The Hero Of Robin Hood As A Hero

Robyn Hode

Old English folklore dates back to the beginning of American literature. A protagonist among many, Robin Hood (Robyn Hode in Old English manuscript) is introduced into many books and playwrights. Some may argue that Robin Hood's strategies for balancing society were unethical, but this theory could be strongly argued against, and furthermore disproven. Robin Hood could be considered a hero because of his excessive generosity, his ability to see every person as an equal individual, and his overall success to better society. To accurately view Robin Hoods motives, one must look past the rules and laws set aside for the lower class made by “higher officials”, and understand that, even more so in a less developed time period, that right and wrong does not depend on what the rich and powerful say is right and wrong. Robin Hood looked past all of this, identified the true, moral decisions that needed to be made, and took charge. By doing so, and taking a small portion of the rich's wealth and distributing it among the poor, is considered (arguably) one of the most notable heroes of the folklore literary era.

In all of the tales written of the infamous Robin Hood, the characteristics illuminated most is his excessive generosity. “Despite being declared an outlaw, Robin Hood is a good and generous person at heart, and is beloved by the townspeople for his deeds.” (Jurns) While thieving and causing

(occasional) mishap, Robyn Hode kept one motive in mind, and that was to take from the undeserving,

(fat and rich), and give to the needy, (the poor). This obviously biased by assuming that all the rich are greedy and all the poor are hopeless and deserving. In fact, in most cases people work hard fo...

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...orth a sort of balance in society, one in which that needed to be presented. Because all the unfortunate people were too afraid to demand this equality in society, Robin Hood's bravery to go in and fight for what he stood for was admired among the people.

This is how he was presented the hero title, and why ballads and playwrights are told about him to this day.

Robin Hood's strategy to better the society became a success. By stealing from the rich, to give to the poor, he not only set an example for people to follow his role as a hero, but it also created a balance within the social classes. But today, taxes are distributed among the the country that are arguably fair. In Robin's time, the wealthy placed harsh and unfair taxes among the people, many of them who could not afford to pay them. Failure to pay these taxes resulted in imprisonment, or even worse, death.