variant:
The most recognisable variant is Herman Melville’s Moby Dick. Captain Ahab’s obsessive goal is to kill the great white whale. His quest is dark, bent only on destruction, and consequently ends with his own death.
4. Voyage and Return
This plot is also based on a journey, but with some key differences. The main protagonist or group of characters journey to an unfamiliar, disconcertingly strange world. This might be an unknown land or island that was previously unexplored or unknown (Robinson Crusoe, 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea), or it might be an imaginary, magical realm (The Chronicles of Narnia, Alice in Wonderland, Gulliver’s Travels).
The plot might also be expressed through a ‘social’ Voyage and Return, such as in Waugh’s Brideshead Revisted, where the young Charles Ryder enters into the unfamiliar social milieu of upper society, only to be ejected from it at the end of the novel.
The strange and unfamiliar might also be a change of outward identity, such as the swapping of bodies in the 2003 film Freaky Friday.
The plot unfolds like this:
- Anticipation Stage and ‘fall’ into the other world: The hero or heroine is projected out of their familiar, rather limited existence, into a strange world.
- Initial fascination or Dream Stage: Their first experience of this new place might be exciting.
- Frustration Stage: A shadow intrudes, representing a danger. There is difficulty and oppression.
- Nightmare Stage: There is a serious threat to the main protagonist’s survival.
- Thrilling Escape & Return: Just as the threat reaches its climax, they make their escape from this other world.
Either it all seems to be ‘a dream’, such as in Alice in Wonderland, where the character is little changed by their experience, or the character has undergone a change. A good example is Robinson Crusoe, who at the start of the novel is a ‘limited’ feckless young man, who gradually learns to take responsibility for his own destiny, eventually becoming a ‘kingly’ figure on the island, before following his father’s advice by settling down.
Dark variant:
In its most negative form, the hero may remain trapped in this other world, never to return. This is the case in Kafka’s The Metamorphosis, whereby the main character, Gregor Samsa, transforms into a huge insect (another spoiler).
5. Comedy
The Comedy Plot evolved over thousands of years in theatre, before appearing in prose form. Booker laments the appearance of comedy as just ‘humour’, while losing its more serious core.
The true structure of comedy (with many variations) is as follows:
- In a small world there enters a state of confusion in which people are shut off from one another.
- This confusion worsens through a series of events until everyone is in a tangle.
- With the coming to light of things that were previously unknown – the truth – perceptions of people and events are drastically changed. Everyone can finally see everything and everyone clearly, including themselves. This dispels the dark shadows, and the small world unites in a happy ending.
In Comedy, someone’s true nature or identity is often hidden and there may be a love triangle. At the origin of the whole mess is a dark figure behaving selfishly, keeping the main character separated from their love interest. The dark figure might be a dark rival or a parent opposed to the union, such as The Count in The Marriage of Figaro or Casaubon in Middlemarch. Things can only end happily when the dark figure has a change of heart, or, on the contrary, when they are exposed and banished.
The dark figure might also be the main hero or heroine. They also need to go through a change of heart or ‘come to themselves’ if they wish to have a happy ending (Bertram in Shakespeare’s All’s Well That Ends Well, and Emma in Jane Austen’s Emma).
There is a third type of Comedy where there is no dark figure, but where the source of confusion is from a general state of misunderstanding. This is the case in Shakespeare’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream or in Four Weddings and a Funeral.
At the end, everyone’s true nature is revealed, everyone pairs up with the right ‘other half’, and what was divided is now united in a great coming together.
Example: Jane Austen’s Persuasion
Anne Elliott is resigned to spinsterhood after being impelled by her aunt years before to turn down Captain Wentworth. The Captain turns up again, still looking for a wife, and woos a series of young, foolish women. When Anne is wooed by another man, she almost accepts his hand, before discovering his true nature as a weak, ladies’ man. Both Anne and Captain Wentworth recognise they are still in love and decide to marry.
6. Tragedy
The protagonist is lacking something or is feeling unfilled and becomes tempted to step outside the bounds of goodness or normality to satisfy a dark need, that has become an obsession. However, nothing turns out as expected, and as they lose their sense of judgement, they become isolated and spiral down to their undoing. This plot is almost a reversal of the ‘Overcoming the Monster’ plot, from the monster’s point of view.
The villain often has one of these four archetypal victims:
- The Good Old Man (Duncan in Macbeth)
- The Rival or Shadow (Quilty, who steals Lolita from Humbert in Lolita)
- The Innocent Young Girl (Sibyl Vane in The Portrait of Dorian Gray)
- The Temptress (Lady Macbeth, Carmen)
The Portrait of Dorian Gray by Oscar Wilde presents the perfect Tragedy plot structure:
- Anticipation stage or Temptation: Some object of desire or goal presents itself to the unfulfilled protagonist.
The Dark figure Lord Henry Wootton tempts Dorian Gray with the thought of how wonderful it would be to live a life of total physical indulgence and to stay continuously young and beautiful, like in his painting.
- Dream Stage: He is winning his heart’s desires and ‘getting away’ with his course of action.
Dorian falls into a life of instant sensual gratification, hurting and corrupting many people around him. The painting changes, growing older and crueller looking.
- Frustration Stage: Things start to go wrong, and the character is compelled to commit further dark acts.
A friend confronts Dorian, who kills him.
- Nightmare Stage: Forces of opposition are closing in on them.
Dorian is confronted by the brother of an actress he abandoned and who committed suicide. The brother is accidentally killed before he can kill Dorian but Dorian is now half mad with horror and despair.
- Destruction or Death Wish Stage: The hero is destroyed, either by someone else or by their own hand.
Dorian decides to look at his painting, and he is so horrified by what he sees, he stabs it and in so doing kills himself.
In some Tragedies, the protagonist might redeem themselves and have a change of heart but too late, like in King Lear. In others, the main characters are victims of a darkness situated outside themselves, such as the family feud in Romeo and Juliet.
7. Rebirth
In this plot, the main character falls into a dark state, often because they are immature or undeveloped. They stay imprisoned in this state for a significant amount of time before a secondary, redeeming figure liberates them into the ‘light’. They have transformed into their mature, whole selves.
This is best illustrated by Hans Christian Andersen’s The Snow Queen.
- The main character falls under the spell of a dark force.
An evil mirror shatters above the world and splinters fall into the little boy Kay’s eyes and heart, distorting his vision of the world and making his heart cold and hard.
- For a certain period, all seems to be going well.
Kay becomes cruel to others, especially his best friend Gerda.
- The dark power takes over and the hero/heroine becomes trapped.
The Snow Queen kidnaps Kay and takes him off on her sledge.
- Nightmare crisis. The imprisonment in a state of living death continues for a long time.
Greta decides to go looking for him. After a long journey, she finds him imprisoned in the Queen’s ice palace. He is all alone, doing logical puzzles.
- The main protagonist is saved.
Gerda embraces him and her tears wash away the ice from his eyes and heart. Kay can feel and see the world in its true light. They travel home and on returning find they have grown up into fully fledged adults.
Other examples of a Rebirth plot include Crime and Punishment, The Christmas Carol and The Secret Garden.
You might have noticed that for Booker all stories that end well have a main character who acts selflessly for the greater good or ‘light’ and/or obtains a state of self-understanding, maturity and peace, whereas all dark stories end with a character who was not capable of evolving past their own destructive and limited beliefs.
Conclusion:
Hopefully learning about these seven basic plots will deepen your understanding of how stories are structured at a plot level.
Booker argues that many stories from the twentieth century such as the works of Thomas Hardy, Anton Chekhov or Samuel Beckett deviate from these classic patterns and are therefore flawed and dissatisfying to a reader. Many critics disagree with this conclusion. Whatever your beliefs, learning about these basic structures will mean that when you decide to deviate from them, you will do so cleverly with a clear command of technique.
For more about story structure, do check out our blog posts on The Story Goal, The Inciting Incident or The Eight-Point Story Arc.
Or write to us at info@bluepencilagency.com for an editorial report on your manuscript.
You can find the entire book in PDF online here.
