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 innerself 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 antislavery
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
• Rhett Butler
in Gone With
the Wind.
• Heathcliff in
Wuthering
Heights,
• Mr.
Rochester in
Jane Eyre,
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 (17491832).
• 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