Triay - Leia as a Goddess/Temptress

In the original Star Wars trilogy, Princess Leia serves a duel role as both Joseph Campbell's Goddess and Temptress. One could argue that there are two heros in the Trilogy, Luke and Han; however, there is only one heroine, Leia. Leia as a Goddess has unconditional love from the hero. This is demonstrated in A New Hope by Luke's compelling desire to seek out Leia and help her after receiving her distress call. She becomes Luke's initial goal in Episode IV, to save the damsel in distress. This unconditional love for our hero changes over the next two films. It is revealed that Leia is Luke's sister. The Campbell idea of unconditional love shifts to an unconditional sibling love, binding the two together.


Leia is also seen as a temptress, particularly in regards to Han Solo. Leia understands the necessity of having Han Solo on the rebel's side. She engages in a cat and mouse, "playing hard to get" game with Han. As a temptress, she inspires Han to stick around and stay on the Rebel side. However, they begin to truly fall for each other, developing yet another Campbell sort of "unconditional love."

Gooch- Princess Leia's role for the Hero

In the entire Star Wars trilogy Princess Leia plays a pivotal role in continuing the journey of the hero. She is both the inspiration for his mission and a distraction from his destiny. Unlike the heroes, Luke and Han, Leia remains constant in her conviction and her bravery for the cause. Through out the history of film, women are often portrayed simply as the damsel in distress. In Leia’s case, while she may be introduced in this fashion her character grows further and we come to see the power that she holds as a great authority figure in the fight against the empire. This empowerment gives her the ability to be more than just a girl to save, but also the woman who inspires the work of an army, and who especially sparks the action of the two leading men.

Her role as the goddess, especially for Luke, is the most obvious role she plays. The audience is constantly reminded of her importance and purity as she is almost always shown in her glowing white outfits. Despite her constant fight against the evil of the dark side, she remains pure and unwavering. It is the vision of her calling for help that first intrigues Luke to embark on his journey, and once they meet, his love is one of the inspirations for him to keep going. Although, her relationship with Han is not as glorified as it is for Luke, through her constant challenges for him not to give up the fight and her bravery in their journey together (especially in “The Empire Strikes Back”) she is his goddess and inspiration not to return to the man he was before.

Her role as the temptress is one that is slightly more hidden. It seems inconceivable that such a strong and brave character could ever serve as a contributor to the hero’s doubts, but it is not by her flaws that she becomes the temptress. It is through the weakness of the hero that she becomes, as Campbell explains, a symbol “no longer of victory, but of defeat.” In his failures, Leia becomes Luke’s reminder of all that he has left to learn. While Luke has to save her from danger in all three films, it is in “The Empire Strikes Back” that Luke abandons his training and his call to be a Jedi in order to save her. In the final film he also risks his mission to defeat Darth Vader so that he can save her from Jaba’s cave. All of these efforts distract Luke from his mission and in each challenge he becomes weaker and doubts his ability to be the Jedi he is called to be.

Madere: Leia as Goddess and Temptress

In this photo from Star Wars: A New Hope, Princess Leia is very clearly the Goddess that Joseph Campbell discusses. She is dressed in white (as she is for most of both the first and second movie), she looks regal and, with the light cast down upon her in this scene, she looks almost angelic.

Leia's role as Goddess carries over from A New Hope into The Empire Strikes Back and Return of the Jedi. She is still very much a driving force behind the Rebellion, as seen in the beginning of the movie in her role as executive of the Rebels' movements on Hoth. She also serves as Goddess for both Luke and Han personally. For Luke, as in A New Hope, she gives him a means and reason to fight and fulfill his role as Campbell's Contemplative hero in the story. In Han's case, she provides a search for something more fulfilling than just material wealth, which eventually blossoms into love. In this way, she becomes Han's savior in his quest for a more meaningful life and fulfillment of his role as the Civic hero. She also actually is Han's savior when she poses as a bounty hunter in order to rescue him from death at the hands of Jabba the Hutt.

However, in The Empire Strikes Back and Return of the Jedi, Leia becomes, both literally and figuratively, a Temptress. For both Han and Luke, Leia is an object of lust and reason for competition. However, this role changes in her interactions with Luke once they learn they are brother and sister. He then must overcome this loss and others associated with his family and past in order to continue on his quest. For Han, he must overcome the reasons for his original attraction to Leia--lust, money, greed, power, the winner over Luke in the battle for her affection--in order to achieve something more pure and wholesome with her.

Guerry, Matthew - Leia in ROJ

In Return of the Jedi, Princess Leia takes on both the role of temptress and goddess. I don’t think I’ve ever heard of an ugly goddess, though my knowledge of the subject is admittedly flawed. In her capacity as temptress, Leia uses her femininity to motivate both Han and Luke, especially against one another. Competing for her affection, they attempt to outdo the other, thereby further completing their quest to save the galaxy. She tempts Luke away from his training with Yoda when Jabba captures her. Her golden bikini serves to show her as a sex object, increasing the rush of “gold” to the heads of her captors. This blatant personification of the concept of the “temptress” is far from ignorable. The rivalry continues until Luke figures out that Leia is his sister. After a moment of awkwardness, in which he no doubt recalls the passionate kiss they shared, he comprehends the bond he had previously misunderstood. It is this revelation that changes Leia’s role for Luke, from temptress to goddess.

Solo, on the other hand, views Leia as both a goddess and a temptress… "Goddress"? His frustrated romantic interest toward her is obvious; his irritation at her hidden motives and stubborn personality shows often. His love for her helps him transform from a swashbuckling mercenary to an out and out action hero.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FJRMwdmFYWg

I tried to upload this from YouTube but could not find a YouTube option.

Michael Kuebler - Princess Leia in Return of the Jedi

As my classmates before me state, Leia of course plays both the roles as Goddess and Temptress in Return of the Jedi. Along with this it seems that in certain roles she can also play the part of the hero. This character is very complex and could more than likely have a story specifically revolving around her trials before, during and after the saga.

Leia, as the Goddess, is the reason why Han and Luke both remain in the mission. She is a beacon of hope when all else seems to be lost to the Empire. She gives Han strength and teaches him how to grow from smuggler and scoundrel into a decent man and a General in the Rebel Alliance. Her first words with her own voice are "Some one who loves you." Her role as Goddess and protector are obvious and seem to strike Han in a way that makes him rethink his selfish ways.

As the Temptress in the movie Leia distracts Luke and Han throughout the movie in multiple ways. She is a temptress not only to the characters but also the audience when she is captured by Jabba. Luke is once again running to the rescue of his friends and avoiding his training which eventually is the reason the he will inevitably turn to the dark side. She causes Han to be distracted from the mission because he wants to call her his own but he feels that she is in love with Luke. Even when Han tells her that he loves Leia, the response he receives is his own before he is frozen.

She returns to her status as Goddess among the Ewoks and saves the party from being eaten as an offering. Then at the very end when she tells Han that Luke and her are twins. Han is then filled with joy and once again sees her as the Goddess that she has become and always was throughout the saga.

Morris - Princess Leia in Return of the Jedi

In Return of the Jedi, we first see Leia disguised as a bounty hunter. She uses Chewey as a ploy to gain access to Jabba the Hutt's lair so she can rescue Han Solo. Leia is both goddess and temptress in the Star Wars trilogy.

In this movie, she plays the goddess to Han, giving him a reason to be a hero. She is the female that Han wishes to impress and in this aspect, it is because of her that he is a better person.

For Luke, Leia plays the temptress. When Luke is leaving to go after Darth Vader, Leia tries to get him to run away. She tells him that it is too dangerous and wonders why he must confront Vader. This is a test of how dedicated to his journey Luke is; Leia gives him the opportunity to run from his mission, but he proves that he is worthy by refusing to back down. Also, while Luke is refusing to fight Vader, Vader threatens to try to turn Leia to the Dark Side since Luke is refusing. Luke's anger gets the best of him, going against the Force and he attacks. Leia is acting as the temptress here because his love for her as his sister overwhelms him and he allows himself to use his anger which is a trait of the Dark Side. Luke catches himself in this mistake, and returns to the path of his journey.

Leia is very heroic in this movie. She goes to Jabba's to rescue Han, chokes Jabba to death with the chain he had around her neck, rides a hover bike, and kills storm troopers. She is a strong female character instead of the damsel in distress. When she is being a fighter, she has her hair up in braids, but when she is being more of the goddess figure, she has her hair down to appear more masculine and feminine respectively.

Leia's role in Return of the Jedi is complex and extremely important for the plot's progression.

Cutler: Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope

In the second act, Luke Skywalker (the contemplative hero) and Han Solo (the civic hero) dress up like Imperial Storm Troopers on the Death Star. Princess Leia is captured in the Death Star and is scheduled to be terminated. It will be very difficult to reach her to rescue her and Han does not want to rescue her. When Luke tells him that Leia will be killed, Han replies "better her than me" which indicates his selfishness and status as a civic hero. Luke tells Han that if they save Princess Leia, there is a large money incentive for him ("she's rich"). Han agrees and they rescue Leia.
This particular part of the film shows an obstacle for Luke, Han, and Leia. Luke wants to rescue Leia because she has the droids that hold the plans for the Death Star, equalling a shot at success for the Rebel Alliance. Leia is captured and the Empire plans to execute her. Han does not care about the Princess until Luke tells him that there will be a reward if they rescue her. He agrees and when they rescue her, he gets paid. However, towards the end of the film, he comes back to help Luke destroy the Death Star and becomes a Captain in the Rebel Alliance. Luke needs to rescue Leia because he is fighting for the Rebels and wants to destroy the Empire. He tells Han about the reward in hopes that he will agree to rescue her, which he does. Leia is trapped and relies on Luke to rescue her with Han Solo and Chewbacca.
This scene shows Han's initial transition from civic hero and smuggler who is just in it for the money to a contemplative hero and someone who wants to help the Rebels and his friends. While he agrees to rescue Leia only because of the money, he also agrees because he wants to help the Rebel Alliance. At the end, he is totally committed to the Alliance.