Journal Analyzing the Byronic Hero and Lord Byron’s Writing Styles

The Byronic hero is an archetype created from Lord Byron’s writings during the Romantic period, with elements of a tragic hero, Romantic hero, and anti-hero. Byron sought to step away from the traditional Romantic hero in order to adopt a more psychologically relatable and flawed character. While both archetypes are the classic “rugged individual,” characterized as isolated, introspective, and possessing of unheroic flaws, the Byronic hero is unique in that its character struggles with much more complex emotional conflicts. This hero is not only morally misguided (with traits such as being hypocritical, manipulative, and arrogant) and self-serving (often seeking of social and sexual dominance), but his self-awareness of these traits leads this

Lord Byron, a romantic author from the 18th century was a man who was considered as a “player”, a man who was always with multiple women. In his lifetime Byron wrote many stories, three of those stories were, She Walks In Beauty, Apostrophe To The Ocean, and Don Juan. In those three stories Lord Byron indicates very important messages for each.

In the town of Sleepy Hollow, we find Ichabod Crane, the protagonist, who begins to notice the daughter of the richest man in town, Katrina. He decides to pursue a relationship with Katrina. However, this decision starts trouble with Katrina’s other suitor, Abraham "Brom" Van Brunt. There is a party at Katrina’s house later, she breaks up with Ichabod. Heartbroken Ichabod makes his way home when he is interrupted by the Headless Horseman. The next day, Ichabod has disappeared and no one knows what happened to him. Washington Irving’s The Legend of Sleepy Hollow is a prototype for the modern-day film.

Celebrated and celebritized by the people, heros are typically perceived in epic poems as larger than life characters with extraordinary characteristics who defeat evil and represent good. On the other hand, villains, seen as ravenous, heartless, beasts terrorize the helpless people for no reason are not sympathized. Displaying this common outlook on the “hero” and “villain” is the epic poem, Beowulf, where the readers view the main character, Beowulf, as a brave warrior who sets out to defeat the harmful and destructive Grendel. On the other hand, John Gardner’s Grendel takes a different outlook on the epic poem where the reader sympathizes Grendel after comprehending his life, lack of self esteem, and watches him fall the victim of

Heroism is shown through the ages in a variety of areas all over the world. One of the greatest examples of how heroism is depicted within a literary work is in Homer’s epic poem, The Iliad. Although the ideals of heroism are apparent in the poem, it is important to understand how the same theme can be seen through other works of literature. The Knights Tale, which is one of the greatest stories that Chaucer’s Canterbury Tales has to offer. The Iliad and The Knights Tale are both stories that contain the ideals of heroism.

Washington Irving is often discussed concerning gender issues and the use of imagination in his artistic writing to make his point. Ichabod’s actions are such in that they grab the reader’s attention. What is usually expected from a man at that time is to be masculine, and to be associated with the company of other men. Ichabod, however, is shown to be drawn to the women in town. Irving discusses femininity in a negative way as Plummer states, “…the "feminine" in Ichabod is his unmanly, superstitious, trembling, and gullible side--he himself seems, in this tale, begrudgingly to acquiesce to the female sphere of Sleepy Hollow.” (Plummer, Nelson: 175) Eventually this is what makes him stand out to the

Lord Byron, one of the major poets of England during the Romantic Period (1785-1830), epitomized the essence of this movement of literature because “Romanticism was flourishing in the arts. In painting, literature, and music, one of the great Romantic obsessions was the ancient past” (“The Destruction of the Sennacherib”). Some of the characteristics of Romanticism are belief in the common man, reverence for nature, interest in the past, and optimism. All of Byron’s poetry reflects most of the characteristics, such as “She Walks in Beauty” and “The Destruction of the Sennacherib.” Lord Byron acted as the model of the Romantic period by not only reflecting most of or all of the Romantic ideals in just those two pieces, but he

Some individuals may see a hero as someone who is known for their good deeds and remarkable super powers like the ones that are shown today in films. Even though, this can be true to a certain extent, these qualities are not the only ones that are used to compose the ideal hero. “As society has progressed throughout the years, the characterization of who a hero is has also transformed in terms of the protagonist itself.” (Heroes). During the 1600s, the protagonist was not seen as the hero of the play or poems like shown in William Shakespeare’s tragedy, “Othello” and the epic poem “Paradise Lost” written by John Milton.” Based on both of these literary selections, the heroes can be demonstrated by the villains Iago and Satan who in both the play and epic poem transformed the stereotype of the protagonist always being the hero to be false.

Beyond the scope of the mystic and supernatural world that exists in Lord Byron’s Manfred, the iconic overbearing and guilt-stricken Manfred has influenced the Byronic archetype to transcend beyond the gothic setting into today’s modern pop culture. Extending outside the gothic genre, which is characterized by the “macabre, mysterious, supernatural, and terrifying”, the haunting settings of looming, isolated landscapes, and dark forbidding symbolism, the Byronic hero archetype still exists in even the popular science fiction genre, with its themes rooted in dystopian and post-apocalyptic environments (Lynch and Stillinger 584). For instance, the Byronic hero archetype is portrayed in Hideki Anno’s Neon Genesis Evangelion through the

Lancelot has defining human characteristics that separate him from the deified accounts of epic poem protagonists, and this shift to vulnerability created a new writing style that reflected the times as Europe was slowly becoming less centralized. Since the innocent days of Perceval’s youth, he had wanted to become a knight after recklessly chasing after a few with a javelin, and this tale of maturity is similar to the works of Dickens and other tales of “growing up”. The tragic Greek hero or man of myth portrayed in the epic tales that became immediate folklore for nations across the globe was no more. Every country had its great epic hero, but the rise of romantic writings led to each country being able to rediscover itself through a different set of eyes. Perceval and Lancelot could never have been epic heroes, and the actions of Perceval and Lancelot could never be portrayed in an epic poem without seeming humorous. Oedipus would never ride in the back of a pillory cart to reach his destination, and Lancelot would never find himself in a situation where he has to kill his own father and wed his mother. It is evident that the early romantic works take heavy influence from epic poetry as the characters may seem to be chivalrous and intimidating at first, but unlike the protagonists of

Lord Byron's Byronic hero is a type of character based upon the characters of Lord Byron. These characters typically are found to be unflattering, but yet still have captivating features with an arrogant and intelligent personality. A Byronic hero is usually an anti-hero with a committed crime and guilt hanging over their head. These ‘anti-heroes' are smart, honorable and sympathetic despite their past crime. Charlotte Brontë's character, Edward Rochester, displays many characteristics that follow the guidelines of a Byronic hero. He is a sexual, mysterious character who carries a guilty conscience and has a troubled past.

Since Byron started writing satire, he provoked poets that were alive during his time because he was demeaning their works. In addition, when he received humiliating feedback from his first publication back in 1808, Byron in response decided to write the famous satirical poem, “English Bards and Scotch Reviewers.” The main reason that leads him to write the literary work is that he became obsessed with his own image and felt embarrassed with the criticism that was given to him. Furthermore, Byron was warned by his close friends not to publish his literature with his name or the result would be facing the consequences by other Romantic critics. For example, he thought that the current poets had the influence to end his career. After thinking about the outcomes, Byron decided to publish the work anonymously and only target those that had given him bad criticism. He highlighted how

Epic heroism is a category that can pertain to many different subjects considering on what they have done or been through. No matter good, bad, or evil some of these subjects can find a way to make themselves that epic hero that best fits them. An epic hero goes by the definition of, a brave and noble character in an epic poem, admired for great achievements or affected by grand events. This being said can make any possible being, an epic hero if that being has done what is required. In John Milton’s, “Paradise Lost”, the character of Satan presents itself as an epic hero, Milton tests that the character of Satan forces the reader to consider the possibility that Satan may actually be a hero, or at the very least, a character worth seeing in a more complex light. This along with the following examples are all showing how the character of Satan in “Paradise lost”, can be view and is viewed as an epic hero thought the novel.

The traditional idea of a hero is one that embodies courage, integrity, and does what is right by defeating any force of evil. Under this interpretation of what it means to be a hero Beowulf would be an “ideal hero”. Despite the traditional idea of a hero, an ideal hero is instead defined as someone who can remain ethical and resilient in situations that embody moral turmoil, and Hamlet is a prime example of this. In short, a true hero is able to remain moral during situations where it is morality conflicting which is demonstration of hope during difficult times. There are several ways in which a hero can demonstrate moral integrity which include: being able to understand another’s perspective, analyzing ethically complex situations while serving the greatest good, and reflecting on one’s actions to ensure heroic integrity. Being able to think critically about morality is the most significant characteristic of a hero because it results in being able to understand the true source of existing evils. Thinking about another’s perspective and philosophically analyzing situations prevents oneself from being corrupt as well. In this paper Beowulf and Hamlet will be compared based on who is better fits the previously mentioned definition of an “ideal hero”. It will be argued that Hamlet is an underrated hero while Beowulf is overrated by explaining the similarities of their situation while highlighting their difference in treatment.

The notion of the Byronic hero comes directly from George Gordon Byron. More widely known as Lord Byron, he was a British poet, but also a politician, from the late 18th Century to the beginning of the 19th Century. He is considered as a leading figure in the Romantic movement and his works elevated him to the rank of one of the greatest British poets1 and are still quite influential for writers and poets nowadays. His best-known works are the narrative poems Don Juan, and Childe Harold's Pilgrimage. The later was published between 1812 and 1818 and describes the travels of a young man searching for some distractions in foreign countries as he is disillusioned with his life of pleasure. This poem seems to be widely received as the description