LITR 4328 American Renaissance Research Posts 2015 (research post assignment) Research Post 1

Mariah Gladden

The Byronic Hero

          The Byronic hero isn’t your typical courageous, go-getter hero. He’s more of a sit and brood kind of guy, “lacking typical heroic qualities such as idealism, courage, and morality”(Wikipedia). He pops up in “fiction, poetry, or history” (White). The Byronic hero comes from the writings of Lord Byron. Although this type of hero had been seen previously in literature, Lord Byron’s writing of the “Childe Harolde’s Pilgramage” made the antihero into what it is today.

          A Byronic hero is “often deeply psychologically tortured and reluctant to identify themselves as heroic”(Byronic Heroism) He is not the hero that swings in to rescue a damsel in distress; this hero is only looking out for himself. The Byronic hero tends to have certain characteristics such as: depression, arrogance, violence, cunning, ruthlessness, intelligence, highly emotional, emotionally and intellectually tortured, traumatized, self-serving, reckless, manipulative, suicidal, and seductive (Fleming). The Byronic hero is normally paralleled by a nice, typical hero kind of guy.

          Examples of the Byronic hero can be found throughout American Renaissance literature. In Last of the Mohicans, “the dark, wounded, handsome Huron Magua” would be the Byronic hero for the story  (White). He’s attractive and emotional. He has a great wrong-doing that has been done to him and will stop at nothing to right it. There are also poets known for their writing about Byronic heroes such as Edgar Allan Poe and Hawthorne. Their works contain the dark, emotional, bad boy types that represent a Byronic hero so well.

          Having researched the topic of the Byronic hero, I feel as if I now fully understand what the term entails. The Byronic hero isn’t really a hero at all. He’s an extreme version of a rebellious, self-centered teenager. He is emotional and passionate and kind of a jerk. The Byronic hero is a staple of literature both old and new. He’s a character you are either going to love or hate, but he is going to be around for a long time.