Charterhouse of Parma Hero Fabrizio Del Dongo Essay

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Charterhouse of Parma Hero, Fabrizio Del Dongo

It is exceedingly difficult to label Fabrizio de Dongo, the protagonist of Stendhal's The Charterhouse of Parma, a hero in the conventional sense. Heroes conventionally are imbued with heroic qualities including great courage, physical prowess, a discerning intellect, and other superlatives that make them better than most men (who are not heroes). There are many characteristics of Fabrizio that make him more of an anti-hero -- he is excessively idyllic and is plague by misfortune (which the author satirizes in a comical way). However, there is a similarity with conventional heroes that Fabrizio unequivocally shares: he is a starkly shining idealist and, whether or not he can actually fulfill them, he is motivated by some of the purest and most heroic motives.

One of the aspects of Stendhal's novel which helps to prove the veracity of the previous thesis is the fact that Fabrizio is born an aristocrat into a wealthy family. In conventional Aristotelian tragedies, for example, it is necessary for the tragic hero to come from noble beginnings and an impressive lineage. Fabrizio meets this requirement.

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However, even in the opulence of his familial upbringing, his idealist nature is revealed, which the following quotation demonstrates. "Life in this castle, inhabited by thirty or forty servants, was gloomy indeed; hence Fabrizio spent all his days hunting or rowing on the lake. Soon he was closely attached to the coachmen and the grooms" (Stendhal). This passage shows Stendhal's unhappiness with the trappings of material wealth. Moreover, he is more closely attuned to the servants who support such aristocracy with their backbreaking labor. Stendhal's novel is nothing if not politically charged, and satirizes the folly of aristocracy and the wealthy class. By aligning his protagonist with the liberal poor, the author renders him an ideological idealist, or, a hero.

Another facet of Fabrizio's character that makes him a hero is that he is willing to act on his idealistic impulses of justice and equality for the poor. Granted, he is not so proficient as a hero that he can actually achieve the ends of his actions, a fact which Stendhal refers to many times from the former's botched kidnapping attempt….....

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