Analysis of Elle Woods from "Legally Blonde" in Terms of Hero's Journey

Based largely on Joseph Campbell’s hero monomyth, which describes the prototypical heroic path of departure, initiation, and return, the hero’s journey, in its various interpretations, is present throughout many Hollywood movies. Regardless of the specifics of the heroic journey, there are constants that apply to nearly every single heroic story: the hero is summoned on a journey, is missing some sort of inner quality, experiences sets of trials and tribulations, receives assistance from others, finds the missing quality, successfully completes the mission, and returns home in order to bestow some sort of boon to better the community from which she came from. In the case of Elle Woods, these constants are extremely applicable. The titular character of Legally Blonde, Elle Woods, is the quintessential rich blonde girl who seems to have everything going for her. Elle’s story begins in Los Angeles, California, where she is in her senior year at the fictitious California University of Los Angeles – not only is she the president of her sorority Delta Nu, but she is also expecting a proposal of marriage by her longtime boyfriend Warner Huntington III. Her world is turned upside down, however, when instead of proposing, Warner ends his relationship with Elle on the grounds that he needs someone more “serious” if he plans on attending Harvard Law School in the coming fall along with becoming a senator by the time he is thirty. It is this rejection, this romantic failure, that causes Elle to undergo her first motivational transformation and sets her on the path of her hero’s journey.

As mentioned previously, Elle’s call to adventure is clear cut: her heart is broken, her world ripped from under her feet, and her character utterly destroyed by the notion that she is not serious enough to support her partner in a stressful career path. At this point in her journey, Elle is completely dependent on Warner for her sense of self-worth, and when he so blatantly rejects her, she is completely lost. To cope with this tragedy, Elle completely shifts her focus. Instead of pursuing a career with her major, fashion merchandising, she decides to attempt to prove to Warner that, contrary to his belief, she can be serious, and she makes plans to attend Harvard Law with him and become a lawyer as well. Interestingly enough, Elle herself never refuses the call to go to Harvard, it is other people in her life who doubt her abilities and dedication. Elle’s parents are very clearly unconvinced that she is capable of not only being admitted to Harvard, but also that she is capable of being “serious”. Nevertheless, with the help of the male gaze of the old Admissions officers, Elle is given her supernatural aid and is allowed into Harvard. Once she moves to the east coast, Elle experiences what is perhaps the most difficult and trying time of her life. As she attempts to navigate Harvard and become re-socialized to the social norms of her new school, she experiences a number of failures that push her along her journey. One such repetitive failure is her failure to make friends and establish a social life, which proves to be one of the most damaging issues for her. Despite that, her tipping point was yet another rejection from Warner, as he once again rejects and condescends her, not believing in her ability to gain a spot in the esteemed internship program with Professor Callahan. It is this event that catalyzes her motivation to prove to everyone “just how valuable Elle Woods can be.”

After studying relentlessly and engaging in class, Elle is able to impress Callahan with her resume, thus earning her a spot in his internship. It seems, to a third-party observer, that Elle’s success in securing the internship was well deserved, and that she is finally on the path to succeeding as an underdog; however, it soon becomes clear that the opposite is actually at work. In Elle’s meeting with the goddess, or in her case, meeting with the god, Professor Callahan reveals that he is both sexually and romantically attracted to Elle, offering her a summer associate position only if she has some sort of relationship with him. Disgusted and humiliated, Elle rejects his predatory advances and quits the program as she has been dehumanized and objectified. Causing her to doubt herself and her ability, Callahan obviously hinders Elle’s success and progress as a future lawyer, thus serving as an obstacle in her hero’s journey. He has the power to make or break her career, and he lords it over her head both as her professor and as the head of one of the leading law firms in the state. This failure is unlike other failures experienced by Elle over the course of her journey. This time, instead of being motivated to work even harder to prove herself serious, she resorts to quitting and wallowing in her suffering.

While Professor Callahan represents the temptress who attempts to lead the hero astray, there is another professor, Professor Stromwell, who places Elle on the right track once more. In Elle’s atonement with the father, or in her case, the mother, Professor Stromwell, a female professor who until this point had not shown any particular interest in Elle, overhears Elle’s rendition of the happenings between herself and Professor Callahan while in a nail salon. Stromwell then confronts Elle, telling her, “If you’re going to let one prick ruin the rest of your life, you’re not the girl I thought you were.” This simple vote of confidence, this simple reassurance that someone in an authority position, and especially a woman, believes in her, is enough to spur Elle into action once more. Stromwell’s words allow Elle to have the realization that there will always be people, and especially men, that will refuse to take her seriously because of her appearance; however, once that fact is accepted, it can be overcome.

Once the appalling actions of Professor Callahan are brought to light, his client, Brooke Taylor Windham, who is accused of killing her husband, fires him and hires Elle to represent her in his place. Here, Elle has replaced Professor Callahan as the leading defense attorney and is attempting to prove that the defendant, Brooke Taylor Windham, did not shoot and kill her husband, Hayworth. While cross examining a witness, Chutney, who is Windham’s step-daughter and biological daughter of the deceased, Elle uses her Cosmopolitan knowledge of hair care to find the hole in Chutney’s story, exploit it, and prove that it was she, not Windham, who killed Hayworth. The fact that Elle won the case based on the conjunction of her newly acquired law skills and her previous knowledge of hair care brings Elle’s heroic journey into full circle, the apotheosis: she has transcended herself in the sense that she is no longer concerned with needing the approval of anyone, and she has gained an entire new set of skills and knowledge. Yet, she has not let go of the old Elle Woods, the one who thrives on knowing obscure facts about beauty.

Though no one can take credit for Elle’s deeds except for herself, Elle would not have been able to come as far as she did without the guidance of her love interest, Emmet Richmond. When Elle was struggling on her first day of classes, it is Emmett who finds her and gives her life-changing advice on how to deal with harsh professors and their courses. With this newfound information, Elle is able to tackle her academic insecurities headfirst. Later in the film, it is revealed that Emmett is Callahan’s junior partner in his law firm – but while Callahan takes interest in Elle for her beauty, Emmett notices her real potential as a lawyer. Instead of questioning her methods or hunches, Emmett tries to understand Elle’s views, even helping her when he himself had doubts. For example, when Elle claimed that Enrique, the pool boy Brooke supposedly had an affair with, was lying due to the fact that he was gay, Emmett didn’t dismiss her like Callahan and the rest of the interns. He took it upon himself to question the witness, eventually revealing that Enrique was in fact gay and lying about painting Brooke as an adulterer. As Elle’s superior, he holds more power than her but instead of abusing that power like Callahan, Emmett uses his influence to further Elle’s career without any malicious intent. Without the presence of Emmett, Elle would not have been able to defend Brooke, since as a mere law student, she had needed a practicing attorney to reside over the case. While love interests can sometimes hold the heroine back, this was clearly not the case for Elle.

One of the most significant facets to the hero’s journey is the hero’s return to her old world, accompanied by a “boon” or reward to bestow on the community. In this case, Elle’s boon is that she has demonstrated to everyone that a person, let alone a female who already has gender stereotype-related odds stacked up against her, can successfully integrate into a new world, experience dozens of failures, and still succeed. Elle’s journey is inspiring, and that alone is a great enough boon that Elle’s best friends, Paulette, vows to name her unborn baby Elle in her honor. After her toils, Elle is able to thrive and reintegrate herself into society where she seemingly gets her version of happily ever after: she graduates Harvard Law with honors, with offers to join one of Boston’s most prestigious law firms, and with a boyfriend (soon to be fiancé, since he plans to propose). Although she continues to maintain her relationship with Emmett, Elle is in no way trapped, as she still has the freedom to pursue her goal of earning a job at a distinguished law firm without feeling obligated to work at Emmett’s newly formed firm.

Elle Woods, throughout her hero’s journey, transforms both motivationally and intellectually in a manner consistent with heroes. Throughout her heroic quest, she experiences suffering and failure, both of which aid in her transformations both from dependence to autonomy and stagnation to growth, along with receiving help from her love interest along the way. Campbell’s monomyth of the hero’s journey is prevalent throughout many Hollywood movies, and Legally Blonde is a prime example of the utilization of this idea to create an inspiring, original, and engaging story.