Our Time Archetype

Romanticism refers to a period in literature during which authors were concerned more with the individual than with society. There was a focus on individual consciousness and the imagination. This focus on the individual lead to the exploration of each man’s own destiny. During this period, a popular literary archetype was the Byronic Hero. This kind of hero was charismatic, intelligent and interested more in the game than in the resulting love or social connection. Mihail Lermontov wrote the novella “A Hero of Our Time” with the understanding that the Byronic Hero was a common, well-known archetype; and therefore his challenge was to find unfamiliar ways to present this familiar hero. In A Hero of Our Time, Lermontov uses narration and sequence as devices to explore the Byronic Hero and fate. The readers of this time were able to recognize the Byronic Hero because this prototype had become fashionable to reproduce. Thus, Lermontov was able to bring the Hero to light by defining the imposter. Grushnitski is first introduced in the story “Princess Bela”. Although Grushnistki exhibits similar behavior to Pechorin, they are simultaneously introduced as opposites. Lermontov distinguishes the true Hero from the imitator
I had not yet drained the cup of sufferings, and I now feel that I still have many years to live. (Lermontov 160)
He believes that he has a “cup of sufferings” that he must empty before he can die. Thus, as we learned in “Bela”, Pechorin has a “restless fancy” and an “insatiable heart”. His “cup of sufferings” is his life that “becomes more empty day by day” (Lermontov 41). By writing this journal, Pechorin writes his own fate; his fate to become the Byronic Hero. The belief that he is the Hero leaves Pechorin with a fear of sliding into cliché, pushing him to more extremes to test his