39 pages • 1 hour read
Clarissa Pinkola EstésWomen Who Run with the Wolves
Nonfiction | Book | Adult | Published in 1992A modern alternative to SparkNotes and CliffsNotes, SuperSummary offers high-quality Study Guides with detailed chapter summaries and analysis of major themes, characters, and more.
Key Figures
Dr. Clarissa Pinkola Estés
Dr. Estés is a poet, public speaker, and political activist, as well as a Jungian psychoanalyst. In addition, she participates in the Latina folk tale tradition of the cantadora, or storyteller. All these experiences uniquely qualify her to discuss the deeper psychological meaning behind legends from cultures around the world.
The author interjects her own personal experience into her introduction of the tales in the book. She recalls the circumstances that first brought a particular story to her attention. In some case, she adapts the original material and rewrites it in a form better fitted to the Wild Woman archetype. In other instances, she explains why she chooses a specific version of a given story over another. She is quoted as saying that the book was intended as “a work of love and resurrection for the women of our world.”
Central Story Characters
· La Loba—La Loba is an ancient bone collector. When she sings over a skeleton, she can reconstitute it and bring it back to life. Her resurrection of a wolf woman represents the book’s major theme of reawakening the Wild Woman within.
· Bluebeard—Bluebeard represents the dark forces opposing a woman’s awakening to her true nature.
