Heroic romance is a class of imaginative literature that flourished in the 17th century, principally in France.
Characteristics
Today, heroic romances are more often grouped into the larger romance genre than discussed individually. As a part of this larger category, heroic romances are distinguished by their vernacular language, their celebration of chivalric adventure, and their taste for the exotic, remote, and miraculous. They generally end happily, and are separated from epics by their sophistication of narrative.
The fledglings of the genre were published in the 1620s. These earlier works highlight the chivalrous actions of their heroes through hinting that they were well-known public characters of the day in romantic disguises. Yet, the earliest novel that can be attributed to the genre is the celebrated Polexandre (1629) by Marin le Roy, sieur de Gomberville(1600–1674). In this work the romantic character typical of this class of books is celebrated for his birth, his beauty, and his exploits rather than hidden by a disguise. The story deals with the adventures of a hero who visits all the sea-coasts of the world, the most remote as well as the most fabulous, in search of an ineffable princess, Alcidiane. This work enjoyed an immense success, and historical romances of a similar class competed for the favor of the public.
Major French works
- Ariane (1632) by Desmarets de Saint-Sorlin
- Cassandre (1642–1645), Cleopátre (1647), and Faramond (1661) by Gauthier de Costes, seigneur de la Calprenède
- Ibrahim, ou l'Illustre Bassa (1641), Le Grand Cyrus (1648–1653), and Clélie (1649–1654) by Georges de Scudéry and Madeleine de Scudéry