Never was there a tale of more woe . . . the story of Anakin Skywalker and Padme Naberrie/Amidala might just give Romeo and Juliet a run for their money. The new Star Wars trilogy revolves around this love affair, and its canvas is not feuding families but the downfall of a galactic Republic.

The fate of many hangs on the fate of two, but it’s ironic how simply the story begins. They meet in a junk shop; he is a ten-year old slave, she is a fourteen-year old queen disguised as a handmaiden. With a smile and a few lines of dialogue, a union forms that will shape the galaxy’s destiny.

The obsession with dualities that drives The Phantom Menace is very apparent in this scene. Boy meets girl, slave meets queen – from the outset, their romance is worlds in collision.

It is the meeting of peasant and goddess, and it is rooted in myth.

The Anakin and Amidala romance resembles the troubadour traditions of the twelfth century. The poets of courtly romance would instantly recognize the elements of love at first sight, attributing divine qualities to the object of one’s affections, and the giving of tokens of affection.

Anakin is instantly captivated by Padme – Lucas’s script describes how "Anakin sits on the counter, pretending to clean a part, staring at Padme. She is the most beautiful creature he has ever seen in his life." He asks her if she is an angel, idealizing her and calling her one of "the most beautiful creatures in the universe."

In another allusion to the troubadour tradition, Anakin gives Padme a carving he has made. It’s a typical token of affection, though Lucas reverses chivalric tradition in having the young knight present a gift to his lady fair rather than the other way around.

And the choice of "angels" is both telling and poignant if the queen is the future Darth Vader's soulmate.

In The Hero With a Thousand Faces, Joseph Campbell notes that, as the knight progresses on his quest, "the form of the goddess undergoes for him a series of transformations."

This is precisely what Amidala does -- the geisha-faced ruler is constantly metamorphosing, whether it be from queen to handmaiden to queen or simply changing from one ornate costume to another.

For Carl Jung, who blazed much of the mythic trails first Campbell and then George Lucas would follow, such a chimerical woman was likely a mask for the "anima," the aspect of the soul that is excluded from everyday life and, for the typical man, is characterized as feminine.

Like Amidala and her changing costumes and identities, the anima is always in motion, taking on a number of forms and shapes on the edge of definition.

The anima also shows up just "beyond the shadow," Anakin's shadow self being Vader, and Padme being his angelic opposite and complement.

Jung wrote that whenever the anima appears, "in dreams, visions, and fantasies, she takes on a personified form, thus demonstrating that the factor she embodies possesses all the outstanding characteristics of a feminine being."

This psychological interpretation is an important if understated part of Episode I – in a scene cut from the film, Terry Brooks’ novelization recounts how Anakin has seen Padme in dreams and visions.

The alchemical marriage to come in Episode II therefore represents the reconciliation of the animus, Anakin, and the anima, Amidala.

Anakin Skywalker isn’t the only one meeting with the Campbellian goddess, who is also the Universal Mother, the archetypal feminine form that male egos often portray as mother and lover, protector and seducer.

As Anakin's mother, Shmi Skywalker plays this role early in Episode I. Dad is Oedipally missing, of course, and his absence is not even remarkable until Qui-Gonn arrives to take the boy away.

Interestingly enough, young Skywalker precociously bonds with Amidala shortly thereafter. "You miss your mother, don't you?" she observes.

Amidala is a natural substitute for Universal Mother role, however. We have already seen her as the nurturing and protective Queen of her people, while the age difference between her and her future lover adds a maternal touch to their relationship in Episode I.

She will play this role again at the end of the prequel trilogy, when she bears Anakin's children.

Until now, the mother of Luke and Leia has been an elusive figure.

There are inevitable comparisons between Amidala and her daughter Leia, who is also a warrior princess. There is a definite resemblance: both develop soft spots for rogue pilots, and both have a knack for slipping into and out of stilted British accents.

Amidala is a better diplomat than Leia "Would someone get this walking carpet out of my way" Organa, as illustrated when she prostrates herself before Boss Nass to persuade him to join her cause.

Amidala is also more complicated than Leia, embodying many of the dualities that inform Episode I -- war and peace, queen and commoner, form and substance. Unlike other characters, whose personalities are divided and usually warring against one another, her dual nature works to her advantage.

Her flexibility allows her to disguise herself for most of the movie, then switch from a pacifist to a warrior standing against squads of battle droids. Amidala can be cold and commanding when she needs to be, or warm and loving as Padme.