The Importance of Disillusionment and Enlightenment Arcs

A character arc is the character's internal journey throughout the story. It runs concurrently with the overall narrative and plot arc. Character arcs show change to the character, both good and bad. In order to have dynamic characters that experience growth, the use of enlightenment and disillusionment arcs are critical. 

Enlightenment Arc 

These are also known as Moral Ascending arcs. The point of an enlightenment arc is that the character experiences a positive internal change. The basic shape of an enlightenment arc is a character that starts low, something isn’t right in their world, they go on their journey, they have an epiphany, and they come out a better person. 

In the first act of a story, a character on an enlightenment arc will start with an inaccurate view of themselves, highlighting a flaw or weakness the character has. In the second act, the character will have a crisis of self that culminates in the epiphany at the midpoint of the story. This epiphany will begin the transition to enlightenment. In the third act, the character comes to the truth. They will come to terms with their initial flaw and let it go, ultimately coming out as a better person. 

Enlightenment arcs are all about overcoming something. Not only in the physical, but characters need to overcome their internal conflict, confronting their flaws and weaknesses as the story progresses. During the epiphany, the character will realize the “answer” to their problems. This is often something intangible, like trust or compassion. It can be other characters, family or friends, but it needs to result in betterment. There is a large focus on morality and the need for personal betterment. 

An example of an enlightenment arc is Jean Valjean in Les Mis. He starts the story as a prisoner, and once he gets out he is jaded and relies on thievery, the thing that got him imprisoned in the first place. As the story progresses, he gains a place in society, taking care of others, saving lives and admits to his past as a convict. He dies a better man, surrounded by love. He is driven by love and justice, and realizes he can contribute to the betterment of society, rather than give into its systems, while also caring for those he loves. 

Disillusionment Arc

These are also known as Moral Descending arcs. The point of it is that the character experiences a negative internal change. The basic shape of a disillusionment arc is the character starts high, no problems in their world, they go on their journey, the world reveals that something or themselves aren’t okay, and they come out a worse person. 

In the first act of a story, a character experiencing a disillusionment arc will be fully invested in a false belief they hold about themselves, and they will make choices that benefit this belief. In the second act, the character will ignore the truth in favor of reaching their goals, descending deeper into their belief. At the midpoint of the story, the truth of their false belief will be partially  exposed in a way that can’t be ignored. In the third act, the character will learn the entire truth, causing them to hit an all time low. This leads to the character coming out of the story a worse person. 

Disillusionment arcs are about characters giving into their weaknesses, causing a decline in morals and values. The character will experience a gradual loss of faith, both in themselves and in the world around them. This character will have a wake up call that proves they are the problem, but they will purposefully make choices that contrast this truth. These choices need to result in a worsening of the character. Ultimately, this arc acts as a cautionary tale. 

An example of a disillusionment arc is Macbeth from Macbeth. He begins as a general doing his duties,  he gets a prophecy that he will become king. Instead of letting this happen naturally, Macbeth with the help of his wife murders all the people in the way of his throne. Once he has the power, he is still unsatisfied, and goes on tyrannical raves, killing many innocent people. Macbeth dies in battle, fulfilling a different prophecy, and goes as a vengeful and evil king. He is driven mad by his desire for power, and his desire to maintain said power. 

Conclusion

It’s easy to identify character arcs as a reader. A character becomes better or worse. It’s something that is ingrained in the subconscious mind of a reader. It’s harder to implement character arcs as a writer. In order to understand a character’s overall arc, you need to identify the character’s desires and goals (superobjective), motivations, and the obstacles stopping them from achieving their goals. Think of how the character will change in each step of the journey, from the inciting incident, to the rising action, to the climax, to the falling action. At each of these points in the journey, the character will have to make choices. These choices need to have concrete consequences in order for the character to experience growth. Combining all of this will lead to a well written dynamic character with a complete arc. 

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About the author: Ellie is a recent graduate of the Creative Writing Program at the University of Arizona. She mostly writes scripts, and her one-act play "Pomegranate Seeds" was featured in the New Directions Festival at UA. She is very grateful for the opportunity to judge in the 2024 Games!