Byronic Hero and Human Sympathy

¶ … Byronic hero and human sympathy

In order to understand and explain the link between the concept of the hero in Byron's work and human sympathy one has to firstly examine the complex relationship between his Romantic ideals and the reality of the world in which he found himself. The Byronic hero is the classic ant-hero, the rebel who rails against the constraints of a society the he feels to be without meaning - but which is still human and in need of salvation. The Byronic hero is " A romantic hero that goes against and runs away from society, alienates himself and in doing so gets obtains new greatness, achieves poetic power." (Faust page)

Another view of the Byronic hero is expressed as follows."... The "anthithetically mixed" Villain-Hero. Aristocratic, suave, moody, handsome, solitary, secretive, brilliant, cynical, sexually intriguing, and nursing a secret wound... (A Glossary of Literary Gothic Terms)

Examples of the hero in the Byronic oeuvre are Childe Harold and gothic Manfred

In other words, the hero in Byron's work is the one who opposes the restraints and restrictions of society and even rejects his own conventional humanity in the search for something greater and better. At the same time we also sympathize with the suffering and tragedy of the hero figure struggling to attain meaning in a world which he is an alienated figure. It is this alienation from society in Bryon that elicits the sympathetic response in our understanding of the hero. The Byronic hero is "Extreme in all things" (Childe Harold, III, 36). The "fire / And motion of the soul" of the Byronic hero is "quenchless evermore" and "Preys upon high adventure" (III, 42). At the same time he is also isolated in his search for a greater meaning to reality.

The following points summarize the main aspects of the Byronic hero.

Rebel against social, religious custom-free, outside constraints of society (outlaw, mis-anthropist, renegade)

Loner, outcast - melancholy, brooding, withdrawn from society

Emotional honesty: seeks deeper truths

Self-destructive & destroys others, tortured by secret misery or guilt

Divided character:

warring contraries, internal & external conflicts, violent extremes

Refusal to compromise

Vengeful, vindictive, angry; brutal relationships & violent passions

Unrestrained rebellious spirits

Twin souls: union of feminine + masculine sides?

REVIEW:

General Characteristics of Literary "Romanticism")

However, an important part of Byronic artistic and poetic vision is that while he rejects the constraints and norms of conventional society his vision also encompasses sympathy for the pathos and sadness of humanity. "...unlike the angry existential philosophers who follow him some years later, Byron's existential vision is a theistic one: a vision comprised of isolation and loneliness while encompassing a compassion for humanity as a greater whole." (Holstad S.C.)

These two sides of Byron's vision can be seen in his epic poem, Don Juan. The poem explores his extreme existential anxiety and the uncertainty and trauma of being trapped as human being on this earth. While the hero is defiant he is also lonely and he struggles with his own sense of isolation. Through this poem Byron also interrogates and reconstitutes his own childhood.

The tormented feelings Byron suffered due to his own upbringing, then, are transferred to Juan in the text and we see how the Oedipal dilemma contributes to a loss of (sexual) innocence and the subsequent alienation. Byron's own psyche was scarred and we see the resulting cynical view of the world through his (Juan's) eyes.

Holstad S.C.)

In order to fully appreciate the radical nature of the Byronic hero, a brief overview of the intentions of Romantic poetry is necessary. Romantic poetry was a combination of personal philosophy and vision of the world and also a reflection of the times. In many ways we can understand Romantic poetry as a reaction to the rise of science and materialism and the denial by society of the importance of nature and imagination.

The Romantic writers' reaction against conventional views was largely determined by their opposition to the emerging rational and mechanical views of reality that was becoming dominant. Reason and science were replacing the imaginative and poetic view of life. The Romantic poets opposed the increasingly mechanical and scientific world and one of the ways that they expressed their opposition can be seen in the adoration of nature.

Byron was the most cynical and radical of the Romantic poets. He was unlike many of the other poets in the Romanic movement in that he was extremely realistic and had no illusions about reality and the negative side of human life and nature. He saw mankind as essentially "fallen." In his poems he often attacks what he considered to be the illusions and pretensions of the other Romantic poets. The Byronic hero therefore struggles in a universe which is essentially without divine guidance. He relentlessly interrogates the human situation.

This process of interrogation and the search for a higher form of existence produces a conflict within his poetic works - between the need for authenticity and meaning and the demands and strictures of being human and living in society. This also produces the mixture of passion and yearning as well as pathos in his heroes.

We can see something of this conflict in Canto One of Don Juan, where the hero is depicted as a child. This in turn leads to the tension between the ideals and the reality of these ideals in the hero. "By showing Juan in his childhood Byron demythologizes the story and gives instead a psychological sketch of the effects of environment on character" (Holstad S.C.) In Manfred, we also have a hero who is an outcast from society and a solitary figure. We too feel sympathy for the figure in his anguish of mind - but we are also aware pf the "...iron resolution of his will." (Byron)