Byronic hero

The Byronic hero is an idealised but flawed character exemplified in the life and writings of Lord Byron, characterised by his ex-lover Lady Caroline Lamb as being "mad, bad and dangerous to know". The Byronic hero first appears in Byron's semi-autobiographical epic narrative poem Childe Harold's Pilgrimage (1812-18).

Characteristics

The Byronic hero typically exhibits the following characteristics:

• high level of intelligence and perception
• cunning and able to adapt
• sophisticated and educated
• self-critical and introspective
• mysterious, magnetic and charismatic
• struggling with integrity
• power of seduction and sexual attraction
• social and sexual dominance
• emotional conflicts, bipolar tendencies, or moodiness
• a distaste for social institutions and norms
• being an exile, an outcast, or an outlaw
• "dark" attributes not normally associated with a hero
• disrespect of rank and privilege
• a troubled past
• cynicism
• arrogance
• self-destructive behavior

History

After Childe Harold's Pilgrimage, the Byronic hero made an appearance in many of Byron's other works, including his series of poems on Oriental themes: The Giaour (1813), The Corsair (1814) and Lara (1814); and his closet play Manfred (1817).

Byron's influence was manifested by many authors and artists of the Romantic movement and by writers of Gothic fiction during the 19th century. Lord Byron was the model for the title character of Glenarvon (1816), by Byron's erstwhile lover Lady Caroline Lamb, and for Lord Ruthven in the The Vampyre (1819) by Byron's personal physician Polidori. Heathcliff from Emily Brontë's Wuthering Heights (1847) and Rochester from Charlotte Brontë's Jane Eyre (1847), Erik, the 'Phantom' from Gaston Leroux's Phantom of the Opera, Claude Frollo from Victor Hugo's The Hunchback of Notre Dame are other later nineteenth century examples of Byronic heroes.

Scholars have also drawn parallels between the Byronic Hero and the solipsist heroes of Russian literature. In particular, Alexander Pushkin's famed character, Eugene Onegin echoes many of the attributes seen in "Childe Harold's Pilgrimage," particularly, Onegin's solitary brooding and disrespect for traditional privilege. The first stages of Pushkin's poetic novel "Eugene Onegin" appeared twelve years after Byron's "Childe Harold's Pilgrimage', and Byron was of obvious influence (Vladimir Nabokov argued in his "Commentary to Eugene Onegin" that Pushkin had read Byron during his years in exile just prior to composing "Eugene Onegin"). The same character themes continued to influence Russian literature, particularly after Mikhail Lermontov invigorated the Byronic Hero through the character Pechorin in his 1839 novel A Hero of Our Time.

The Byronic hero is also featured in many different contemporary novels, and it is clear that Lord Byron's work continues to influence modern literature as the precursor of a commonly encountered type of anti-hero. The lead character, Stephen Dedalus of James Joyce's A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man is one of the more notorious recent heroes of this genre. In his 1994 novel, Mr. Vertigo, Paul Auster introduces a character known only as "Master Yehudi" that serves as the protagonist's mentor; his personality shows the characteristics of a Byronic hero. Lestat de Lioncourt from Anne Rice's Vampire Chronicles embodies the spirit of the Byronic hero. In comic, Batman is perhaps the most widely-known example, growing ever darker in depiction since his creation in the late 1930s (except the 1960s version portrayed by Adam West).

The use of this particular literary device is colloquially known among literati as "Byrony."

See also

• The Dark Triad (personality characteristics)
• Hero
• Romantic hero
• Romanticism
• Tragic flaw
• Anti-hero
• List of fictional anti-heroes
• Tragic hero

External links

• Characteristics of the Byronic Hero
• The Byronic Hero