Zorro Research Paper.pdf

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The Legend of Zorro: Myth or Reality?

PROLOGUE & INTRODUCTION The French sociologist, philosopher and cultural theorist, Jean Baudrillard had once said, “What is a society without a heroic dimension?” Societies from ancient China to the Americas always had heroes. Almost all were real people dealing with real events. Others were mythical heroes created by word of mouth and later written down, for the sole purpose of transferring the symbols of society to future generations, as well as the changing ideas and social conditions that occurred. Nowadays, mythical heroes do not exist and real life heroes are very few, however, societies still need their heroes to explain certain things that occur in their lives. Hence, fictional heroes began to appear in the 19th Century and have continued ever since. The first of the fictional heroes can be seen in the Brothers Grimm stories, an example being Beauty saving her father from the Beast. Most of the heroes in literature at the time were ones that readers and characters knew who they were. However this changed when Alexander Dumas wrote The Count of Monte Cristo in 1844i. The dual identity of the Count who takes revenge for being put in gaol, along with stories spanning between 1830-1904ii of “Spring Heeled Jack”, a monstrous “man” with a cape and helmet, who terrorised London seem to be the basis for the formation of a new hero in the start of the 20th Century, that of the “caped crusader.” The first of these heroes appears to be The Scarlet Pimperneliii, written by Baroness Emmuska Orczy in 1904. The story of Sir Percy Blakeney who becomes the Scarlet Pimpernel in order to save French aristocrats from the guillotine during the French Revolution became such a success that in inspired the creation of five more “caped crusaders” in the next fifteen years. The Lone Wolf, aka, Michael Lanyard, the jewel thief turned detective iv; The Grey Seal, aka Jimmy Dale, a playboy by day and a masked thief by nightv. The Gray Mask, a detective, Jim Garth fights crime.vi. The Scarecrow of Romney Marsh, aka

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Dr Syn, a clergyman who wore a mask and costume to fight crime,vii and lastly, Zorro aka Don Diego Vega who appears in The Curse of Capistrano. From the above masked heroes, Zorro is the one who, since his creation has become most well-known. His character so popular amongst younger and older readers that after Douglas Fairbanks played Zorro in the 1920 silent motion picture, The Mark of Zorro McCulley reprinted his original story using the film’s title in 1924. Many authors have been inspired to create and write their own versions of Zorro, such include Isabel Allende’s Zorro, Sandra Curtis’ Zorro Unmasked: The Official History and many others. However famous Zorro has become over the years in all forms of literature, there is a mystery surrounding his creation. It is not known of how McCulley came to think of the character so many questions have appeared. The most important one is whether he was an original fictional character of McCulley’s imagination or was he based on real people and events or even a combination of other fictional characters. In other words, what is being asked is if Zorro is a myth or a reality. McCulley has not stated where he got the idea to create Zorro, whether he existed or based on anyone. Therefore it is difficult to determine if he was a mythical hero after all or simply a realistic and heroic being. What most readers, folklorists and historians can agree on was that Zorro was an original fictional character based on previous “caped crusaders” and bandits of 19th century America who may or may not have helped the people against the wrongs done by the government and the wealthy. It seems most likely that McCulley might have used parts of Robin Hood as well to create Zorro. The dual identity theme from the Count of Monte Cristo seems to have been used in Zorro’s character with the mask and cape added to follow the “masked men” of previous fiction. Johnston McCulley’s original story is about Don Diego Vega. As Zorro -a word which means fox in Spanish- he simply wears a mask and a cape to cover his identity. McCulley refers to him as “The Curse” because he was not very welcome to the upper class and the corrupt government for his firm beliefs of righteousness. . The story takes place between the years of 18231846 in Upper California at the “pueblo” (town) of San Juan Capistrano, when it is under Mexican rule, before it becomes an American State.viii Throughout the story he helps the poor and helpless

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and punishes the politicians. McCulley did not seem to want to write another Zorro story so all characters and readers find out in the end who Zorro was. The story that is considered as McCulley’s basis, inspiration and the origin of Zorro and The Curse of Capistrano is Orczy’s The Scarlet Pimpernel. Don Diego and Sir Percy are not simply hiding their identities and live a dual life as noblemen who do nothing and as heroes who perform brave acts. They both pursue a woman who falls in love with their alter-ego before finding out who they really are. Marguerite keeps thinking of the Scarlet Pimpernel, wishing she could be with him rather than her husband, and Lolita dreams she could be with Zorro rather than marry Diego. Both include the archetype of a secret identity. Zorro has fox-like wits while the Pimpernel is very cunning. They both have a humorous charm. Zorro uses the Z to mark out where he has been and on his enemies and similarly the Pimpernel uses the scarlet pimpernel, a tiny flower coming from England as his signature. Simply from the above claims, this would mean that McCulley had read The Scarlet Pimpernel and was inspired to write his own American version, simply changing the French reality of Pimpernel to suit the American one of Zorro. One might go further and say that it was not just inspiration but he used many themes from Orzcy’s story to create his own, and using the examples above they would have a strong argument. There are only a few differences, namely Orczcy’s character helped the upper class, whereas McCulley’s helped the lower class. Orczy, wrote on real life events and on real people such as Chauvelinix whereas no events or people are real in McCulley. If one does not know of American history they would believe that similar events may have taken place because it is well written since he based the events on a period where California was between becoming a US state, and being part of Spain and Mexico, something that was true. Douglas Fairbanks read The Curse of Capistrano and decided to turn it into a motion picture. The Mark of Zorro was such a success that a reprint of the original story was made into a novel in 1924 with the same title as the film. McCulley had given away the identity of Zorro in his original story because he had no intention of continuing Zorro. Seeing the success of his character on film, he decided that although Zorro was revealed, he could write further adventures of the character. He

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thus wrote another 65 short stories and serial segments between the years 1924 and 1959 for various magazines which were later collected and printed in book versions. In doing so, the idea of Zorro as a legend rather than reality is even greater. After Fairbanks’ success, McCulley’s Zorro stories had many inconsistencies. In the rest of the stories, McCulley decides to change Zorro’s look from the simple hat, cape, and mask to the black coloured outfit look that Fairbanks had created for his film. McCulley also removed the revealing of Zorro’s identity from all the stories that followed after the original. In some stories, only certain people know that Diego is Zorro, it would either be his father, Alejando, Frey Felipe or his servant, Bernardo.x He also changed the name of Diego Vega to Diego De La Vega. McCulley was also inconsistent with when Diego became Zorro and the time period he took on his dual identity. The original story put Zorro in the 1830s whereas later stories put him to become the legendary character as early as 1806. All these would suggest that McCulley kept writing stories of Zorro because it had become a motion picture success and because he realised that the readers wanted more stories on the legend of Zorro. The original novel seems more real than the rest of the Zorro stories, further signifying the myth behind Zorro. These inconsistencies make it impossible to determine a correct history of Zorro as a character and even to determine whether there was in fact such a person alive at any period of time between the years 1781 and 1919. A chronology of Zorro and the De La Vega family was written by Matthew Baugh where it can be seen that McCulley had many inconsistencies.xi If Zorro was in fact based on a real hero then it could be possible that the inconsistencies are purposely done by McCulley, to show that the (De La) Vega family tree continued the tradition of the Zorro legend after the first Zorro. To add to the above point, one has to look at the people that could be seen as resembling the figure of Zorro and who lived around the time McCulley uses in his setting. Joaquin Murrieta is therefore the one mostly considered as McCulley’s inspiration. Joaquin Murrieta lived between the years of 1829 and 1853. McCulley’s original story is set between these years as well. Murrieta has been called the Mexican/Chilean Robin Hoodxii or Robin Hood of El Dorado.xiii He was a Californian bandit and outlaw. According to John Rolin Ridge who

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published his book, The Life and Adventures of Joaquin Murietta, The Celebrated California Bandit, Murrieta did not like killing but he had to take revenge on those who whipped him killed and raped his wife and killed his brother. He then went on a killing rampage and his deeds became so well known that he is considered an equal legend amongst Jesse James and Billy the Kid. He was eventually killed and mutilated by Harry Lovexiv . What is interesting to note here is that Murrieta’s story was changed from plagiarised versions of the original by the Spanish, the Mexicans and the Chileans, hence the various names given to him, yet there is truth that can be traced back to Murrieta living and killing in California.xv This does not happen in Zorro. There is no trace back to any real person that existed before Murrieta or even to Murrieta himself. Zorro might be based on Murrieta’s bandit lifestyle and possibly to his character, but Zorro is not Murrieta. Murrieta killed for revenge while Zorro did not want to harm anyone but rather overthrow a corrupt government and the rich who controlled land and people. Murrieta did not seem to care for the money he stole since his family was involved with the Gold Rush but there is no evidence that he gave money to the poor like Zorro did. Zorro was only a bandit to the wealthy and the government since he stole money and gave them to the poor but not to the people who saw him as a saviour, as a hero who would help to bring them their freedom. Accounts suggest that Murrieta was seen as a bandit to some and a hero to others. Another reason why he could be seen as Zorro or the inspiration for his creation was that Murrieta was also given the name El Coyote in a Spanish version of his story where he fought for justice against the English, Zorro, however, helps against the injustices of the Spanish governmentxvi. Also, Murrieta was an outlaw in California and Zorro was living as Diego in California. In fact he has been used as part of the Zorro legend in the 1998 film The Mask of Zorro. If one considers the stories that Murrieta was Robin Hood of El Dorado, robbing from the rich and giving to the poor, and Zorro resembles the English Robin Hood then he can be seen as an inspiration for Zorro’s creation. Whatever the case, the first super hero and Murrieta are two great examples of American myth creation as part of a range of real and legendary characters including Jesse James and Billy the Kid.

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Isabel Allende wrote the novel Zorro in 2005, where she further shows that Zorro was a fictional character. What is new in her novel is the attempt to write a story that precedes McCulley’s Zorro, then follows the original Zorro stories with a few of her own adaptations and beliefs, to conclude finally with the Zorro post-McCulley’s stories.. She thus places Zorro’s life in a chronology, adding all of the stories together and making a fake biography of Zorro. She also tries to show how McCulley came up with the story of Diego coming from Spain where he was taught everything he knew about fighting, how he was taught by his father Alejandro that being righteous and helping others in need is more important than anything in life. This is done from the use of real events and people, such as the pirate Jean Lafitte. This makes the story more realistic than McCulley. The pirate in her story wears black clothes from top to bottom and Allende suggests he inspired Diego to make his Zorro costume black. By the end, a complete life cycle of Zorro has been revealed, from his prime of life until his old age. She simply adds her version to what she sees Zorro as rather than provide real information to show that there is a reality behind Zorro. An anthology of McCulley’s Zorro and the 90 years of Zorro appearances in books, films, novels, comics, cartoons and theatre that followed, was made by Sandra Curtis. Her book, Zorro Unmasked: The Official History just like Allende, tries to explain how Zorro came to be and gives the readers information of Diego’s dual life. She uses everything that was created on Zorro from McCulley’s pulp hero up to Spielberg’s 1998 film, The Mask of Zorro. There are references to the possibilities of a real-life Zorro having existed first as a bandit, then a hero and comparisons between all the Zorros of the past. If there was a reality behind Zorro then Curtis would have written it. As the wife of one of the owners of the Zorro franchise she had the “inside” information to reveal the “real” identity of Zorro, yet her story is simply a history of all Zorro stories in film/tv and literature rather than a true history. She had access to McCulley’s notes but in her story there is no “unmasking” of Zorro like the title suggests. The reader realises that Zorro did not exist but McCulley created a fictional character from a combination of stories and real bandits, a super hero that has become a legend over the years and has been appealing to the public for over 90 years.

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Another factor showing Zorro as a legend is the movies that have been created since McCulley’s The Curse of Capistrano. Douglas Fairbanks made the 1920 The Mark of Zorro and based this silent film on McCulley’s Zorro, though he added his own “touches” to the character. He made Zorro wear the black outfit and since then was the basis even for McCulley’s future Zorros. Since Douglas Fairbanks brought Zorro to the “big-screen” there have been many versions of Zorro, all fitting into two categories; a). Films where the Zorro character is McCulley’s original 1919 Zorro and the original story is retold or varied to an extent, and b). when the character of Zorro is not the original but a descendant of him or is a character knowing of Zorro, and using his fame and legend becomes Zorro.xvii The most famous of the first category after Fairbanks’ adaptation is The Mark of Zorro with Tyrone Power as Don Diego Vega. The film, also one of the first with sound, is based on McCulley’s original Zorro but with the addition of what caused Diego to become Zorro, hence the scenes where Diego learns to fight and ride in Madrid. The two most recent films of Zorro, Mask of Zorro in 1998 and Legend of Zorro in 2005 are part of the second category. The former is based on the original story but with some character changes and additions of real life people of mid-19th century. These include Joaquin and Alejandro Murrieta and Captain Harrison Love. It is set in 1821 and the audience see how the Murrietas became bandits. Joaquin is killed and beheaded by Captain Love and Alejandro wanting revenge takes up the role of Zorro with the help of Don Diego. What is interesting in this film is the achievement of adapting the legend of Joaquin Murrieta with the legend of Zorro. The fact that here fiction meets reality makes the legend of Zorro even more interesting. The film helps the idea that Joaquin Murrieta was McCulley’s inspiration for Zorro but shows that Zorro is only a legend. The 2005 film is a continuation of the 1998 one and is a further example of Zorro’s legend like the title suggests. It shows how Zorro has become a legend in almost one century. It may suggest that McCulley’s later stories did not mean of the same Zorro but that the legend continued from the (De La) Vega family tree and that he is perceived as the hero of the people, like McCulley wanted to show him.

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Zorro changed over time from a character McCulley created in a pulp magazine and read by adults to a character that is now very famous amongst the younger generations. This dramatic change occurred in the late 1940s and the 1950s with Disney and with the first comic books appearing with Zorro. In 1957-1959, Zorro appeared in Walt Disney’s Comics and Stories. There were 82 episodes that Disney created for TV with Guy Williams as Zorro. Disney added a name to the horse that McCulley did not have which was used later in other films.xviii The latest comics are those by Matt Wagner who adapted Isabelle Allende’s version in his Zorro, in 2008 and by Richard Dean Starr who made the Tales of Zorro, also in 2008. Zorro, whether McCulley perceived him from an actual heroic figure, or a bandit who helped the poor, or from a previous “caped crusader” he was an original, fictional character. The legend of Zorro that McCulley created was just fiction that was to some extent based on previous “caped crusaders” and on Joaquin Murrieta. The stories and films made him a legend and only to this extent can he be seen as real, for his righteous deeds. He certainly shows that Americans in the 19th century felt oppressed from all directions, especially from governments and the wealthy and that there may have been people who tried to help the people achieve freedom and righteousness. This is the outcome of Zorro today. Through the various interpretations in film, television, books, comics and cartoons, Zorro has changed over time; nonetheless, the legacy created by McCulley continues. Zorro’s legend lives on as time progresses through all forms of media and in the eyes of young and old, is the one mythical, heroic character who, one could say, might just be able to bring out the best in all of us.

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Works Cited Allende, Isabel. Zorro. Trans. Margaret Sayers Peden. London: Fourth Estate, 2005/HarperCollins, 2006. Print. Baugh, Matthew. The Legacy of the Fox: A Chronology of Zorro. The Zorro Chronology. 19982004. Web. 28/11/2010. Camp, C.W. The Grey Mask. Psp.Manybooks.net. Web. 07/01/2010 Cotter, Bill. Walt Disney’s Zorro. Walt Disney’s Zorro. 2001-2008. Web. 28/11/2010 Dumas, Alexander. The Count of Monte Cristo. 07 Jan. 2011. 07/01/2011 El Coyote. Man vs Myth. University of Texas at Austin. College of Liberal Arts. Web. 07/01/2011 Johnston McCulley's Zorro Stories. Zorrolegend.com. 2003-2006. Web. 07/01/2011 Orczy, Emmuska (Baroness). The Scarlet Pimpernel. New York, Grosset & Dunlap, 1905, Reprint 2008, Forgotten Books. Print. Orczy, Emmuska (Baroness). The Scarlet Pimpernel. Wikipedia.org. 07 Jan. 2011. Web. 07/01/2011 Mero, William. Joaquin Murrieta...The REAL Zorro. 27 Apr. 2008. Web. 07/01/2011 Manor, Blackeney, Historical Accuracy of The Scarlet Pimpernel. 2007. Web. 07/01/2011. McCulley, Johnston, The Curse of Capistrano (The Mark of Zorro). New York, 1919. Reprint 1924. Manhattan: Tor Books, 1998. Introduction by Jean Mari Stine. Ebook. Original publication in pulp magazine All Story Weekly, Vol. 100 No. 2 - Vol. 101 No. 2, Aug 9 1919 - Sep 6 1919, serial segment (and more of the stories from online sources (Argosy, West Magazine, Short Stories For Men.) Ebook McCulley, Johnston, The Curse of Capistrano. Wikipedia.org. 04 Jan. 2011 Web. 07/01/2011 Packard, F.L. Jimmie Dale. Wikipedia.org. 14 Oct. 2010. Web. 07/01/2011 Spring Heeled Jack. Monstropedia.org. 02 Jun. 2009 Web. 07/01/2011 Starr R.D. Tales of Zorro. Moonstone, 2008. 07 Jan. 2011. Web 07/01/2011 The Mark of Zorro. Dir. Fred Niblo. Perf. Douglas Fairbanks and others. United Artists, 1920. Online The Mark of Zorro. Dir. Rouben Mamoulian. Perf. Tyrone Power, Linda Darnell and others. Twnetieth Century Fox Corporation, 1940. DVD The Mask of Zorro. Dir. Martin Cambell. Perf. Anthony Hopkins. Antonio Banderas, Catherine Zeta Jones, Stuart Wilson and others. Tristar Pictures and Sony Computer Entertainment, 1998. DVD The Mask of Zorro-1998. Zorrolegend.com. 2003-2006. Web. 07/01/2011 The Legend of Zorro. Dir. Martin Cambell. Perf. Antonio Banderas, Catherine Zeta Jones and others. Columbia Pictures Corporation and Sony Computer Entertainment, 2005. DVD

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The Religious Affiliation of Comic Book Character Rev. Dr. Christopher Syn the Scarecrow of Romney Marsh (one of the world's first masked crime-fighters). Adherents.com. 11 Jan 2006. Web. 07/01/2011 Vance, L.J. Lone Wolf. Wikipedia.org. 27 Dec. 2010. Web. 07/01/2011 White, Jennifer. Zorro: The Legend Through The Years. Zorrolegend.com 2003-2006. Web. 07/012011 Zorro. By Walt Disney. Dir. Multiple Directors. Disney Productions, 1957-1961. DVD Zorro: History of the character. Global Oneness Community and Experience Festival. Web. 07/01/2011 TITLE PAGE DRAWN FROM GAME- The Shadow of Zorro. UK: In Utero and Cryo Interactive. Europe: February 8, 2002 i

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Count_of_Monte_Cristo

ii

http://www.monstropedia.org/index.php?title=Spring_Heeled_Jack

iii

http://www.blakeneymanor.com/accuracy.html

iv

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lone_Wolf_%28fictional_detective%29

v

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jimmie_Dale

vi

http://psp.manybooks.net/books/campwother10gray_mask/

vii

http://www.adherents.com/lit/comics/Scarecrow_of_Romney_Marsh.html

viii ix x

Plot Synopsis - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Curse_of_Capistrano

Historical Accuracy - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Scarlet_Pimpernel

http://www.zorrolegend.com/origin/mcculleystories.html

xi

http://www.pjfarmer.com/woldnewton/Zorro.htm

xii

http://forum.treasurenet.com/index.php?topic=154844.0

xiii

http://www.iahgames.com/component/content/article/21-madchow/364-larger-than-life-the-mask-of-zorro.html

xiv

http://forum.treasurenet.com/index.php?topic=154844.0

xv

http://forum.treasurenet.com/index.php?topic=154844.0

xvi

http://www.laits.utexas.edu/jaime/cwp4/JMG/man.html

xvii

The Legend continues- http://www.zorrolegend.com/

xviii

http://www.billcotter.com/zorro/history-of-series.htm