The Queen Archetype: A Man’s Take

The Queen archetype is one of the main female archetypes, along with the Huntress, the Mother, the Maiden, and so on.

Let’s be clear: an archetype is a collection of behaviours, characteristics and emotions that together constitute a personality or a side of our personality. I like to think of it as a personality template.

Though nobody fully embodies this archetype and no other, it’s something we inherently recognise when we see it in film, art, music and in people we know. I bet you imagine a certain personality or type of person when you think of the Queen archetype.

Let’s look at its core traits.

The Queen Archetype: Key Traits

By the way, you don’t have to be an actual queen to embody this archetype. This is more to do with personality and behaviour than your standing in society. You’ll find it in any woman who embodies traditional masculine power but in a softer form.

As you should expect from the name, the Queen is a leader, and naturally tends to emerge as one when she finds herself in a group. She commands respect and has a powerful presence. She is calm and collected.

The Queen builds her empire and uses her influence to bring about change. Yet her desire as a leader is to be great in her role and to serve those under her, rather than accumulating wealth or gaining prestige. The Queen leads with compassion, nurtures and inspires.

Don’t mistake this for being weak, however. She is strong, wise, and doesn’t let others step on her toes. She makes herself heard without being obnoxious or clamouring for attention. This archetype is dignified, loyal and graceful.

The Queen is also elegant and refined. She’s attracted to luxury and invests money in self-care.

Some say that this archetype either marries a strong man, or goes it alone, like the queens of the past. All the quintessentially Queen women that I could find attach to a powerful male figure, who becomes the co-creator of her empire, a bolster for her already established power. It does not attach to weak men.

In Your Life

The Queen archetype is a kind of personality template that is instantly recognisable when we see it. Yet nobody fully embodies it and it alone. What you can do as a woman, or a man, is look at the essential traits of the Queen and ask how well you have integrated them into your personality.

If they’re too weak, you might notice certain faults or weaknesses in your character. If your Queen archetype is too strong, you might notice dysfunction in the other direction.

So what does this look like in a real woman, or man?

• the woman is able to lead herself and others, and take control of her life,
• often embodied by woman leaders, the self-employed, strong mothers, real queens and political leaders,
• confident, secure, sets boundaries, commands, embraces masculine energy and channels it.

My Take on The Queen Archetype

I intuitively know how the Queen shows up in women and I’ve come across many women who embody it. I believe this is a highly attractive archetype, yet it can also be scary and threatening to men.

Her power both entices me and activates my sense of weakness. Her independent energy is sexy yet threatening. We men chase after what is denied to us, and run from that which is offered freely. The Queen doesn’t need us, or at least doesn’t show it overtly, so we end up chasing after her.

Her masculine energy is both threatening, because she expresses attributes we ought to possess but may not have fully developed, and yet it speaks to our younger, vulnerable self who wants to be looked after by their mother, who dominates our lives for around 20 years. This is another reason why we unconsciously desire this archetype.

For Men?

Most of the articles I’ve found on this archetype were written by women. If you’ve come across those, you might be wondering why I’ve decided to write about it.

As Jung captured in his concept of the anima and animus, both males and females have traits from the opposite sex. Thus, men will also embody the Queen archetype, in their own way.

To be whole as a man, we can look to embody the motherly, caring nature of the Queen. Though she’s a leader, she leads to serve, nurture and inspire.

These are qualities that aren’t typically associated with archetypal masculine leadership, which is often domineering and bullish, but I think they should be. We’ll show up in the world more effectively if we lead to reach those goals rather than selfish ones. Perhaps we need to care for, not control.

As we develop as humans, we tend to incorporate more and more traits of the opposite gender, without losing our core identity. Our personality is looser, broader, encompassing more and more traits rather than being contracted around a simple set of traits and flushing out others.

By integrating the Queen, women embody beautiful masculine power and retain their core feminine energy, while men embody beautiful feminine power and retain their core masculine energy.