The myth of the noble savage

A noble savage is a literary stock character who embodies the concept of the indigene, outsider, wild human, an "other" who has not been "corrupted" by civilization, and therefore symbolizes humanity's innate goodness. Besides appearing in many works of fiction and philosophy, the stereotype was also heavily employed in early anthropological works.

In English, the phrase first appeared in the 17th century in John Dryden's heroic play The Conquest of Granada (1672), wherein it was used in reference to newly created man. "Savage" at that time could mean "wild beast" as well as "wild man". The phrase later became identified with the idealized picture of "nature's gentleman", which was an aspect of 18th-century sentimentalism. 
The noble savage achieved prominence as an oxymoronic rhetorical device after 1851, when used sarcastically as the title for a satirical essay by English novelist Charles Dickens, who some believe may have wished to disassociate himself from what he viewed as the "feminine" sentimentality of 18th and early 19th-century romantic primitivism. 

Tacitus' De origine et situ Germanorum (Germania), written c. 98 AD, has been described as a predecessor of the modern noble savage concept, which started in the 17th and 18th centuries in western European travel literature.

A detail from Benjamin West's heroic, neoclassical history painting, The Death of General Wolfe (1771), depicting an idealized Native American.

In the picture, Oroonoko kills Imoinda in a 1776 performance of Thomas Southerne's, Oroonoko.

Another example of the noble Savage's myth can be the character of "Oroonoko". Oroonoko, or The Royal Slave is a short work of prose fiction by Aphra Behn, published in 1688 by William Canning. The story is about an african prince from Coramentien who is tricked into slavery and sold to British colonists in Surinam where he meets the narrator. Behn's text is a first-person account of his life, love, rebellion and execution. 
In 1696, Thomas Southerne adapted the novel and received many sucess with his theatrical adaptation. 

Pre-history of the noble savage

As I said it before, in English, the phrase Noble Savage first appeared in poet John Dryden's heroic play,

Savages appearing as Supporters on the Royal coat of arms of Denmark. Similar supporters were used in the former arms of Prussia.

The Conquest of Granada (1672): 
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The Conquest of Granada is a Restoration era stage play, a two-part tragedy written by John Dryden that was first acted in 1670 and 1671 and published in 1672. It is notable both as a defining example of the "heroic drama" pioneered by Dryden, and as the subject of later satire.

In France the stock figure that in English is called the "noble savage" has always been simply "le bon sauvage", "the good wild man", a term without any of the paradoxical frisson of the English one. 
Ter Ellingson believes that Dryden had picked up the expression "noble savage" from a 1609 travelogue about Canada by the French explorer Marc Lescarbot, in which there was a chapter with the ironic heading: "The Savages are Truly Noble", meaning simply that they enjoyed the right to hunt game, a privilege in France granted only to hereditary aristocrats. It is not known if Lescarbot was aware of Montaigne's stigmatization of the aristocratic pastime of hunting, though some authors believe he was familiar with Montaigne. Lescarbot's familiarity with Montaigne, is discussed by Ter Ellingson in The Myth of the Noble Savage.

Charles Dickens 1853 article on "The Noble Savage" in Household Words

In 1853 Charles Dickens wrote a scathingly sarcastic review in his weekly magazine Household Words of painter George Catlin's show of American Indians when it visited England. In his essay, entitled "The Noble Savage", Dickens expressed repugnance for Indians and their way of life in no uncertain terms, recommending that they ought to be “civilised off the face of the earth”. Dickens's scorn for those unnamed individuals, who, like Catlin, he alleged, misguidedly exalted the so-called "noble savage", was limitless. In reality, Dickens maintained, Indians were dirty, cruel, and constantly fighting among themselves. Dickens's satire on Catlin and others like him who might find something to admire in the American Indians or African bushmen is a notable turning point in the history of the use of the phrase.

In fantasy and science fiction

The "noble savage" often maps to uncorrupted races in science fiction and fantasy genres, often deliberately as a contrast to "fallen" more advanced cultures, in films such as Avatar and literature including Ghân-buri-Ghân in The Lord of the Rings. Two very famous noble savage characters in fantasy and science fiction that are very well known are Tarzan created by Edgar Rice Burroughs and Conan The Barbarian created by Robert E. Howard. Ka-Zar, Thongor and such are lesser known. Tarzan and Conan are not only known through their literature, but by movie adaptations and other licensed material.

• Other movies containing the "noble savage":
  • Spirit: Stallion of the Cimarron (2002)
  • The Gods must be crazy (1980)
  • Rabbit-Proof Fence (2002)
  • The Mosquito Coast (1986)
  • Dances With Wolves (1990)
  • Pocahontas (1995)
  • The Indian in the Cupboard (1995)
  • Little House on the Prairie (TV series) (1974-1982)