Principal figure in novel wanting woman’s love (4)
I believe the answer is:
hero
'principal' is the definition.
(I've seen this before)
'wanting woman's love' is the wordplay.
'wanting' says to put letters next to each other.
'woman' becomes 'her' (her refers to a woman).
'love' becomes 'o' (love means zero in tennis).
'her'+'o' is 'HERO'.
'figure in novel' is the link.
I am not very happy about this link. Some or all of it may be part of another bit of the clue.
Can you help me to learn more?
(Other definitions for hero that I've seen before include "Person lauded for bravery" , "Priestess at Sestos" , "paragon" , "Chief good guy in a story" , "Man admired for courage and achievement" .)