Healing the Wounded Masculine and Integrating the Masculine and Feminine in Mulan



          The film Mulan entails an interesting story that takes place in medieval China during a Hunnic invasion, about a young woman named Mulan who takes her father’s place in the military when he is drafted. The movie starts off with her failing to live the legacy her ancestors wanted her to live and ends with her saving China and finding herself and peace afterward. The film Mulan is a perfect example of a Heroine’s Journey because it shows how the female protagonist goes through an awakening journey to find herself and satisfaction. In this blog, I will argue what the last three phases of Maureen Murdock’s version of the Hero’s Journey are. The last parts where Mulan fights the evil Hunnic general to the part when she reunites with her family, specifically her father, exemplify the last steps of Maureen Murdock’s Heroine’s Journey.
          The scene where Mulan tells Li Shang that Shan Yu breached into the city shows how the film enters into the “Healing the Wounded Masculine” phase. Before this scene, Mulan experiences an injury, and Li Shang finds out Mulan is a woman. Chi Fu, the emperor's advisor, pressures Li Shang to execute her as the law required him to do. However, Li Shang refuses and expels her from the military instead. Experiencing a major injury and a close encounter with death, Mulan’s “masculinity” is definitely wounded. Mulan later recognizes that Shan Yu entered the capital to overthrow the emperor, and she realizes that she has to save China even though the law does not allow women to be involved in the military. Here, Mulan reclaims some of her feminine identity while taking on a role of men, causing her to heal her “masculinity.” Additionally, according to “The Heroine’s Journey: Examples, Archetypes, and Infographic,” in this phase the heroine “has rejected her earlier pursuits in the male-oriented world, she searches for what remains meaningful to her. She casts aside unrealistic concepts of men.” (Blair) The viewer clearly sees Mulan reject her earlier pursuits in the male-oriented world and does not pretend to be a man to cooperate with Li Shang, but instead takes matters into her own hands. This phase continues until she defeats Shan Yu.
          The scene where Mulan returns home to her father shows how the film enters into the “Integration of Masculine and Feminine” phase. During this scene, Mulan literally returns the sword of the defeated Shan Yu and the golden crest of the emperor, the greatest gift a soldier could have gotten in that film. They represent symbols of masculinity. Her returning home to her father after her victory and bringing Li Shang for dinner represents her femininity because she fulfills her role as a daughter in medieval China. The fact that both of these are shown in the same scene shows that this scene is the “Integration of Masculine and Feminine” phase.
          All in all, the last two phases in Maureen Murdock’s Heroine’s Journey are shown when Mulan warns Li Shang about Shan Yu and when Mulan returns home. The “Healing of the Wounded Masculine” begins when Mulan warns Li Shang about Shan Yu because Mulan faces the courage to meet Li Shang after he expelled her from military training, thereby rejecting the gender roles in China at the time. It continues throughout the fighting scene with Shan Yu. The “Integration of the Masculine and Feminine” occurs when Mulan returns home to her father because she brings in both symbols of masculinity and femininity into the household.








Works Cited:


Blair, Julia. "The Heroine’S Journey: Examples, Archetypes, and Infographic." Story Grid, storygrid.com/heroines-journey/.


"Mulan." Disney, movies.disney.com/mulan.

Comments

  1. Neeraja NairMay 13, 2025 at 7:33 PM

    I really enjoyed reading you blog post and I liked how you interpreted the scences from the movie. Like you mentioned, Mulan is a character that embodies both masculine and feminine features. It would be interesting to map of Mulan's journey using Joseph Campbell's Hero's Journey and compare it to Maureen Murdock's version of the Heroine's Journey. Great post!

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