Romantic hero

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The Romantic hero is a literary archetype referring to a character that rejects established norms and conventions, has been rejected by society, and has the self as the center of his or her own existence[1]. The Romantic hero is often the main 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"[1]. Other characteristics of the romantic hero include: introspection, the triumph of the individual over the "restraints of theological and social conventions"[1], Wanderlust, melancholy, misanthropy, alienation, and isolation[2]. Though another trait is regret for his actions, and self-criticism, often leading to philanthropy, which stops the character from ending tragically. An example of this trait is Edmond Dantes in The Count of Monte Cristo. The Romantic hero first began appearing in literature during the Romantic period, in works by such authors as Byron, Percy Shelley, and Goethe, and is seen in part as a response to the French Revolution. As Napoleon, the "living model of a hero"[3], 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 Telemakhos from the Odyssey, Byron's Don Juan and Chateaubriand's René (novella)[4], and Cooper's famous literary character "Hawkeye" (Natty Bumpo) of the Leatherstocking Tales.

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  1. ^ a b c Wilson, J.D. (1972). Tirso, Molière, and Byron: The emergence of Don Juan as romantic hero. The South Central Bulletin, 32(4), 246-248.
  2. ^ Knapp, B.L. (1986). Review: The Romantic hero and his heirs in French literature. The French Review, 59(5), 787-788.
  3. ^ Furst, L.R. (1976). The romantic hero, or is he an anti-hero? Studies in the Literary Imagination, 9(1), 53-67.
  4. ^ Reed, W.L. (1974). Meditations on the hero: A study of the romantic hero in nineteenth-century fiction. New Haven: Yale University Press.