Romantic Elements of the Hobbit

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The Hobbit - Romantic Elements Romance is often misinterpreted as a genre that limits itself to emotional and physical relationships between two people. Whether it is Greek Mythology or present day love, romance always involve a female character. In "The Hobbit", however, the author J.R.R Tolkien prevents himself from following the typical romance depicted in the phases of heroic journey. Instead, he focuses on materialistic love to reveal the hero's character. Tolkien depicts the hero, Bilbo Baggins, going through a emotional breakdown as he departs from his home. At the same time, the author reveals the more wild and daring side in Bilbo, by showing Bilbo's occasional temptations to go on adventures. Lastly, Tolkien uses the themes of friendship and sacrifice to prove that a story does not require female characters to portray love."The Hobbit" indirectly embodies the phase of romantic elements by taking a young hero's interests and personality and making it a symbol of a romantic relationship. One of the biggest qualities of a relationship is possessiveness. When a hero is away from his heroine, he will automatically start to feel the urge to go and find her. In "The Hobbit", Bilbo finds the urge to go back home as soon as starts his adventure. It is almost as if his Hobbit hole is his lover and he is yearning to go back and see "her" again. An example of this is when Bilbo states "… I wish I was at home in my nice hole by the fire, with the kettle just beginning to sing" ( pg 31)! This quote shows that Bilbo finds comfort in going back home just like a hero wanting to go back and see his lover. It also explains the positivity that relationships bring. When Bilbo listed some of the pleasures that he could find at home, it shows that he lives in a positive environment and everything about his home only brings happiness to him which is similar to a hero who
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