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(2015
midterm assignment) Sample Student Midterm Answers 2015 #2b: Short Essay (Favorite Term) |
LITR 4328 |
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Mariah Glidden
The Byronic Hero
Seeing as I just finished watching Twilight I
decided to write about the Byronic hero. I’ve always been fascinated with
Byronic heroes in the books that I have read and movies I have watched; after
all who doesn’t love a sexy, self-destructive, brooding, bad boy? The Byronic
hero was introduced to literature by Lord Byron, the original Byronic hero. This
type of hero is an attractive man with a dark, mysterious past. He tends to be
emotional, rebellious, intelligent, and isolated. This appeals to me because
this character has a lot of depth, he’s hard to understand and you have to
really dig deep into the story to find the basis for his actions and emotions.
The Byronic hero can
be a character you love, hate or love to hate. He is a source of repulsion and
fascination. He can serve as a reverse correspondence of the typical hero, like
Magua and Hawkeye in
The Last of the Mohicans.
Magua is described as “alone” “apart”, and “buried in the deepest thought.” One
may find it challenging to see Magua as a Byronic hero, because he lacks one of
the qualities seen in Byronic heroes, compassion for women. He has the other
attributes such as passion, rebellion, strength, and seeks revenge to right a
wrong done in his past. He may not be the obvious Byronic hero but he has all of
the attributes of one.
The Byronic hero is
often associated with elements of the gothic and sublime. He is dark and
mysterious and often has a haunted soul. He reeks of danger and is often viewed
as “larger than life”. The Byronic hero can often be found wandering through
gothic castles or sublime landscapes. In
The Last of
the Mohicans, Magua selects a “steep,
pyramidal hill” as a resting place giving the scene a magnificent feel.
In learning about the Byronic hero I have
realized that he is not always a hero. He may sometimes be a villain. He is a
person brought in to disrupt the plot and he often fails in his quest. The
Byronic hero also helps the reader better understand the issues faced by
individuals of that time period by providing them with a passionate rebel who
will fight unrelenting for what he believes in.
