Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Notre Dame, 2007. / Thesis directed by Gregory P. Kucich for the Department of English. "July 2007." Includes bibliographical references (leaves 253-268).

Literary criticism has attacked more than once the romantic historical novel condemning it because it was presenting both at a time historical events and historical fiction, what was, according to some critics, encroaching upon the verisimilitude of the historical facts introduced in this kind of novel as well as diminishing the quality of the fictional story while hindering the process of creativity of the writers. Of course, the historical Spanish novel has also suffered from these pessimistic judgements, but it has been accused too of being in no way original for it was taken mainly as an imitation of Scott's works. We do not share this opinion, however, and think on the contrary that Spain has produced great historical fictions which are original from the standpoint of their plots and their characters. / In the first part of this thesis we will show how the Spanish hero of the historical, romantic novel is far from the model of hero typically depicted by Scott. The main objective of this study will be to define the entity or the masculine Spanish protagonist of the genre in question. For this purpose, we will compare three protagonists, Usdrobal, Macias and Jimeno, from three chosen Spanish novels, between each other and with other secondary characters, especially with their antagonists. The physical and moral aspects will be particularly underlined as we examine, for example, Lavater's science and, at the same, time, the actions, reactions and attitudes of these protagonists. As a result, we will be able to establish their profile and personality. Parallels will also be made, whenever useful, with other significant Spanish and European characters. In this analysis it will be made clear that these romantic beings who suffer terribly throughout their lives are vulnerable and original in opposition to both the traditional and the Scottian heroes.

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