The figure of the noble savage has been a stock literary character since the 17^th century, symbolizing an ideal outsider uncorrupted by civilization and thus an embodiment of the essential goodness of humanity.  The notion was central to the Romantic idea of the fall of the natural man and is often (and erroneously attributed) to Jean-Jacques Rousseau. The figure of Tarzan, first introduced in Tarzan of the Apes, is probably the best known and most enduring example of the last 100 years.  He is John Clayton, Viscount Greystroke, the son of a British lord and lady who died while marooned on the coast of West Africa. The boy is adopted and raised by a tribe of Great Apes called the Mangani and reverts to a feral state of nature.  Twenty years later he meets and falls in love with a young American woman, Jane Porter, who is identically marooned. The relationship awakens his human characteristics and begins his path back to civilization, which he experiences with mixed feelings. Contrary to the primitive character depicted in the twelve Johnny Weismuller films of the 1930's and 1940's, the original Tarzan combines the best of both worlds: he is athletic, attractive, emotionally intelligent, ethical,  generous and gracious.  The story was immensely popular when it first appeared in All-Story Magazine in 1912 and spawned 25 sequels by Burroughs as well as numerous adaptations, most recently the 2016 film The Legend of Tarzan.