HEROIN/HEROINE

Heroin is a highly addictive opium derivative; the main character in a narrative is a heroine. Because "hero" and "heroine" are considered old-fashioned labels denoting a certain kind of romantic figure, modern literary criticism prefers the gender-neutral "protagonist," meaning "the figure at the center of the action of a narrative." If you are writing about a romantic opera, however, you may still comfortably refer to the "heroine."

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