The Romantic hero is a type of character in literature who does not follow common rules or traditions. This character is often pushed away by society and focuses heavily on their own feelings and experiences. In stories, the Romantic hero is usually the main character, and the narrative pays more attention to their inner thoughts than to their actions.

Characteristics

Literary critic Northrop Frye observed that the Romantic hero is often "placed outside the structure of civilization and therefore represents the force of physical nature, without moral rules or kindness, yet with a sense of power and leadership that society has lost by rejecting." Other traits of the Romantic hero include thinking deeply about themselves, overcoming the limits set by religious and social rules, a strong desire to travel, sadness, dislike of people, feeling separated from others, and living alone. Another common trait is feeling sorry for their actions and criticizing themselves, which often leads them to help others, preventing their story from ending in tragedy.

Usually separated from their more practical, realistic family and living a simple, lonely life in the countryside, the Romantic hero may still have a long-suffering love interest. This person is often harmed by the hero's rebellious behavior, and their lives are connected for many years, sometimes from childhood until death. (Examples include Tatyana Larina, Elizabeth Bennet, Eugenie Grandet, and others.)

Romantic heroes and similar characters were often used in Gothic fiction in Britain and other countries.

History

The Romantic hero first started to appear in literature during the Romantic period, in works by authors such as Byron, Keats, Goethe, and Pushkin. This character type partly arose as a reaction to the French Revolution. When Napoleon, who was seen as a real-life example of a hero, failed to meet people's expectations, the traditional idea of a hero as someone who supports social order began to be questioned.

Examples

Classic examples of the Romantic hero in literature include:

• Captain Ahab from Herman Melville's book, Moby-Dick
• The main character in Samuel Taylor Coleridge's poem, The Rime of the Ancient Mariner
• Andrei Bolkonsky from Leo Tolstoy's book, War and Peace
• Ponyboy Curtis from S.E. Hinton's book, The Outsiders
• Edmond Dantès from Alexandre Dumas (père)'s adventure story, The Count of Monte Cristo
• Mr. Darcy from Jane Austen's book, Pride and Prejudice
• Victor Frankenstein from Mary Shelley's book, Frankenstein
• The main characters in Lord Byron's story poems, Don Juan and Childe Harold's Pilgrimage
• Gwynplaine from Victor Hugo's book, The Man Who Laughs
• "Hawkeye" (also known as Natty Bumppo) from James Fenimore Cooper's series of historical books, The Leatherstocking Tales
• Philip Marlowe from Raymond Chandler's seven books about a detective in Los Angeles
• The main character in Pushkin's story in verse, Eugene Onegin
• Hester Prynne from Nathaniel Hawthorne's book, The Scarlet Letter
• The main character in François-René Chateaubriand's story, René
• Werther from Goethe's letter-style story, The Sorrows of Young Werther
• Faust from Goethe's story, Faust