In my last entry, I explored the common threads found in G.A. Henty's novels. Today I will give an example of this "formula" as found in The Dragon and the Raven, my favorite Henty novel.
At the beginning of the book, the hero is generally between 12 and 15 years old.
"At the door of the hut stood a lad some fourteen years old." -Chapter 1, paragraph 3, sentence 2
I don't see any need to go into further detail here, do you?
The hero is either orphaned or has left his parents to join the military.
In this tale, Edmund, the hero, is orphaned. His mother died before the story began and his father is killed in Chapter 2 while fighting a Danish army.
The hero is given command of an elite platoon and are responsible for the major victories of their side.
After the death of his father, Edmund becomes an "ealdorman" under King Alfred and leads a band of about ninety men who win several great victories against the Vikings.
The hero has a sidekick, usually a servant.
In The Dragon and the Raven the sidekick is Edmund's kinsman Egbert, a large man who is quite proficient in the use of the battle-axe. They save each others lives several times.
The hero rescues a damsel in distress and/or her father, and later marries her.
Edmund and his band attack a Viking vessel commanded by the Jarl Siegbert. The Jarl is wounded and the Saxons are about to finish him off when the Jarl's daughter, Freda, begs them to spare her father's life. Edmund agrees. Later, Freda is carried of by Sweyn (see next point), Edmund and Siegbert resuce her, Edmund marries her, and both Freda and her father become Christians.
There's usually a rival, either for high rank or the girl, who is quite the villianous scum.
Here the rival is Sweyn ,who has for years tried to get Freda to love him, when along comes this young Saxon who wins Freda's heart. After a duel with Edmund, in which Sweyn loses both the battle and one arm, the haughty man kidnaps Freda and tries to force her to marry him. She refuses and when Edmund and Siegbert stage a resuce, Sweyn tries to kill Edmund, only to be slain by a javelin thrown by Siegbert.
Also, one part of the formula that I forgot to mention in the previous entry was that the hero is captured, sometimes multiple times. In Dragon, Edmund is only captured once, but in others, like With Clive in India, the hero is caputred two or more times, but always manages to escape by truly clever means.
That concludes part 2 of my analysis of the "Henty Formula". Next time I will do a synopsis of The Dragon and the Raven.
Later,
Zack Lawrence, Henty Fan
