Background Information:

“The Devil & Tom Walker”

The Romantic Hero & Archetypal Characters

5 “I’s” of Romanticism• Imagination

• Intuition

• Innocence

• Inner Experience

• Inspiration

Characteristics of a Romantic Hero• Big ego

• Experience life fully

• Non conformists

• Extraordinary Achievements

• Die young

Characteristics of the Romantic Hero• A romantic hero must possess an understanding of his inner-

self or inner-world.  • He must also understand the value of his experiences through

emotions, intuition, and feelings rather than logically reasoning. 

• The audience must also be able to emotionally connect with the romantic hero on some level of emotion so that no matter the experience of the hero, the audience will relate to his experiences.

• sophisticated, mysterious, and a bit dangerous. • a moody rebel, who can be very arrogant.• attractive to women who are drawn to his

complicated personality, hidden conflicts, and secret past.

• drawn to nature and filled with intuition.• reject the standard guidelines of society and adhere to their own code of morality and justice. (think Batman, not Superman).

Author’s of Romantic Heroes• Nathaniel Hawthorne

– 1804-1864– Explores hidden

motivations in his characters

– The Scarlet Letter (1850)

• Herman Melville– 1819-1891– International

recognition for Moby Dick (1851)

– Moral strength verse Evil

Real Life Romantic Heroes• Napoleon

– 1769-1821– First Romantic

Hero from Europe and First Dictator from Europe

– Ended French Revolution

• Frederick Douglas– 1817-1895– Leading anti-

slavery spokesperson

– Escaped from slavery to become an advocate

– “It was slavery I hated . . . Feeding and clothing me could not atone for taking my Liberty away”

• Sojourner Truth– 1797-1883– Born as Isabella

Baumfree– Feminist and

abolitionist

Romantic Heroes in Literature

• Heathcliff in Wuthering Heights,

• Mr. Rochester in Jane Eyre,

• Rhett Butler in Gone With the Wind.

NOTE:

• We are NOT talking about Romantic as in Romantic Love

• We are talking about Romantic as is from Roman Times

Watch for traits of the Romantic Hero in the character of Tom!

Archetype

• An archetype is an original or fundamental imaginative pattern that is repeated through the ages.

An archetype can be a plot, an event, a character, a setting, or an object.

Archetype• “The Devil and Tom Walker” is an American version of the

archetypal story of Faust, the sixteenth-century German philosopher who sells his soul to the devil for knowledge and power.

• The story of a person who sells his or her soul to the devil for worldly gain is an archetypal plot.

• The most famous and influential version of the tale is Faust, a play by Johann Wolfgang von Goethe (1749-1832).

• Each retelling of the Faustian legend puts a different spin on the story, and the ending may change: – The Faust character, for example, may face eternal flames, find

forgiveness and love, or somehow cleverly beat the devil.

Can you think of several movies that have the same plot?

Literary Focus: Mood

• Mood– the overall feeling or atmosphere of a story, play, or poem– may be the most difficult literary element to define.

• After all, mood is intangible; you can’t point to mood in a text

• It’s all about feeling

• In order to identify a story’s mood, start with the setting.

• Pay close attention to the details of time and place, and ask yourself how the setting makes you feel.

• Look carefully at the writer’s word choice.– For example: is a tree rotting or budding?

• Then, consider the plot– Does it end happily, or does is present a bitter or tragic outlook on life?

• The mood of most stories can be identified with one or two adjectives:– Gloomy, romantic, threatening, and so on

• Remember that even though you may sense several moods in some stories, one dominate feeling will usually prevail.– humor in the midst of horror, for example