Joni Thrasher
Dr. Craig White
LITR: 4232 American Renaissance
7 April 2001

The "Savage Grandeur" of Magua, the Byronic Hero

Traditionally, heroes represented the ideal member of society, reflecting the moral compass of a culture. The "last great heroic tradition in our literature," the Byronic hero, rebels against society, questioning morality (Thorslev 185). The modern hero, or anti-hero, internalizes the struggle for reconciliation. Traditional heroes represent social order, Byronic heroes represent social rebellion, and modern heroes represent social upheaval. The melancholic, brooding, isolated Byronic hero thrives on rebellion, the traditional hero flourishes on optimistic goodness, and the modern hero grasps for purpose. Samuel Taylor Coleridge criticizes the "savage grandeur" of the rebellious Byronic hero (400). Magua, of James Fenimore Cooper's The Last of the Mohicans, presents fierce rebellion and indeed rises to "savage grandeur." The feared and scorned Magua represents an American version of the Byronic hero, seemingly presenting antithetical qualities of a traditional hero, exemplified in the Anglo-Saxon epic hero, Beowulf.

In the Romantic Movement, the hero develops a more complex nature, moving from the simple, nearly one-dimensional character of the traditional hero to a complex character that questions the previously fixed values of the ordered society. In Endless Experiments, Todd M. Lieber suggests that Romanticism represents "a rebellion against the neoclassical emphasis on convention and the rigidity of a 'given' external order, and an assertion of the freedom of the individual to control the forms of his own life" (vii). The traditional hero works within his ordered society, while the dark, brooding romantic hero stands outside of society. According to The Oxford Companion to English Literature, "Byronic" denotes "contemptuous of and rebelling against conventional morality·" (154). This rebellion ushered in increasing pessimism, the disruption of order, a questioning of meaning, and a loss of absolutes. Although a rebel against what society values, he gains the readerâs sympathy, in part, because he has previously been victimized (Thorslev 69). Like his predecessor, he is mighty, larger than life, and passionate; unlike his predecessor, he is temperamental, defiant, and solitary.

Magua's position as fierce warrior and chief reveals that he possibly could have been a traditional hero; however, because the Native Americans were driven off the land and because of his victimization by Montcalm, he is propelled into rebellion, rejecting the order and rules of society that offer nothing to him. In The Byronic Hero, Peter L. Thorslev describes the Byronic hero as being "fiery, passionate, and heroic; he is in the true sense bigger than the life around him" (68). As chief of the Hurons and the one in charge of the captives, Magua seems powerfully larger than life. His formidable presence among his tribe never wavers, despite his wrongdoings: "However much his influence among his people had been impaired by his occasional and besetting weakness, as well as by his desertion of the tribe, his courage, and his

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fame as an orator, were undeniable. He never spoke without auditors, and rarely without making converts to his opinions" (Cooper 249). Besides his leadership abilities, he repeatedly illustrates his fierceness as a warrior and boasts at his ability to withstand torture. When Magua finally gains revenge against the Delawares, by killing Uncas, he "uttered a cry, so fierce, so wild, and yet so joyous, that it conveyed the sounds of savage triumph to the ears of those who fought in the valley, a thousand feet below" (Cooper 337). Maguaâs physical fierceness and power to influence bolsters his position within his tribe, preparing him to assume the position of Byronic hero.

Magua effortlessly slips into Thorslev's description of the Byronic hero: "dark, handsome, but with a cool reserve," and having "a sense of mystery and frequently of destiny" (22). His dark coloring and deeds, along with his handsomeness, illustrates these Byronic features. Reflecting these Byronic characteristics, Cora is clearly both drawn to him and repelled by him. In addition, like the Byronic hero, Magua is "moody, passionate, and [a] remorse-torn but unrepentant wanderer" (Norton 480). He obsessively remains on his quest to seek revenge against Montcalm, ultimately deciding that destroying his daughters would be the sweetest revenge. However, even though he yearns to destroy that which is significant to Montcalm, he cannot murder Cora and even attempts to protect her from a fellow tribesman who ultimately kills her. As a Huron, he was repeatedly driven off his land, remaining a wanderer the rest of his life.

Another Byronic characteristic of Magua is his firm stance as an outsider, by birth and by nature. Thorslev explains that the Byronic hero is solitary and antisocial but not by choice; instead, "he has been Îfated,â set apart from other men" (137). Magua was alienated by breeding, by his position as chief, and by his victimization at the hands of Montcalm. Some of the same circumstances that set him apart also allow him to gain sympathy. Magua is a victim on several levels. The "new Americans" victimize the Hurons by repeatedly driving them from their land. The Delawares victimize the Hurons by denying the young tribesmen proper burials,

causing them to enter the "happy hunting grounds" without food, guns, or knives (Cooper 250). For this unforgivable act, Magua insists on revenge: "A stain on the name of a Huron can, only, be hid by blood that comes from the veins of an Indian" (Cooper 50). Finally, the Marquis of Montcalm personally victimizes Magua by humiliatingly tying him up in front of the "pale-faced warriors" and whipping him "like a dog" (Cooper 103). Cora claims that her father was merely serving justice because Magua broke the rules by drinking the forbidden "hot liquor" (Cooper 103). However, Cora, as well as the audience, considers the punishment "imprudently severe;" consequently, Magua gains sympathy regardless of his transgression (Cooper 103). Because of these injustices, Magua seeks revenge against the Delawares as well as Montcalm. Maguaâs repeated victimization, possibly causing his rebellion, preserves his position as an outsider.

Thorslev explains that Byronic heroes "have souls of sensibility" and "appreciate natural beauty" (188). Like the original Byronic hero, Lord Byron's "Childe Harold," Magua is a child of nature÷as a Native American, he is the quintessential child of nature. Another characteristic that he shares with Childe Harold is that he "is suffering from unrequited love" (Thorslev 137). Magua loves Cora but she does not return his love, as seen in her vehement rejection to become his wife.

Although the traditional and the Byronic hero, respectively represented by Beowulf and Magua, share some of the same features, such as might and bravery, they differ in their status within the community and have dissimilar objectives and purpose. Beowulf resides within the community, upholding and the communal values, while Magua is an outsider, rebelling against the standard values.

Beowulf and Magua share characteristics of being larger than life, fierce, and brave. However, although Beowulf enjoys superhuman physical strength, performing superhuman feats, Magua remains within the realistic, human realm. In addition, both are leaders in their community and journey unceasingly on a quest. Beowulf seeks to save society, while Magua seeks revenge. Beowulf demonstrates his bravery and might in his quest to slay Grendel,

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Grendel's dam, and the dragon. His reputation from past deeds also illustrates his superhuman capabilities: he "killed a tribe of giants" (Beowulf 421) and swam for seven nights in a match with Breca (Beowulf 516). Beowulf demonstrates his fearless heroism when he slays the monsters and the dragon that threaten to destroy the community, whereas Magua kills and threatens to harm human beings that have personally committed no injustice against him and pose no threat to him.

The Anglo-Saxon and the Huron pagan cultures held similar beliefs about the importance of burying their dead and similar motives of revenge to those who denied individuals of proper burials. Similar to Magua, Beowulf was also seeking revenge because of a denial of a proper burial for a member of his community. When Grendel's dam, the "witch of the sea-floor," killed the old counselor, she took him away, denying him a proper burial (1518). Besides protecting the Danes from further assault, Beowulf was also avenging the crimes against the Danes (1669).

Both Beowulf and Magua ultimately become leaders of their people; however, Beowulf enjoys a successful reign and reputation, while Magua does not. Beowulf ascends the throne after defeating Grendel, ruling with peace for fifty years before he dies from the fatal wound he suffers while defeating the dragon. Illustrating his reputation, King Hrothgar of Denmark says to Beowulf, "Beowulf my friend, your fame spreads far. / Steadily you govern your strength with wisdom" (1705-6). Magua, chief of the Hurons does not enjoy a successful reign, shown by the lack of permanence and peace for his wandering tribe.

Traditional heroes save society, as opposed to the Byronic hero, who threatens society. Beowulf defeats the foes that threaten the kingdom, thereby saving society, while Magua is the threat to the community, at least from the perspective of reading audience. Beowulf gloriously succeeds even though he ultimately must lose his life in the process, while Magua's success remains limited to gaining revenge from innocent bystanders. Embracing the cultural values and lacking any rebellious notions, Beowulf strives to serve and protect the established society

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while Magua, a defiant outsider, overflows with rebellion against what he perceives as injustices inflicted upon him by the Delawares and Montcalm. This rebellion generates burning revenge, and he finds success, in part, because Cora and Uncas, a Delaware, both die. Magua says he wants revenge against the Delawares because they denied his fellow Hurons a proper burial, but most of his focus stays on seeking revenge against Montcalm. Ironically, he ultimately does not kill Cora, but does kill Uncas.

The traditional hero lives in ordered communities with shared, absolute values that clearly delineate good from evil. The kingdom in Beowulf is simple, with the line between right and wrong clearly drawn. On the other hand, Byronic heroes live in complex communities that have ambiguous values and fail to clearly define good and evil.

Beowulf and Magua both reach hero status, though they travel along very different paths. Beowulf, the champion, and Magua, the rebel, reflect and represent the respective literary movements in which they travel. The epic requires a hero with qualities to which all can aspire to attain, while Romanticism requires a disobedient hero that questions the communal values.

Once these values and truths are examined and questioned, the literary hero will then extend and advance the rebellion. In The Romantic Heroic Ideal, James D. Wilson suggests,

"the romantics serve as a bridge between traditional and modern world views·" (169). Whereas the romantic hero still believes in the possibility of the heroic ideal, merely re-defining it, the moderns lose "faith in the validity of the heroic ideal itself" (Wilson 184). The Romantic hero becomes the modern anti-hero because in his quest, he destroys any chance of finding success or meaning in his self-defined, solipsistic life. He becomes "disillusioned and ineffectual, generally retreating into a solipsistic world of the imagination governed by his transcendental vision but tragically isolated from human community" (Wilson 187). In other words, he believes in heroism but fails to achieve hero status, so he becomes anti-hero. In Magua's case, even if he reaches his goal, he has no hope of a meaningful success in his isolated quest of revenge.

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The romantic hero is closer to classical hero than modern anti-hero because he still believes in the possibility of the heroic ideal÷he merely redefines it. However, the moderns "lost faith in validity of the heroic ideal itself" (Wilson 184).

The modern hero, or anti-hero, is presented in different forms. The modern hero internally deals with the burden of conflict that arose in Romanticism÷idealism versus authority. Theodore L. Gross, in The Heroic Ideal in American Literature, offers an explanation of heroism in modern literature: "the hero assumes the private, internal burden" of the "conflict between idealism and authority as it lodges within the man who seeks to be a traditional hero" (197). The brutality of war and colossal institutional power overwhelms the modern era. Gross says that Hemingway, Fitzgerald, Bellow, Salinger, and Mailer show the hero as the "singular, solitary self in conflict with a society that threatens its growth and full realization" (197).

Another alternative is that the modern literary hero shifts from the character to the artist/creator as the hero attempts to reconcile imagination and reality. Todd M. Lieber, in Endless Experiments: Essays on the Heroic Experience in American Romanticism, explains, "After the 'death of gods' and with an awareness of nothingness, the desire of the mind for harmony and meaningfulness must be satisfied by a new order, but it must be an order that has its sources in man himself and the reality of his experience" (193). Hence, the artist becomes the hero. Previously, the belief in God "offered a divine rationale for the ultimate harmony" of imagination and reality (Lieber 256). However, without that option, the poet is left to attempt to unite the duality. Thus, "the poet becomes a heroic figure in his own right, and the heroic journey becomes the process of poetic creation" (Lieber 260). Even then, there can be no final conclusion because of the dynamic nature of truth. The heroic drama becomes "the drama of the creative self seeking harmony, fulfillment, and belief," even if only for a moment of triumph (264).

Whether a traditional hero that encompasses social values, a Byronic hero that rebels against them, or a modern hero that creates his own values, the literary hero follows the path of

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the literary movement. The traditional hero offers the hope of a meaningful life in an ordered community. With his questioning and rebellion, the Byronic hero disrupts the order in the Romantic Movement. The modern hero attempts to survive without the order and meaning. The traditional hero succeeds, while the Byronic hero fails, as he must because of his rebellion against the ideals the community embraces. If he succeeds, in his brooding, defiant, isolated state, the community must deny the values of which he rebels, resulting in a total loss of meaning. Regardless of his failure, Magua, with "savage grandeur," maintains his rebellion to the bitter end: his final act before he dies is to shake "his hand in grim defiance" (Cooper 338).

Works Cited

Beowulf. Trans. Howell D. Chickering, Jr. New York: Doubleday, 1977.

Coleridge. Samuel Taylor. "The Statesmanâs Manual." 1816. The Norton Anthology of English

Literature. Ed. M.H. Abrams. 6^th ed. Vol.2. New York: Norton, 1993. 398-400.

Cooper, James Fenimore. The Last of the Mohicans. New York: Penguin, 1986.

Gross, Theodore L. The Heroic Ideal in American Literature. New York: Free Press, 1971.

Lieber, Todd. Endless Experiments: Essays on the Heroic Experience in American Romanticism. Columbus: Ohio State UP, 1973.

The Oxford Companion to English Literature. Ed. Margaret Drabble. 5^th ed. Oxford: Oxford UP, 1985.

Thorslev, Peter L. Jr. The Byronic Hero. Minneapolis: U of Minnesota P, 1962.

Wilson, James D. The Romantic Heroic Ideal. Baton Rouge: Louisiana State UP, 1982