Byronic Hero

A Byronic hero can be conceptualized as an extreme variation of the Romantic hero archetype .However, they also bare some similarities with respect to their figure. The character type of the Byronic hero was first developed by Lord Byron a renowned English 19th century poet. He created this archetype because he grew tired of Traditional and Romantic heroic characters and his initial aim was to develop a character that would be more appealing to readers, that would be more psychologically realistic and that would have depth as a person. Traditional and Romantic heroes usually were defined by their refusal and questioning of common social behaviour and morals ,their belief that live revolved around them and the capability to inspire others to commit acts of kindness by setting an example. However it is safe to say that Byronic heroes possess a greater amount of emotional and psychological complexity than Traditional and Romantic heroes.
Byronic heroes are recognised by their outright rejection of the traditional values and personas of a hero, their remarkable intelligence and cunning, powerful expressions of love and strong sensual desires. They also appear larger than life, and have an elaborate fashion sense for the purpose of differentiate themselves form others to the best they can. Some other characteristics of a Byronic hero are: Arrogant, violent, traumatized, manipulative, spiritually doubtful, often reckless or suicidal, decidedly prone to substance abuse, seductive and sexually-appealing, self-serving, highly emotional and dedicated to fighting matters of justice.
It is alleged that the first literary Byronic hero to be Byron’s Childe Harold, the protagonist of Lord Byron’s impressive poem Childe Harold’s Pilgrimage .However, it is also suspected that Lord Byron himself was the first truly Byronic hero because of the characteristics which he had in common with the literary heroes he made famous with his writing .In the 19th century western