Interpretive Tools: Ring Theory
Interpretive Tools: Ring Theory
"Ring Theory" is based on an ancient literary device known as “chiastic structure.” According to Wikipedia:
Chiastic structure, or chiastic pattern, is a literary technique in narrative motifs and other textual passages. An example of chiastic structure would be two ideas, A and B, together with variants A’ and B’, being presented as A,B,B’,A’.
Or, in the immortal words of George Lucas:
You see the echo of where it’s all going to go… It's like poetry. They rhyme. Every stanza kind of rhymes with the last one.
Chiastic structure provides an extremely fruitful framework for interpreting Star Wars because a given scene in a given episode can almost always be “read against” a corresponding scene in a corresponding episode. Reading two scenes against each other in this way will often reveal something significant about both scenes.
Chiastic patterns can be found throughout Star Wars, but they are most significant and consistent in the numbered episodes (I-IX). Each trilogy, for instance, forms its own three-part ring:
FOR EXAMPLE…
In the three-part ring of the prequel trilogy (I-III), the podrace on Tatooine (I, A) can be read against the scene where Obi-Wan chases General Grievous on Utapau (III, A’).
Both scenes are high-speed vehicular pursuits that take place on a desert planet. In both cases, the scene ends when the hero and villain are temporarily entangled and the villain’s vehicle is destroyed.
Moreover, the two pairs of trilogies (I-VI and IV-IX) form two overlapping six-part rings:
FOR EXAMPLE…
In the first six-part ring (I-VI), the podrace on Tatooine (I, A) can be read against the speeder chase on Endor (VI, A’).
In both scenes, high-speed vehicles fly through a dangerous obstacle course. One of the heroes executes a daring maneuver, flying up into the sky and then back down again, to surprise and overtake an opponent. In both cases, the scene ends with heroes and villains becoming temporarily entangled, resulting in the destruction of the villain’s vehicle.
Finally, taken together, all three trilogies (I-IX) form a nine-part ring:
FOR EXAMPLE…
The podrace on Tatooine (I, A) can be “read against” the speeder chase on Pasaana (IX, A’).
Both scenes are high-speed vehicular pursuits that take place on a desert planet. The participants begin at a festival and move out into the desert, chasing each other across flats and through canyons. In both cases, the scene climaxes with heroes and villains becoming temporarily entangled, resulting in the destruction of the villain’s vehicle.
All discussion of chiastic structure in Star Wars is indebted to the work of Mike Klimo. For more in-depth thoughts on how chiastic structure applies to the first six episodes of the Skywalker Saga, refer to his “Star Wars Ring Theory” website: https://www.starwarsringtheory.com