A Fistful of Westerns

Abstract

The main themes and the nature of the charactes’ actions of westerns could be found in both in Medieval literature and in the philosophy of the American settlers. Although there were different kinds of heroes in classical westerns, with different characteristics and motivations, and although there were early deviations from the classical western hero, Sergio Leone made sure that his heroes got transformed in a way that they stood closer to the morally questionable gangster archetype than to the classical hero. His male protagonists became iconic, while his few female characters – though significant for the plot in three of his films – were subjected to subordinate roles and eventually disappeared in the third insallment of the Dollars Trilogy.