How Many Stories Are There?

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nick the stripper
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I was having a discussion with this man my friend introduced me to in a café. He claimed there were only seven plots, and that every story ever made is based around one of these plots. So I decided to do some research and found eleven plots, which are quoted at the end of this post. I’m curious as to how many stories there are. Has anyone else here tried finding out? Is this seven plots for true or nonsense?
  • Cinderella - Unrecognised virtue at last recognised. It's the same 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.
  • Achilles - The Fatal Flaw, that is the groundwork for practically all 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.
  • Faust - The Debt that Must be Paid, the fate that catches up with all 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?
  • 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.
  • Circe - The Spider and the Fly. Othello. The Barretts of Wimpole Street, if you want to change the sex. 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.
  • Romeo and Juliet - Boy meets Girl, Boy loses Girl, Boy either finds or does not find Girl: it doesn't matter which.
  • Orpheus - The Gift taken Away. This may take two forms: either the 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.
  • The Hero Who Cannot Be Kept Down - The best example of this is that splendid play Harvey, made into a film with James Stewart.
  • The homeless loner - The classics are the Wandering Jew and the Flying Dutchman, or Shane, The Fugitive, the Kung Fu TV series, and several Clint Eastwood characters. Mostly the drifter rides into the sunset or walks into the fog, but Aragorn, who starts as Strider in Fellowship of the Ring, transcends the archetype and becomes king.
  • Hourglass Plot - One of the seven, I am sure, is the hourglass plot, in which two characters begin high and low, cross in the middle, like an hourglass, and swap positions at the end. Martin Amis, for one, can write nothing else. Success is quintessentially hourglass; and Money and The Information both rely heavily on hourglass elements.
  • Circle Plot - Circular stories follow a "round" pattern - they begin and end in the same. Like the cycle of seasons or the life cycle, circular stories follow a predictable series of events that returns to the starting point.
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emilystrange
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surely the last four are variations of the others?
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Debaser
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It's all Greek to me ;) :D :D :D
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emilystrange
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or latin
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Badlander
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The great Alfred Hitchcock once said that the best plots came to him at night in his dreams. He didn't want to let the ideas just slip away, so he put a notepad on his night table. As soon as he woke up at night, he would write down the ideas and sort them out in the morning. When he got up, all that was on the pad was the words "man loves woman". :wink: 8)
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scotty
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I don't do "story's", I just go for "Gonzo" films :innocent:
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James Blast
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according to The June Brides 8 million
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Badlander
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scotty wrote:I don't do "story's", I just go for "Gonzo" films :innocent:
:eek: :lol: :notworthy:
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paint it black
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as i remember, there were originally 7 types of play, became film etc

tragedy, romance, comedy etc..

1. Overcoming the monster
2. The Quest
3. Journey and Return
4. Comedy
5. Tragedy
6. Rebirth
7. Rags to Riches (romance)
Last edited by paint it black on 15 May 2006, 20:28, edited 1 time in total.
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canon docre
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at the end it comes down to just one story, the archetypical Hero Quest, explored thoroughly by Joseph Campbell.
It's funny how you can find the same structure in almost every movie (except minimal plot or Art movies).
Put their heads on f*cking pikes in front of the venue for all I care.
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Andie
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canon docre wrote:It's funny how you can find the same structure in almost every movie (except minimal plot or Art movies).

back to Scotty's gonzo movies again :roll: :notworthy: :innocent: :lol:
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James Blast
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Burn wrote:back to Scotty's gonzo movies again :roll: :notworthy: :innocent: :lol:
that'll be the 'Bug Hunt' movie ;D
"And when you start to think about death, you start to think about what's after it. And then you start hoping there is a God. For me, it's a frightening thought to go nowhere".
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scotty
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James Blast wrote:
Burn wrote:back to Scotty's gonzo movies again :roll: :notworthy: :innocent: :lol:
that'll be the 'Bug Hunt' movie ;D
Debbie Does Cockroaches :innocent: :twisted:
Being brave is coming home at 2am half drunk, smelling of perfume, climbing into bed, slapping the wife on the arse and saying,"right fatty, you're next!!"
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Andie
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scotty wrote:
James Blast wrote:
Burn wrote:back to Scotty's gonzo movies again :roll: :notworthy: :innocent: :lol:
that'll be the 'Bug Hunt' movie ;D
Debbie Does Cockroaches :innocent: :twisted:
and there i was expecting something else :innocent: :roll:
Dim, through the misty panes and thick green light,
As under a green sea, I saw him drowning.
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James Blast
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I survived another...
Last edited by James Blast on 15 May 2006, 22:45, edited 1 time in total.
"And when you start to think about death, you start to think about what's after it. And then you start hoping there is a God. For me, it's a frightening thought to go nowhere".
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Andie
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mair like ben dover
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James Blast
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Burn wrote:mair like ben dover
but he looks like Orville the talking green comic duck's operator :eek:
"And when you start to think about death, you start to think about what's after it. And then you start hoping there is a God. For me, it's a frightening thought to go nowhere".
~ Peter Steele
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Andie
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James Blast wrote:
Burn wrote:mair like ben dover
but he looks like Orville the talking green comic duck's operator :eek:
i dunno what he looks like... :innocent: :lol:




but i wouldn't put it past him to do bad things to Orville... :twisted:
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MadameButterfly
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James Blast wrote:Aye! me to, summat like Debbie does Dallas' Dirty Short Pants with Her Drill and Sex. :twisted:
Damnit! This is the second time I've caught you this evening!

Mr. Blast this is quite .... *words escape me at this moment*
it's all about circles and spirals
that ongoing eternity
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Dark
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MadameButterfly wrote:Mr. Blast this is quite .... *words escape me at this moment*
Arousing? :innocent:

*runs for the hills*
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paint it black
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MadameButterfly wrote:
James Blast wrote:Aye! me to, summat like Debbie does Dallas' Dirty Short Pants with Her Drill and Sex. :twisted:
Damnit! This is the second time I've caught you this evening!

Mr. Blast this is quite .... *words escape me at this moment*
shame, it could've been a good topic this thread, as usual is totally f**ked over

ho hum :urff:
Last edited by paint it black on 15 May 2006, 22:42, edited 1 time in total.
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MadameButterfly
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Dark wrote:
MadameButterfly wrote:Mr. Blast this is quite .... *words escape me at this moment*
Arousing? :innocent:

*runs for the hills*
Young man, is your homework done yet?

*you can run for the hills but I can run faster and up mountains*
it's all about circles and spirals
that ongoing eternity
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Andie
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MadameButterfly wrote:
Dark wrote:
MadameButterfly wrote:Mr. Blast this is quite .... *words escape me at this moment*
Arousing? :innocent:

*runs for the hills*
Young man, is your homework done yet?

*you can run for the hills but I can run faster and up mountains*
Iron Maiden


:notworthy: :notworthy: :notworthy:
Dim, through the misty panes and thick green light,
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Dark
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I have only revision to do. And since Ez wants SOMETHING on-topic, I have an English Lit exam next week, where I have to write 3 essays on 3 stories that I have no interest in WHATSOEVER.

:urff:
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James Blast
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I will now edit my posts as I can't delete them, no offence meant :oops:
"And when you start to think about death, you start to think about what's after it. And then you start hoping there is a God. For me, it's a frightening thought to go nowhere".
~ Peter Steele
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