LITR 4232: American Renaissance
University of Houston-Clear Lake, spring 2003
Sample Student Research Project

Jody Newmann
LITR 4232 2003 project

A Journal Analyzing the Byronic Hero, Those who Closely Resemble the Hero, Byron’s Writing Styles and Literary Criticism

(Journal entry 1, Defining the Byronic Hero)

            The Byronic Hero is a term derived from the poetic narrative, Childe Harold’s Pilgrimage, by Lord Byron.  Though the idea of the Byronic Hero originated with the creation of Byron’s characters, Byron himself possessed the physical features associated with the Byronic Hero.  These features include dark brooding eyes, dark hair, pale skin and a slender frame.  The Byronic hero derived from Childe Harold’s Pilgrimage, strays away from the typical “hero” role by possessing dual characteristics of good as well as evil, “And had been glorious in another day: but one sad losel soils a name for aye…”(Byron,C.H.181).   The Byronic Hero is usually defined by his voluntary isolation from the normal institutions of society, “Self-exiled Harold wanders forth again, with nought of hope left, but with less of gloom…” (Byron,C.H.211). He also represses his passions creating an unrequited obsession when, “He bids to sober joy that here sojourns: nought interrupts the riot, though in lieu of true devotion monkish incense burns…” and  “had buried long his hopes, no more to rise: pleasure’s pall’d victim!  Life-abhorring gloom.”(Byron,C.H. 193) In these remarks, the Hero prefers to bask in sorrow for a love lost or never attained than to pursue the object of his desire.   The Byronic Hero prides himself on his intellectual ability because his intelligence eclipses that of the average man.  “But soon he knew himself the most unfit of men to herd with man; with whom he held little in common; untaught to submit his thoughts to others, though his soul was quell’d in his youth by own thoughts; still uncompell’d he would not yield dominion of his mind to spirits against whom his own rebell’d; proud through in desolation; which could find life within itself to breathe without mankind.” (Byron,C.H.211). The elevated emotional state of the Byronic Hero leads him to be or appear egocentric and introverted “hating the world he had almost forgot”, characteristics which deter from the standardized hero who “fights for the good of man-kind.”  Guilt from the past also plagues the Byronic Hero, “for he through Sin’s labyrinth had run, nor made atonement when he did amiss…” (Byron,C.H.181).  The haunting illusion to past wrongs or sins taints the Hero and casts a shadow over his overall character and deeds.  Due to his past the Hero often carries some form of defect (physical or physiological), a “ heart and harp have lost a string…” (Byron,C.H. 210)  that further isolates him from society.

(Journal entry 2, Ichabod Resembling the Byronic Hero) 

            No characters outside of the characters created by Lord Byron himself could fully encompass the idea of the Byronic Hero, though many narratives have since been created which bare notable resemblance.  Washington Irving created such a character when he wrote the story, The Legend of Sleepy Hollow.  Though Ichabod (the main character within the Irving narrative) embodies qualities of the Byronic Hero, he fails to fully mirror the concept.  Ichabod’s physical persona is described as “tall, but exceedingly lank, with narrow shoulders, long arms and legs, hands that dangled a mile out of his sleeves…” (Lauter,2095).  Ichabod’s slender frame and distinct features, such as his “long snipe nose” and “huge ears” give him an abnormal appearance that make him a spectacle, distinguishing him from the rest of his acquaintances.  Like many of the Byronic Heroic characters, Ichabod has an irregular frame that does not project the typical masculine ideal.  Ichabod’s strength is in his intellect.  He is a schoolteacher whose “appetite for the marvellous, and his powers of digesting it, were equally extraordinary…” (Lauter,2097).  Ichabod was known  “as a man of great erudition, for he had read several books quite through, and was a perfect master of Cotton Mather’s…” (Lauter,2097).  Ichabod’s ability to comprehend and master novels and curriculum directly aligns with the stock characteristics attributed to the Byronic Hero.  Though Ichcabod’s possesses traits of the Byronic Hero he could never fully fit into the true definition created from Lord Byron’s writings.  The true Byronic Hero is isolated from society and withdraws himself from society’s social scene.  Ichabod by contrast relished in social settings becoming “a kind of traveling gazette, carrying the whole budget of local gossip from house to house: so that his appearance was always greeted with satisfaction.” (Lauter,2097).    By joining in the town’s social gatherings, Ichabod separates himself from the essence of the Byronic Hero who prefers solitude and, “ stalk’d in joyless reverie, and from his native land resolv’d to go, and visit scorching climes beyond the sea; with pleasure drugg’d he almost long’d for woe, and e’en for change of scene would seek the shades below.” (Byron,C.H.181)

(Journal entry 3, Poe Resembling the Byronic Hero)

            Edgar Allan Poe is a complicated man whose life story leaves much to the imagination.  Many admire Poe’s unconventional writing styles and subject matter, but fail to make a clear distinction as to where the story ends and Poe begins.  Unlike Byron, Poe wrote from an imaginative setting with fictional content.  Poe led an interesting life, but his characters were creative expressions of his imagination. 

            Poe resembles the Byronic Hero.  He has dark features, a small frame and pale skin.  Poe has an intriguing stare that excites one to the idea that he operates under a deeper physiological stream of consciousness then the rest of the public.  Poe’s intelligence is like that associated with the Byronic Hero noticeably at a higher level than others.  Poe’s headmaster of his boarding school remarked on his accelerated learning level saying:

When he left it he was able to speak the French language, construe any easy Latin author, and was far better acquainted with history and literature than many boys

Of a more advanced age who had had greater advantages than he had had. (Szumski,16)  

            Poe like that of Harold (in Byron’s poem) began his childhood well off but soon fell out of grace.  He reportedly did well in sports and excelled in academics, but do to financial trouble and the death of his wife Poe fell into drinking and thus isolated himself from society.  During this time Poe wrote:

I became insane, with long intervals of horrible sanity. During these fits of absolute unconsciousness I drank, God only knows how often or how much.

As a matter of course my enemies referred the insanity to the drink rather than the drink to the insanity.(Szumski,27)

Poe’s recognition of his state of being resembles that of the Byronic Hero’s self consciousness, always aware of the state of mind but little action to bring himself out from under it.

(Journal entry 4, Lord Byron as a Progressive Writer)

            Lord Byron was a skilled writer who creatively wove his own biography into his narratives.  Byron’s writings are riddled with pseudo-confessions of sexual sins and man’s shortcomings that speak to the masses while giving insight into Byron’s own character and vices.  By writing from his own experience Byron has a first person perspective on the topics and emotions conveyed in his poetry.  Byron supersedes the need for a muse from which to derive inspiration by becoming the muse himself.  By analyzing his life from an outside perspective (his literary works) and revealing his weaknesses as well as accolades, Byron became an accomplished poet who poured the essence of his soul onto the page.  G. Wilson Knight writes in a modern criticism of Byron that, “He lives that eternity which is art.  He is more than a writer: his virtues and vices alike are precisely those entwined at the roots of poetry.  He is poetry incarnate.  The others are dreamers: he is the thing himself.”  Though this is a strong statement, it holds merit and has evidence to prove its truth.   Byron paved the way for wonderful writers such as Poe and many others to create unconventional heroes and praise the nonconformists.  By romanticizing the isolation of Harold in Childe Harold’s Pilgrimage, Byron created a new reversed out look on life glorifying the outcast. 

Byron was innovative and a stark contrast to the writings present in his time.  His appeal to the dark side of human desire while lending nostalgic memories of past innocence gives his writing an attractive appeal combining the dual qualities of good and evil present human nature.   In Parisina, a poem written by Byron about illicit lovers, Byron gives acute and empathetic detail into the minds of the lovers struggling with their torrent passions. “And Hugo is gone to his lonely bed, to covet there another’s bride; but she must lay her conscious head a husband’s trusting heart beside…” (Byron,331).  By saying, “lay her conscious head” Byron is showing his intuitive almost feminine awareness of women’s emotions.  He expresses the woman’s desire not to hurt her husband while recognizing her desire for another man, “ and red her cheeks with troubled dreams, and mutters she in her unrest a name she dare not breathe by day…” (Byron,331).  Byron again takes an unconventional approach to his writing by giving insight into an adulterous woman’s mentality and showing her emotions.  By including the woman’s perspective in his writing Byron is ahead of his time.  Byron also approaches the idea of women as dominant figures in poetry who can fulfill the roles usually attributed with males.  In the poem Lara, Byron crosses gender barriers by introducing a woman as a page.  Byron’s willingness to stand against the norms of society and write a strong woman character such as Kaled, who hid her identity as a women to be a page sets Byron apart from authors of his time.  “Its grief seem’d ended, but the sex confess’d; and life returned, and Kaled felt no shame- What now to her was womanhood or fame?” (Byron,318) Byron proves to be truly modern in thinking by allowing a woman to inhabit a man’s role yet does not allow the woman to stray far from the “idealized woman” who mourns in anguish over her lost love.  “His words, his looks, his dying grasp recall; and she had shone, but saved her raven hair, and oft would snatch it from her bosom there…” (Byron,319)  By making Kaled grieve the loss of Lara, Byron in essence places her back within the standardized female role, allowing moments of unbridled feminine potential then taking back the opportunity to fully liberate his female character from the stock feminine role. 

(Journal entry 5, Byron as a Popular writer)

            Lord Byron’s writings have transcended the barriers of many literary greats and have become well known for their literary quality as well as universal appeal.  Bryon has not only been recognized for his level of writing ability but also for his content and strong emotional appeal.  Byron’s work has an attractive quality that pulls the reader into the poem and communicates the ideas effectively and commands intrigue.  In his poem Werner, Byron writes, “ My destiny has so involved about me Her spider web, that I can only flutter like the poor fly, but break it not.” (Byron,594)  This metaphor of a woman’s love being entrapping like a spider web is profound, yet easily understood by a mass audience.  The illustration has been mimicked and reenacted in films as well as other novels in the past up to present day.  Byron’s creative insight struck a cord with his reader that prevails even today.  Like the web metaphor, the simile of the man as a fly is also intriguing and widely accepted.  By comparing man to a fly trapped by a woman, Byron is relating a basic concept of nature to that of a complex emotional “web” of human relationships.  This comparison is notable and inciting.

            Byron’s content plays a large role in his mass appeal.  Byron writes from his experience and thus relays emotions and situations common to society.  In Parisina, Byron chronicles the lust and fates of lovers, which is a popular theme that is readily the topic of novels today.  Don Juan, one of the most popular of Byron’s poems, is written in story form but does not conform to the conventional conflict, climax, and resolution pattern.  Events flow evenly throughout the poem by mixing emotions and scenes as if unraveling string in progression instead of picking apart the poem in ordered segments making the work interesting as well as easily accepted into mass syndication.  Byron commented on his work, Don Juan saying, “ This narrative is not meant for narration, but a mere airy and fantastic basis, to build up common things with common places.” (Bloom,62).  This idea of “commonality” in the poem makes the narrative accessible to a variety of audiences.  Byron carries this idea of bringing the “people” into his poetry when he explains what a Gondola is to his readers in Beppo. “Didst you ever see a Gondola? For fear you should not, I’ll describe it you exactly: tis a long cover’d boat that’s common here…”(Byron,626)  By defining the boat, Byron is welcoming an audience to his writing that many great authors omit, the general public.  By not exaggerating the setting with elaborate wording, Byron makes the poem easy to comprehend to a grand audience.   Due to Byron’s intrigue and ability to relate to the general public’s interests Byron’s writings have lived on and have been brought into American culture today.

(Journal entry 6, Byron as a Classical Writer)

Lord Byron is an excellent writer who can appeal to the masses while retaining the ability to produce treasured poetry that penetrates the periphery of the conscious and allows the reader if willing to dig deep for the meaning within the text.  If taken at face value Byron’s works could be considered entertainment and ingenious expressions of art.  By analyzing and depicting the text within the poetry it becomes clear that metaphor, simile, irony and personification content is intermingled throughout his work. 

             Irony is presented within the narrative of Don Juan, challenging the reader to interpret the author’s true intentions in creating the poem.  Byron repeats the notion that the narrative is about moral code and ethics when he says, “If any person should presume to assert this story is not moral, first, I pray, that they will not cry out before they’re hurt, then that they’ll read it o’er again, and say (but, doubtless, nobody will be so pert), that this is not a moral tale, though gay…” Byron is using ironic satire, pointing out that this narrative is about lose immoral men and women while claiming that in canto twelve he’ll, “mean to show the very place that wicked people go.” (Byron, 659).  Though the poem has gory battle scenes and true emotional turmoil, the author takes a lighter stance on the sexual liaisons instead of condemning them as promised for their moral defiance.  “This works a world of sentimental woe, and sends new Werters yearly to their coffin; but yet is merely innocent flirtation, not quite adultery, but adulteration.” (Byron, 806)    

Byron also goes further to excuse immorality when commenting that,“ A little genial sprinkling of hypocrisy has saved the fame of thousand splendid sinners…” (Byron, 806).

            The poem The Two Foscari, uses forms of personification when identifying nature and fortune as female, “All our advantages are those of fortune; birth, wealth, health, beauty, are her accidents…” (Byron,503). By saying, “We should remember Fortune can take nought” and “Save what she gave- the rest was nakedness…” Byron was giving human attributes to nature and fortune, which dominate the lives of the characters in the poem.  By associating these controlling forces with a female persona, Byron places the fate of his characters in feminine control.

            Similes and metaphors play a large role in shaping and describing the emotional state of the characters within Byron’s poems.  In Werner, Byron tells of a man and his love by saying, “ or wither on her stalk like some pale rose deserted by the bird she thought a nightingale…” (Byron,595)  The man is being described metaphorically as a bird, while the woman is deemed a rose through the use of simile.  By using such literary tools, Byron shapes the image he desires to be conveyed without the need to go into excessive description to stage a scene.  The use of similes and metaphors also work to add nature into the course of human interaction, relating humans to the grand cycle of life, death and the earth.

(Journal entry 7, The Byronic Appeal in Modern Day)

            The appeal of the Byronic Hero stretches far beyond the creation established by Lord Byron in his poetry.  The idea of a dark hero stalking the earth has intrigued audiences in the past as well as in present day.  The popularity of the Byronic Hero has reached into many faucets of the American culture from novels to film and beyond.  One such advancement in the Byronic Hero’s persona is the idea of the new Byronic Superhero, Batman.  Though the idea of a comic intermingling with classical literature may repel some literary critics, others find the combination to be a stimulating sign of classical texts mixing with popular culture.  The Batman superhero resembles the Byronic Hero by his need to isolate himself from society.  By residing in a “Bat-cave” the Hero retracts from the societal norms and becomes a dark figure that alludes the confines of society.  The Superhero further evades societal restrictions by masking himself and keeping his identity a mystery.  This mystery distinguishes the Hero from others and places him into the Byronic realm where the dark figure retreats to solitude.  Unlike the Byronic Hero described in Byron’s poetry the new Superhero has a dual conscience that allows him to reside outside of societal foundations while working to uphold the society’s values.

Works Cited

Lauter, Paul, ed. The Heath Anthology of American Literature. Boston: New York

2002.

Bloom, Harold, ed. Modern Critical Interpretations. New Have: New York 1987.

Leone, Bruno, ed.Readings on Edgar Allan Poe. San Diego: CA 1998.

Page, Frederick, ed. Byron Poetical Works. Oxford: New York  1970.

Bloom, Harold, ed. Modern Critical Views George Gordon, Lord Byron. New Haven: New York 1986.