Evolution of the Werewolf Archetype from Ovid to J.K. Rowling

by Stypczynski, Brent

Throughout the history of humanity, from at least as far back as the Catal Hüyük cave-paintings of leopard-men in 6000 B.C.E., mankind has shown a fascination with physical transformation - especially that of men into animals. Tales of such transformations appear in every culture across the course of history. They have been featured in the Western world in the work of such authors as Ovid, Petronius, Marie de France, Saint Augustine, Shakespeare, Fritz Leiber, Harlan Ellison, Jack Williamson, Tanith Lee, Terry Pratchett, and J. K. Rowling. My study approaches these figures as representations of a shape-shifter archetype, specifically focusing on the archetype's manifestation as the werewolf, examining how and why the archetype has been employed in historical eras through the modern day. Chapter one explores the werewolf's appearances in the Classical and medieval periods from its earliest literary manifestations to early debates over its existence. Chapter two extends the exploration into the early modern period, examining the tension between Continental and Anglo-Scottish perspectives during the period. Chapter three applies historical perspectives to Pratchett's Sergeant Angua and her family, addressing the werewolf's evolution through Pratchett's writing. Chapter four examines J. K. Rowling's werewolves in a similar manner, tying her characters' medieval and early modern roots to her neo-medieval re-imagining of the archetype. Although the archetype is in a constant state of flux by its very definition, many common threads link its manifestations throughout the literary landscape even as modern authors add, modify, and reinvent characteristics and meanings associated with its manifestations. The evolution, in turn, informs the reader and scholar with regard to culture, society, and the nature of humanity itself. This is especially true in the work of such authors as Pratchett and Rowling who have struck a chord with a wide range of readers and non-readers around the world, thus implying that they have tapped into something that affects their audiences on a subconscious level - in other words, an archetype.