Byronic Characters

The famous 19th-century English Romantic poetLord Byron developed Byronic Hero. Many literary scholars and historians considered the first literary Byronic hero to Childe Harold, the protagonist of Byron's epic poem Childe Harold's Pilgrimage. However, many literary scholars also point to Lord Byron himself as the first Byronic hero. The Byronic hero is a fictional and cultural character that became popular in the Romantic era.

According to many literary critics, Lord Byron developed the archetype of the Byronic hero to shift from his boredom with traditional and Romantic heroic literary characters. Byron, wanted to introduce a character that would not only be more appealing to readers but also psychologically realistic.

Byronic heroes share some similar characteristics with the figure of the traditional Romantic heroes. Both the heroes tend to rebel against conventional thoughts and modes of behavior and possess personalities that are not traditionally heroic. Byronic heroes in comparison to Romantic heroes have a greater degree of psychological and emotional complexity.

Characteristics of Byronic Heroes:

1. Spiritually doubtful

2. Self-aware

3. Emotionally and intellectuallytortured

4. Intelligent

5. Ruthless

6. Arrogant

7. Often reckless or suicidal

8. Violent

9. Self-destructive impulses

10. Traumatized

11. Seductive and sexually-appealing

12. Highly emotional

13. Manipulative

Examples of some famous Byronic Characters:

1. Novel:The Vampyre

Byronic Hero: Lord Ruthven

About the Character:Lord Ruthven first appeared in a Gothic novel Glenarvon. The character is based on Lord Byron. Lord Ruthven is portrayed as a British aristocrat and soon revealed that he is also the original vampire. He is a sexually alluring, disambiguous womanizer and altogether a horrifying character.

2. Novel:Wuthering Heights

Byronic Hero: Heathcliff

About the Character: Heathcliff was taken in by Mr. Earnshaw when he was a child. But Mr. Earnshaw's son, Hindley, treated him badly, which often created a conflict between them. He fell in love with Earnshaw's daughter, Catherine but when Catherine married Edgar it turned Heathcliff into a tortured and obsessive person, who seeks vengeance, against Hindley, Edgar, and both their families.

3. Novel:Frankenstein

Byronic Hero: Frankenstein and the Monster

About the Character:Frankenstein created the monster, but disowned it. Due to this monster was hurt, and craved attention, love, acceptance, and companionship, and therefore, he killed people who were close to Frankenstein. At the end Frankenstein sets out to get revenge. Both these characters are hot tempered, furious and want revenge.

4. Novel:Jane Eyre

Byronic Hero: Mr. Rochester

About the Character:Rochester was a pompous and rude man. He fell in love with Jane, who was his governess and half his age. On the day of their marriage, she founds out that he keeps his wife locked and later it was discovered that Mr. Rochester's wife was mentally unstable. Despite her bouts of insanity, he has been taking care of her for years.

Byronic heroes therefore portray remarkable intelligence, strong feelings of affection and hatred, impulsiveness, strong sensual desires, cynicism, dark humor, etc. They tend to only seem loyal to themselves and their core beliefs and values.Byronic heroes also dress and style themselves in elaborate costumes in order to make themselves different from others.