Disillusionment Plot

Recently, some naive assumptions I've held were shattered. I tend toward a rather optimistic view of people and situations, so this definitely isn't the first time I've been so disillusioned. I can say, however, that the hollow feeling in the bottom of my stomach caused by these little disappointments doesn't get any easier to take. I'm not going to get into any kind of explanation. That would be giving the experience more importance than it's worth. What I'd like to do, instead, is use it as a theme for this blog post.

Today's topic is the Disillusionment Plot.

This type of plot occurs when your protagonist starts off with a set of ideals, but by the end of the story has abandoned these ideals.

My main female character, Ailith, experiences this type of plot. At the beginning of her story she is chosen by her god to be the high queen of a magical race of people. She sets out, sure of her success, to find her king and enlist his aide against the forces of dark. Along the way, however, her decisions cost the lives of innocents and those she loves. She ends her part in the story being rescued by the king she betrayed rather than helping him, convinced that the god chose wrong in making her high queen, and wallowing in self-pity for herself and her losses.

Though my disillusionment was different than Ailith's, we both shared the disappointment of shattered naivete. How about you? Have you believed the best of someone or a situation only to be disappointed? Or like Ailith, did you set out sure you'd be successful in an endeavor only to end completely disappointed in the outcome because of your own actions or decisions? Do you have a character that has also experienced this journey in one of your stories? Are you or your character like the penguin above, surprised to find that you're not as special as you thought?