Romantic hero
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The Romantic
hero is a literary archetype referring to a character that rejects
established norms and conventions, has been rejected by society, and has
themself as the center of his or her own existence. The Romantic hero is often
the protagonist
in the literary work and there is a primary focus on the character's thoughts
rather than his or her actions. Literary critic Northrop Frye
noted that the Romantic hero is often "placed outside the structure of
civilization and therefore represents the force of physical nature, amoral or
ruthless, yet with a sense of power, and often leadership, that society has
impoverished itself by rejecting". Other characteristics of the Romantic
hero include introspection, the triumph of the individual
over the "restraints of theological and social conventions", wanderlust,
melancholy, misanthropy,
alienation, and isolation. However, another common trait of the Romantic hero
is regret for his actions, and self-criticism,
often leading to philanthropy, which stops the character from
ending romantically. An example of this trait is Edmond Dantès
in The Count of Monte Cristo.
Usually
estranged from his more grounded, realist biological family and leading a rural,
solitary life, the Romantic hero may nevertheless have a long-suffering love
interest, herself victimised by his rebellious tendencies, with their fates
intertwined for decades, sometimes from their youths to their deaths. (See Tatyana
Larina, Elizabeth Bennet, Eugenie Grandet et al.)
The Romantic
hero first began appearing in literature during the Romantic
period, in works by such authors as Byron, Keats,
Goethe
and Pushkin,
and is seen in part as a response to the French
Revolution. As Napoleon, the "living model of a hero",
became a disappointment to many, the typical notion of the hero as upholding
social order began to be challenged. Classic literary examples of the romantic
hero include Werther from Goethe's The Sorrows of Young Werther, Gwynplaine
from Hugo's The Man who Laughs, the title character in Pushkin's
Onegin,
Mr. Darcy from Pride and Prejudice, the main character in the epic poem
"Don Juan" by Lord Byron, Chateaubriand's René, Tolstoy's
Andrei Bolkonsky from War and Peace, Cooper's "Hawkeye" (Natty
Bumppo) from The Leatherstocking Tales, and Raymond
Chandler's Phillip Marlowe from his seven novels about the
Los Angeles detective. [end of Wiki info]
To
me, a romantic hero is someone who is romantic around the woman he loves. He
gives her his all. But, what do I know? Maybe I’m the only writer at RWASD
& RWA who didn’t know this wicked Wiki interpretation. Chime in, please.
If
you look up romantic in the Webster’s College dictionary you may compare quite different definitions:
1.
of or pertaining to romance.
2.
impractrical or unrealistic; fanciful.
3.
imbued with idealism, a desire for adventure, etc.
4.
preoccupied with love or by the idealizing of love.
5.
expressing love or strong affection.
6.
ardent, passionate, fervent.
7.
…a style of literature that subordinates form to content, encourages freedom of
treatment, emphasizes imagination, emotion, and introspection, and often celebrates
nature, the ordinary person, and freedom of the spirit (contrasted with
Classical).
8.
of free expression of imagination and emotion, virtuosic display…
9.
imaginary, fictitious, or fabulous.
10.
noting the role of a suitor in a play [or book/RWR] about love; the romantic
lead.
11.
a romantic person.
12.
an adherent of romanticism.
Why
the dictotomy?
There
is a strain of thought on romance novels, and we’ve talked to this before, that
literary fiction is the only or much superior fiction of merit. I’ll follow the
dictionary, which in twelve tries doesn’t come close to the Wiki interpretation.
It
is useful to look at your hero and heroine through the prism of the definitions
above so that their motivations are grounded in common understanding or why we
fall in love and what it means to be in love.
P.s.
I’d like to take a Wiki leak and rewrite the entry, if only I had the will,
time and inclination.
