The Wordstapas are reading Sir Gawain and the Green Knight. The discussion on Friday evening began with the comment that Sir Gawain’s perfectly virtuous character was annoying and unrelatable. This raised the question, “Do characters have to be relatable in order to be interesting?” Although flawed and relatable heroes are prevalent in modern storytelling, stories and legends are full of heroes who are completely unrelatable and yet have captured generations past and present.
Stories present a whole tradition of heroes who are not relatable at all: Achilles, Odysseus, Beowulf, Cuchulainn, Lancelot. These characters have remained the focus of storytelling for centuries. They are larger than life in all respects: they are taller and stronger; their anger is more heated, their grief greater, their joy purer, and their love more passionate. Their adventures are more dangerous, and they walk freely among both gods and men. Mortal readers understand nothing of these experiences, and yet these characters have resurfaced in almost every generation. Their stories have been re-read, re-translated, re-collected, and re-told every century. These stories entertain us, not because their heroes are relatable, but because they are courageous and strong, because their adventures are exciting, because they tread lands we never hope to see in waking life. Indeed, we enjoy them because they are unrelatable.
The heroes of these old tales are unrelatable in all respects but one: they are often flawed (and because they themselves are larger than life, their flaws also are magnified). It follows that heroes who have few or no flaws are harder for modern readers to enjoy. One often hears the comment, “Such-and-such a character is too perfect.” This is often said in a tone of disdain, as though this character is not worthy of the reader’s respect (despite being the epitome of virtue). However, there are many perfect heroes who have commanded the respect of readers and continue to do so: King Arthur, Sir Gawain, Sir Galahad, Oisin, and more recently, Aragorn. These characters are more courageous, wise, virtuous, and chivalrous than their readers. Their love is greatly desired, their companionship is sought, and their council coveted. They are held in high esteem both by their fellow characters and their readers. Even though these characters are more virtuous than their fellow heroes, they do not lack challenges. They are tempted and enchanted, they have doubts, and they have to face fear and danger. Sir Gawain may be faultless, but he still must use every ounce of courage to search out the Green Knight and face his own death. A perfect character is boring when he is shallow—when his virtue is too easily won and kept. If he has to struggle to maintain his perfection, then he becomes a firmly-planted cornerstone of virtue, admired and emulated by readers over generations.
In the 21st century, we enjoy characters that force us to consider the lines between good and evil. Outlaws, bounty-hunters, and other anti-heroes that overcome the evil present in the good with the good present in the evil run rampant through modern literature and film. Yet the enduring appeal, re-publication, re-translation, and re-adaption of old tales proves that unrelatable characters are not boring. On the contrary, they continue to engage readers in the present, just as they did in the past with their courage, heroism, and virtue.
Remembered Lore