Arising from another thread - there are only seven stories in the world. What are they?

[bran]

So far I'm guessing

1. Romantic love that ends tragically (Romeo and Juliet)

1. Romantic love that ends happily (Pride and Prejudice)

1. Revenge/vengance/reclaiming honour (Hamlet)

1. Resolution/coming to terms with trauma or bad relationship (can't think of a classic for this)

What else?

Here you go:

1. 'Tragedy'. Hero with a fatal flaw meets tragic end. Macbeth or

Madame Bovary.

1. 'Comedy'. Not necessary laugh-out-loud, but always with a happy ending, typically of romantic fulfilment, as in Jane Austen.
2. 'Overcoming the Monster'. As in Frankenstein or 'Jaws'. Its psychological appeal is obvious and eternal.
3. 'Voyage and Return'. Booker argues that stories as diverse as Alice

in Wonderland and H G Wells' The Time Machine and Coleridge's The Rime of the Ancient Mariner follow the same archetypal structure of personal development through leaving, then returning home.

1. 'Quest'. Whether the quest is for a holy grail, a whale, or a kidnapped child it is the plot that links a lot of the most popular fiction. The quest plot links Lords of the Rings with Moby Dick and a thousand others in between.
2. 'Rags to Riches'. The riches in question can be literal or metaphoric. See Cinderella, David Copperfield, Pygmalion.
3. 'Rebirth'. The 'rebirth' plot - where a central character suddenly finds a new reason for living - can be seen in A Christmas Carol, It's a Wonderful Life, Crime and Punishment and Peer Gynt.

Thank you Pennies.