Zeigler, Jim

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The Byronic HeroJean Ann BatesT !IE CHARACTER of the fascinating villain-hero has held a promi-nent place in the hearts of readers since the beginning of man'sliterate history. It was not, however, until the nineteenth cen-tury, when Lord Byron by his own life and works exemplified somuch this character, that the villain-hero was given a standard motif.Thus, the long, evolving villain-hero became t!le Byronic hero with afixed set of characteristics peculiar only to himself.The Byronic hero is distinguished by the clearly defined existenceof sensuousness and its antithesis, sensitiveness. Lord Byron himselfdemonstrated the presence of these two paradoxical elements. Onefinds Byron in Venice, living a Iife of debauchery, almost on an animallevel of existence; yet during this Venetian period, Byron producedsorne of the finest and 1110stsensitive poetry of the English language.Rhett Butler, Margaret Mitchell's Byronic hero, spends a great elealof time with the not so respectable Belle Watling; yet he has greatrespect for the virtuous Melanie. It is characteristic of the Byronichero that he should awake with a terrific hangover and compose abeautiful lyric poem like "She Walks in Beauty." The Byronic herois often dismissed as nothing more than a thoroughly imbued sensual-ist, but one finds him an idealist also and becomes con fused. It doesnot seem unusual for Rhett to save Scarlet from burning Atlanta, butthe reader is surprised when Rhett leaves the woman he loves tojoin the dying cause of the Confederacy. Most men possess anintegration of the sensuous and the sensitive. vVe have seen in theByronic hero that the two elements are not integrated, but each onerepresents a separate, completely isolated phase of the same man'snature. It is typical of the Byronic hero that he is a dichotomy of thesensuous and the sensitive.The Byronic hero is almost always a man with a mysterious past.This past is usually surrnisecl to be of wickedness and sin, and ourhero is periodically haunted by feelings of remorse concerning it.Conrad, the Corsair in Byron'S poem, is said to be a man of athousand sins. The reader imagines that these sins must have beendeeds of violence connected with piracy, but we never know for sure.As Childe Harold begins his pilgrimage, one is given hints of Harold'spast of vice and ungodly acts. Manfred, a psychological projectionof Byron himself, haunted by a great sin, the nature of which we arenever positive, seeks oblivion. The past of Rhett Butler is nevermade exactly clear to the reader. It is shrouded in mystery like26 lVIANUSCRIPTSI/the pasts of all Byronic heroes, but we are sure also, like his brotherheroes, that Rhett has disobeyed at least a few of the Ten Command-ments.The mood of the Byronic hero is one of intense melancholy andpessimism; yet we feel underlying this apparently static exterior, tl:ebeat of throbbing' life energy. Like the Corsair, the Byronic hero 15"warp'd by the world of disappointment." He seems to loathe himselfand all mankind, and is always one apart from his fellow creatures;yet the Corsair is a man of action and distinguishes himself by deedsof valor. One sees a brilliant study of the Byronic mooel in EmilyBronte's creation of Heathc1iffe in Wiaherinq Heights. Heathcliffeis as alone and melancholy as the moors themselves, but we find alsoin him the wild, rebellious energy of flesh and blood. The mood ofthe Byronic hero the reader sees is the end result of a man's runningthe gamut of human experience. Pessimism and melancholy arethus inevitable, and these are superimposed on the dynamic vitalityof a man of action.The Byronic hero's character is amoral rather than immoral.Byron's Don Juan is a classic example of the skeptical libertinism ofmost Byronic heroes. I-Ie is of aristocratic tendencies, haughty towardequals and superiors. He clerives sadistic pleasure in the sufferings ofthe women who have surrendered to him.' He knows himself to be avillain, but he believes the rest of the world no better than he. TheByronic hero is all that is characteristic of the somewhat jadedcosmopolitan man of the world.In spite of any scruples one might have against the Byronic hero,the reader cannot help but be fascinated by him. One is alwaysshocked by him, and this almost without fail leaves one to become en-slaved in fascination. The reader is shocked when he reads of DonJuan's affair with the married Donna Julia, but having read thisfar he never fails to finish the canto. One is up in arms at thefrank way Lord Byron discusses his incestuous relationship with hishal f-sister, Augusta Leigh, but the reader is sure to complete readingthe biogr~phy. Another important factor of fascination is thegreat physical attractiveness of the Ilyronic hero, and this is enhancedby corresponding conversation and manners. I-Ie might be, in thewords of Lady Caroline Lamb, "mad, bad and dangerous to know,"but any normal woman would like to meet a Rhett Butler or a LordByron. . She is not interested in the Byronic hero for a husband,but she IS su:-e .he would be a most engaging lover. Many twentiethcent~lry movie Idols, like Rudolph Valentino ane! James Mason, arenothing more than manifestations of the Byronic hero.

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