The Romantic Present

In the Middle Ages in Europe, wandering storytellers retold adventurous tales of knights and other noble heroes. Such tales were known as romances. Many of the legends of King Arthur, a main source of chivalry in the literary world, were gathered in the fifteenth century by an imprisoned knight named Sir Thomas Malory. Accordingly, many cultures have some type of romantic literature which offers a parallel to the Arthurian legend: a character who hides their past, overcomes tough opposition, and possesses unique abilities is familiar even if cultural motivations are different. For example, Benjamin Franklin Gates, from Jon Turteltaub's film, National Treasure, embodies several significant characteristics of the medieval romantic hero.

Benjamin Gates hides his past actively. As Roger Ebert puts it, “his family of historians has been scorned for generations because of its belief” (Ebert 1) in the treasure of the Knights Templar. Benjamin Gates's father, Patrick Henry Gates, is one of few in the family who does not share this belief, and he makes that quite clear. It is Benjamin's grandfather who tells him the story of the treasure as a boy. Benjamin Gates uses the pseudonym Paul Brown when dealing with the scientific community; upon hearing his real name, the National Archivist, Abigale Chase says in astonished revelation, “Wait a minute. Did you just say 'Gates?'” (Turteltaub). This name is definitely a valuable asset for Gates as seemingly everyone seems to revere them as foolish “Treasure Hunters,” (Turteltaub). However useful, the name is not a full identity so when he slips up, the FBI is all over him.

Along with his family reputation, Gates faces a number of tough physical oppositions. Among the more prominent is “the map to the treasure [which is] written on the back of The Declaration of Independence,” (Meek 1). This adds a feel of mystery that is classic of romantic heroes. Gates must defend what is right and protect the declaration by stealing it. Ian Howe “wants to steal the Declaration as well,” (Muller 1). This adds greatly to the challenge. Having to steal such a well protected document is bad enough without competition.

For managing such a mess, Benjamin Franklin Gates possesses a number of unique abilities. One of the most obvious is his ability to “intuitively sense the occult meanings of ancient riddles and puzzles,” (Arnold 1). This ability is so extreme that it almost subtracts from the verisimilitude of the film. Each time the need to know the meaning of something arises, it rarely remains an issue more than a few minutes. Gates also has a keen understanding of ideas “which, if he did not understand, would bring the entire enterprise to a halt,”