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The Wonder of the Sovereign
- Stephanie Zajchowski, PhD
- 44 minutes ago
- 7 min read
Spinning and spinning, I hoped that I, too, would transform into Wonder Woman. Lynda Carter’s portrayal of the character in the television series from 1975 to 1979 is etched into my two-year-old psyche. Her armbands still come to mind when I seek protection, and the memory of her transformative spin emerges when life calls me to step into my power, my sovereignty.
Amazon by birth, and in some retellings, a demigod, Wonder Woman holds sovereignty as her birthright. In her 2017 cinematic depiction in Wonder Woman, her nemesis, Ares, is also sovereign; however, they each depict differing ways of exercising the power they hold.
*The following content contains spoilers.
A tale of two Sovereigns
Long before she becomes known as Wonder Woman, young Diana’s sovereign spirit shines forth. She slips away from school to watch the Amazons spar, trains in secret with her aunt despite her mother’s disapproval, and ultimately leaves her island home against her mother’s wishes. When she learns that the human world is at war and many are suffering, she feels compelled to act. As she boards the boat to enter the human world, her mother asks her to stay. But Diana, standing tall in her integrity, replies, “Who will I be if I stay?” (00:37:17). Her sovereignty lies not just in her power, but in her unwavering commitment to live in alignment with her calling—to protect humanity, no matter the cost.
We then witness Diana enter London in the midst of World War I. The Amazon begins to draw attention, which unnerves Captain Steve Trevor, a spy who has offered to take her to the front lines of the war and is attempting to go unnoticed. He tries to mold her to fit in, to not draw attention, but the world doesn’t need Diana to fit; it needs her strength and power.
Diana’s singular purpose is to find Ares. Akin to the Greek deity after which he is patterned, Ares is the god of war. He sows strife amongst humans because he finds them weak, cruel, and capable of the greatest horrors (01:49:46). They do not deserve the world they’ve been given.
As a god, Ares is also sovereign. Yet while Diana seeks to create a safe world where humanity can live and thrive, Ares aims to eradicate human life altogether. He uses his power to oppress and destroy and is uncompromising in his ability to see only evil in human beings. Ares is a shadow sovereign.
The Sovereign archetype embodies power and the expression of the vital energies of life in the world. Thus, the Sovereign can use their power to enliven or extinguish life, use their authority to help create a stable world where others can grow, or become authoritarian, controlling, and life-suppressing. Wonder Woman depicts both aspects of the Sovereign archetype, and we as viewers are able to see how the world responds.
Stepping into power
Diana enters the heat of battle with Steve and their motley crew, who herd her along, attempting to protect her. Still, all she can see is human suffering. Her rage rises, and Steve tries to explain, “This is no man’s land, Diana. It means no man can cross it. This battalion has been here for nearly a year, and they’ve barely gained an inch … This is not something you can cross. It’s not possible … We can’t save everyone in this war. This is not what we came here to do” (01:13:18). Yet the suffering stirs something within her.
Diana seems to stand at a crossroads. She can continue to allow others to tell her what to do, or she can act on her inner knowing, her inner sovereignty. The pain that surrounds her galvanizes her sacred duty to protect humanity, and she steps into her power. She loosens her hair, places her Aunt’s Amazonian diadem, a symbol of sovereignty, upon her head, and responds: “No, but it’s what I am going to do” (01:13:47).
Emerging from the trench in full Amazon regalia, Diana embodies the Sovereign. She takes the battlefield that no man could cross—not to conquer, but to restore. Her actions are precise and clear, she destroys the weapons, not those who wield them, and then presses forward to liberate the village. She gives orders, and the motley crew complies. They recognize her power, trust her strength, and stand by her vision of prosperity for all. When the dust settles in the village, she rises from the ruins of the town church where the steeple once stood—a vision of light amid the desolation of war. With authority born to enliven the vital energies of life in the world, her aggression serves the well-being of the collective, and her destruction is aimed only towards those who take life from the world. Her righteous fury is not driven by dominance, but by a call to heal humanity.
In the realm of Diana’s authority, life emerges. We hear laughter and joy. The motley crew starts to share their dreams, that before the war, they wanted to be actors, musicians, and artists. People begin to dance, and Diana asks, “Is this what people do when there are no wars to fight?” (01:26:44). The town is living again. Diana’s sovereignty has caused a ripple effect, even if it is a bubble in time, for dreamers to dream and hope to spring forth. The Sovereign allows for the creative energy of the universe to emerge.
The Sovereign allows for the creative energy of the universe to emerge.
Fierce love
As a child, Diana was taught that protecting humanity was her sacred duty. Humans, she learned, are just and wise, strong and passionate, but war has the power to corrupt them (00:06:00). Thus, stopping the god of war is Diana’s primary goal. But her optimistic vision of peace built upon these stories has yet to grasp the complexities of humankind. And though she frees the village, by the next evening, it is destroyed in another attack. She is confronted by the depths of human cruelty and loses heart in her purpose.
In her ongoing battle with Ares, she witnesses Steve sacrificing himself for the greater cause. His final words echo through her: “I can save today, you can save the world. I love you” (02:03:08). As she loses him and hears his words in her head, in her heart, something ancient and unwavering stirs within her. When Ares scoffs, “They do not deserve your protection” (02:04:46), Diana responds: “It’s not about deserve, it is about what you believe. And I believe in love” (2:04:51). She once again gains strength and resolve from her inner sovereignty, and a fierce love emerges as she decides to protect humanity, not because it is perfect, but because loving is sacred.
The Sovereign’s gift
Diana destroys Ares. As the smoke dissipates, the sun rises, and those around her stir as if they awaken from a nightmare. Hope renews, but it is infused with sorrow. Wish as she might, Diana can’t destroy war; she can’t save humans from themselves.
In The Hero with A Thousand Faces, Joseph Campbell explains that “the work of the hero is to slay the [tyrant ogre] and release from its ban the vital energies that will feed the universe” (303). The life-force is released from the bonds of tyranny. And yet, the hero, the redeemer, is always also capable of becoming the tyrant. The sovereign can heal or harm, for “this is the wisdom of the end (and rebeginning) of the world.” The capability to create and destroy remains within us all.
After the harrowing ordeal, Diana begins to grasp this unsettling truth. She is no longer under the delusion that she alone can stop war. These archetypal energies are bigger than even she, a sovereign demi-god. The movie ends with Diana explaining this self-awareness:
“I used to want to save the world, to end war and bring peace to mankind, but then I glimpsed the darkness that lies within their light and learned that inside every one of them there will always be both—a choice each must make for themselves. Something no hero will ever defeat. And now I know that only love can truly save the world. So I stay, I fight, and I give—for the world I know can be.” (02:09:12)
The Sovereign's gift to the world is not only power and life, but sovereignty itself. She gives others the stability and resources to choose their own paths, to hold power and authority in their own lives, a safe space that allows creativity to flourish, for inhabitants to grow into the fullest version of themselves. What we do with that power is our choice. Still, giving of ourselves to help create the world we know can exist seems like a worthy goal.
Perhaps it is no surprise that the United Nations named Wonder Woman an “Honorary Ambassador for the Empowerment of Women and Girls.” She has remained with me for a lifetime. Her heroic powers seeding wonder in me as a child, mirroring the fierce love of the feminine sovereign to me as an adult, and demonstrating the unwavering courage required to live my dreams for the world, not my fears.
MythBlast authored by:
Stephanie Zajchowski, PhD is a mythologist and writer based in Texas. She serves as the Director of Operations for the Joseph Campbell Foundation and is a contributing author of Goddesses: A Skeleton Key Study Guide. Stephanie is also a co-founder of the Fates and Graces, hosting webinars and workshops for mythic readers and writers. Her work focuses on the intersection of mythology, religion, and women’s studies. For more information, visit stephaniezajchowski.com
This MythBlast was inspired by The Hero With a Thousand Faces and the archetype of The Sovereign.
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