Archetypes
Archetype has related but different uses in psychology, literary criticism and storytelling. It can refer to a proposed pattern of the psyche, a recurring image in literature or a familiar narrative role. These meanings should not be treated as interchangeable.
Jung's psychological theory
Carl Jung proposed archetypes as organising patterns of the collective unconscious. In this account, an archetype is distinguished from the particular images and stories through which it becomes recognisable. The theory proposes shared patterns; describing the theory does not establish every claimed cultural or biological universality.
Jung discussed figures and patterns such as the mother, child, shadow and self. These do not constitute a fixed list of seven personality types. The International Association for Analytical Psychology's abstracts of his collected works describe a potentially much wider range corresponding to recurring situations. IAAP, abstracts of Collected Works, volume 9, part 1.
In Jung's model, the self concerns the psyche as a whole, rather than being another name for the conscious ego. Interpretations of archetype theory have developed and differ within analytical psychology. IAAP, "Analytical Psychology". A symbolic association should therefore be attributed to the interpreter or text that uses it.
Literary criticism
Northrop Frye's Anatomy of Criticism (1957) relates recurring literary forms, images and conventions. Its organisation includes essays on modes, symbols, myths and genres. This is a literary project, and it should not be reduced to a list of Jungian character types or described as proof that stories give direct access to a collective unconscious. Princeton University Press, account of Anatomy of Criticism and its publication.
Joseph Campbell's comparative account of the hero is another approach. Christopher Vogler later adapted Campbell's work for writers. A mentor or threshold guardian used in a screenwriting model is a narrative function; it is not automatically one of Jung's named psychological archetypes.
Tarot and symbolic interpretation
Tarot trumps can be read through an archetypal framework. In that use, the interpretation belongs to the reader or tradition. The Fool can suggest a beginning, the Hermit withdrawal or reflection, and the Tower collapse or disruption. These are possible symbolic readings, not universal meanings that can be assigned to another person's experience without context.
Save the Cat!
Blake Snyder's Save the Cat! offers categories for constructing stories. Its ten genres are story types, not psychological diagnoses. For example, Whydunit concerns the motive or reason behind a mystery, rather than merely identifying its perpetrator. Institutionalized concerns a person's relationship to a group or system and is not limited to literal imprisonment. Dude with a Problem places an ordinary person in an exceptional threat, rather than describing any character with any difficulty. Save the Cat! official genre guide.
Reading metaphors
An archetypal comparison can bring a recurring pattern into view. It can also encourage a reader to overlook differences. Distinguish what is present in the language or story from the framework used to interpret it. Similar images do not, on their own, demonstrate common origins or identical meanings.