Sarrasine

Sarrasine is a young sculptor who was killed during his attempt to murder La Zambinella several decades prior to the events of the frame narrative. He is the protagonist of the main plotline, and events are told with a focus on his perspective. The centrality of this character is evident in the name of the novella, as well as in the fact that he is the only character whose background and upbringing the text details. His infatuation with La Zambinella and misapprehension that the singer is female drive the plot and are the major source of tension and conflict. 

Sarrasine is an archetypal Romantic hero: a young man of uncommon genius with an intense temperament who succumbs to a tragic fate of his own making when he devotes himself to a misplaced romantic obsession. His main character traits are a violent temper, an obsessive love of art and beauty, and an excessively passionate nature that lends itself to cruelty. These traits are implied to be innate, informing his behavior and relationships since his earliest childhood and prompting his teacher, Bouchardon, to keep him secluded through his adolescence. Upon his first exposure to sensuality, inspiration, and infatuation at the Italian opera, Sarrasine succumbs to his passions, embodying the theme of