“Heart of Gold” is an idiom meaning a person has a kind, generous and thoughtful personality, rooted in the symbolism of gold and the heart. It appears in literature, music, and popular culture. Its first recorded use was in a 1553 play, “Ralph Roister Doister.”
“Heart of Gold” is an idiomatic English expression indicating that a person has a kind, generous and thoughtful personality. Its meaning is rooted in the traditional symbolism relating to the properties of gold. It is sometimes used to indicate a contrast between a person’s appearance and demeanor by suggesting that the individual has a good heart under an aspect that suggests otherwise.
The first recorded use of the phrase occurs in a 1553 play, “Ralph Roister Doister.” This farce, considered the first play written in English, concerns the unsuccessful efforts of Ralph, a buffoon, to woo the beautiful Christian Custance. Among the other endearments Ralph bestows on her is “my heart of gold.” In its first use, the term clearly describes a woman who is praised for her excellent personality, as well as describing Ralph’s love for her.
In medieval symbolism, gold represented the pinnacle of luxury. Due to its rarity and value, it was considered the noblest of all metals and was thought to represent positive qualities of the human spirit such as generosity, justice and courage. The symbolic value of gold can be seen in other expressions such as “golden age”, which refers to a lost age of greatness, or “golden boy”, which means a promising young man.
Like gold, the heart has played an important role in symbolism throughout history. Medieval thinkers believed that the heart was the seat of emotion and passion. This symbolism permeates modern language in phrases like “matters of the heart” or “have a good heart.”
By combining these two powerful symbols, the phrase “heart of gold” suggests a person with a kind, generous, and noble personality. The contrast with the outward appearance appears especially in sentences describing fictional characters. A particular type of protagonist is commonly known as the “golden hearted scoundrel” while the “golden hearted prostitute” is a common literary trope.
The phrase has permeated literature, the arts, and popular culture. It appears as the title of several albums and songs, notably a 1972 hit by Neil Young, which became the title of a documentary about him. It was also chosen as the name for a fictional spaceship in Douglas Adams’ The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy. Only in 2000 two novels with this title were released. A film festival in Queensland, Australia is known as the Heart of Gold International Short Film Festival.
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