Butcher - Leia the Goddess in Return of the Jedi

In The Hero With a Thousand Faces, Campbell posits that the goddess exists for the hero to act as a driving force for his journey. When we first meet Leia in Episode IV: A New Hope, she is an image of beauty, dressed in white, desperate to escape the clutches of the Empire. She is anything but the stereotypical damsel in distress. Although a prisoner of Darth Vadar, she alone takes action to help in her own rescue. This is far from the typical fairytale images of women like Snow White, or Sleeping Beauty. A goddess is a ruler, a deity, a supreme being more powerful than a earthly human. Leia remains a strong character throughout each film, and is always at the forefront of the rebellion, as a main character to the plot. As a superhuman character, a goddess, is often in control, and escapes danger time and again. This can be said of Princess Leia. She is bold enough to attempt to rescue Han in Return of the Jedi, even though it results in her capture. Even in the process of being saved, she is always active. When Luke comes to rescue Leia and Han from Jabba, she ends up strangling Jabba with her own chains to escape. Perhaps this is a visual metaphor indicating that she cannot be chained.

In each Episode she becomes increasingly important. In the larger picture, her relationships with Han and Luke motivate both heroes. Leia constantly puts her life on the line for Han and Luke, and in return both men find themselves constantly protecting and fighting for her. For example, in Return of the Jedi, Darth Vadar entices Luke to lash out at him when he insinuates that she could turn to the dark side. She is definitely an intriguing character, and it is interesting to watch the development of Han and Luke around her.

Finally, here's a funny picture of Leia and R2....

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.

Lazo - Return of the Jedi

Princess Leia serves two different roles for the two different heroes of the original Star Wars trilogy. Joseph Campbell writes that the hero will have an encounter with a temptress and a goddess. For Luke and Han, Leia fulfills these roles.

According to Campbell, the temptress attempts to lure the hero away from his quest. Luke's quest throughout the trilogy has been to learn the ways of the force, become a Jedi Knight, and defeat Darth Vader, his father. While on the forest moon of Endor, Leia tells Luke that he should run away and not face Vader. She's trying to protect Luke, but he knows what he must do. Luke knows that he cannot become a Jedi without facing his father. Leia tempts Luke not just to run from Vader, but in doing so, he would also be running from the Force and his quest to become a Jedi.

Meanwhile, Star Wars has another hero in Han Solo. For Han, Leia plays the role of the goddess. According to Campbell, the goddess represents a powerful bond of love. This is best seen in The Empire Strikes Back when Leia tells Han she loves him, and he says, "I know." However, this love is also seen throughout Return of the Jedi from when Leia rescues Han through the Battle of Endor. Han and Leia's love for each other is probably the most important reason for Han's transition from money-loving rogue to a hero fighting for good. Leia gives Han a purpose throughout their struggles against the Empire.

Frady, Jacob - Leia Organa as Goddess/Temptress in Return of the Jedi

Princess. Sister. Daughter. Rebel leader. Leia Organa is many things in the Star Wars universe. However, her most important roles are those of the Goddess and the Temptress. In Return of the Jedi, Leia once again steps into her Goddess shoes.

Hope they smell better than her bounty hunter boots.

When Luke figures out that she's his sister, he's understandably dumbfounded. However, this news comes with the added bonus of allowing Luke to finally realize the true nature of their relationship. He can now accept the powerful, all-encompassing love he has for his sister, a love that is equivalent to the unconditional love that a fortunate infant may experience with his mother.

As a result, Luke experiences a loss of the sense of duality he felt with Leia and realizes that they are both a small part of something much larger than either of them: the Force.

Leia plays the Temptress more than once in Return of the Jedi. Once actively and once passively.

She is tempting...

First, she implores Luke to flee Darth Vader, because his conspicuous Force presence can lead Vader to sniff out their location. She doesn't know that Luke must confront his father before his training can be completed, and so she tries to lead him astray (albeit without malicious intent).

Pictured: Malicious Intent.

In her second incarnation as Temptress, Leia is not even present. When Luke and Vader face each other in battle as the Emperor looks on with glee, Vader is able to ferret out Leia's existence and true identity from Luke's thoughts. When Vader reveals to Luke that he now knows about Leia, Luke loses his composure and gives in to his anger, making him more vulnerable to the siren song of the Dark side of the Force. So, because of Leia, Luke nearly fails his final trial on the path to becoming a Jedi. Thankfully, Luke proved true to the Jedi way, and, with his father's help, was finally able to stop the dark reign of the Emperor for good.

Roberts-Leia's Role in Return of the Jedi

Within Joseph Campbell's monomyth it is custom for the hero to come into contact with both a goddess and a temptress at some point in his journey. In Star Wars Return of the Jedi Princess Leia acts as both a goddess and a temptress to our hero Luke.
The goddess traditionally "gives purpose and meaning" to the hero's journey and shares a special bond with him as well. In Return of the Jedi Luke returns to Dagobah to visit the dying Yoda and is visited by Obi Wan's apparition who reveals that Leia is in fact Luke's sister. She, like Luke, is also able to use the force, however, the audience has not seen her do so. The two now share a familial bond which make their previous kiss in The Empire Strikes Back a little more uncomfortable but secures her a spot as Luke's goddess. He even acts out, in an un-Jedi like manner, when Vadar threatens to turn Leia to the dark side.
The scene on Endor where Luke tells Leia that she is her brother is the same scene in which she acts like Campbell's described temptress. The temptress tries to get the hero to stray from his journey. Luke decides that he needs to face Vadar once more but Leia tries to keep him from going. This meeting with Vadar would ultimately complete Luke's journey. Luckily, Luke chooses to go instead despite the warnings from Leia.

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.

Torres - Princess Leia's role in Return of the Jedi

In the movie Return of the Jedi Leia takes on some rather complex roles. At some points in the movie she takes on the role of the hero, which up until now has usually been played by Han and Luke. Leia sneaks into Jabba's base disguised as a bounty hunter with the intent to save Han. Later in the film she singlehandedly kills Jabba, rescuing them all from the possibility of being perused by him and his people upon their escape. She also holds her ground against attacking storm troopers in the forest on Endor. Overall Leia's character has expanded a lot in this movie, but the two main roles that she plays in regards to Campbell's analysis of the hero's journey is that of the goddess and the temptress.

According to Campbell, the goddess represents the point in the adventure when the hero experiences a love that has the power and significance of the all-powerful, all encompassing, unconditional love that a fortunate infant may experience with his or her mother. This is a very important step in the process and is often represented by the person finding the other person that he or she loves most completely. The goddess figure motivates the hero to be a better person and complete his journey. In other words, she gives the hero something to fight for. Leia takes on this role for both Luke and Han. At this point in the trilogy Luke no longer has feels the attraction towards Leia that initially started his journey; he views her as a friend. When Luke realizes that Leia is his twin sister he gains a new love for her that helps to motivate him to finish his journey. For Han, Leia has developed into a romantic partner; He loves her. Leia motivates Han to be a better person and to fulfill his role as civic hero.

The 'Woman as Temptress' is about those temptations that may lead the hero to abandon or stray from his or her quest, which as with the 'Meeting with the Goddess' does not necessarily have to be represented by a woman. For Campbell, however, woman is a metaphor for the physical or material temptations of life, since the hero-knight was often tempted by lust from his spiritual journey. Leia embodies this role when she is discovered by Jabba and forced to be his eye candy. She is made to wear a golden bikini and is chained to his platform/throne. Replacing the previous female figure who was in the same situation and forced to dance provocatively for Jabba's entertainment, Leia is being cast as a type of love slave and shown as an object of temptation and lust to the audience. Later in the movie Leia tries to persuade Luke not to face Darth Vader and instead to flee with her. She does not realize that facing his father is something that he needs to do to complete his journey, so she tempts him not to go in the hopes of saving his life.

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.