Genre Studies- Unit- III BYRONIC HERO

 

BYRONIC HERO

A Byronic hero is a fictional character. They are someone who exhibits a specific set of characteristics that make their life similar to that of Byron’s best-known protagonists, and Byron himself.

·         Found in several of the works of Lord Byron.

·         Like Byron himself, a Byronic hero is a melancholy and rebellious young man, distressed by a terrible wrong he committed in the past.

·         Byronic Hero was first developed by the famous 19^th century English Romantic poet Lord Byron.

·         The first literary Byronic hero to be Byron’s Childe Harold, the protagonist of Byron’s epic poem “Childe Harold’s Pilgrimage”.

CHARACTERISTICS

A Byronic hero is characterized by several traits.

·         Intelligence: A Byronic hero is intelligent and cunning, often using his superior wits to solve problems.

·         Self-awareness: A Byronic hero is also keenly aware of his own situation. This may in fault be the source of some of his melancholy. A Byronic hero may experience self-doubt and may not see himself as a hero in the traditional sense.

·         Arrogance: Despite doubt and self-awareness, a Byronic hero also exhibits arrogance in his missions. He has faith in his skills and tends to believe himself to be best suited for the job.

·         Violence: While a Byronic hero will use his wits, he is also not averse to violence when needed.

·         Recklessness: Due to his arrogance and skill in various areas, a Byronic hero tends to be reckless in his approach to problems. Even if he is successful, his recklessness is dangerous.

EXAMPLES

In "Jane Eyre" (1847), Mr. Rochester is a pessimistic, arrogant man but he is also intelligent and sophisticated. As Jane Eyre and he get closer, Mr. Rochester's cruelty and hostility fade away and he is portrayed as a good gentleman who has been in great distress due to his previous mistakes. However, Mr. Rochester keeps his previous wife Bertha confined in an upstairs room and hides the truth from Jane Eyre. Although his motives are selfish and allow him to fulfil his desires, he cares for Bertha and wishes to save her from being sent to an asylum and keep it secret to avoid Jane from getting hurt and leaving him. This blend of heroic and villainous qualities is precisely what makes Mr. Rochester a Byronic Hero.