Background Information:

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Background InformationThe Devil Tom
WalkerThe Romantic Hero Archetypal Characters
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5 Is of Romanticism

• Imagination
• Intuition
• Innocence
• Inner Experience
• Inspiration

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Characteristics of a Romantic Hero

• Big ego
• Experience life fully
• Non conformists
• Extraordinary Achievements
• Die young

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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.

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• 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).

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Authors 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

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Real Life Romantic Heroes

• Napoleon
• 1769-1821
• First Romantic Hero from Europe and First
  Dictator from Europe
• Ended French Revolution

• Sojourner Truth
• 1797-1883
• Born as Isabella Baumfree
• Feminist and abolitionist

• 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

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Romantic Heroes in Literature

• Rhett Butler in Gone With the Wind.

• Heathcliff in Wuthering Heights,

• Mr. Rochester in Jane Eyre,

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NOTE

• We are NOT talking about Romantic as in Romantic
  Love
• We are talking about Romantic as is from Roman
  Times

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

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Can you think of several movies that have the
same plot?
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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 cant point to
  mood in a text
• Its all about feeling

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• In order to identify a storys 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 writers 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?

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• 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