LORD BYRON WHO WAS HE

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2 LORD BYRON WHO WAS HE George Gordon Byron was born on the 22 nd of January 1788, and died on the 19 th of April He is commonly known simply as Lord Byron, and was an English poet and a leading figure in the Romantic movement. Among his best-known works are the lengthy narrative poems Don Juan and Childe Harold's Pilgrimage, and the short lyric "She Walks in Beauty". Byron is regarded as one of the greatest British poets, and remains widely read and influential. He travelled widely across Europe, especially in Italy where he lived for seven years. Later in life, Byron joined the Greek War of Independence fighting the Ottoman Empire, for which many Greeks revere him as a national hero. Sadly howver, he died at the young age of 36 from a fever contracted while in Missolonghi.

3 An image of Lord Byron painted by Richard Westall in 1836

4 THE ROMANTIC MOVEMENT Romanticism (also the Romantic era or the Romantic period) was an artistic, literary, musical and intellectual movement that originated in Europe toward the end of the 18th century. Romanticism was characterized by its emphasis on emotion and individualism and was partly a reaction to the Industrial Revolution, political norms of the Age of Enlightenment, and the scientific rationalization of nature. The movement emphasized intense emotion as an authentic source of aesthetic experience, placing new emphasis on such emotions as apprehension, horror, terror, and awe. Byron became known as a pioneering Romantic writer, alongside the likes of Shelley and Blake, as his works reflected the key characteristics of a Romantic. This is particularly evident in his creations whereby he focuses directly on strong human emotion, and rejects societal norms such as the constraints of science or religion.

5 BYRONS PERSONAL LIFE Often described as the most flamboyant and notorious of the major Romantics, Byron was both celebrated and frowned upon in life for his aristocratic excesses, including huge debts, numerous love affairs - with men as well as women, as well as rumours of a scandalous affair with his half-sister - leading to his self-imposed exile. It is thought that Byron s own reckless life experiences resulted in his literary creation of characters who were mad, bad and dangerous to know yet also hero s of their stories. The Byronic Hero as they became known can be found still today in popular culture and throughout literature as a whole.

6 THE BYRONIC HERO The Byronic hero first appears in Byron's semi-autobiographical, narrative poem Childe Harold's Pilgrimage ( ). Historian and critic Lord Macaulay described the character featured within the poem as "a man proud, moody, cynical, with defiance on his brow, and misery in his heart, a scorner of his kind, implacable in revenge, yet capable of deep and strong affection. The initial version of the type in Byron's work, Childe Harold, draws on a variety of earlier literary characters including Hamlet, and was also noticeably similar to René, the hero of Chateaubriand's novella of 1802, although Byron may not have read this. After Childe Harold's Pilgrimage, the Byronic hero made an appearance in many of Byron's other works (for example his Oriental poems.) But not only this, other writers began to grow influenced by this form of character who is psychologically challenging and appealing. The appeal comes from the way in which the Byronic hero is both often rebellious and callous, whilst also being loving and exciting. This character is still often found in popular culture, due to the great influence Byron had.

7 The idea of the Byronic hero is one that consists of many different characteristics. The hero must have a rather high level of intelligence and perception as well as be able to easily adapt to new situations and use cunning to his own gain. It is clear from this description that this hero is well-educated and by extension is rather sophisticated in his style. Aside from the obvious charm and attractiveness that this automatically creates, he struggles with his integrity, being prone to mood swings. Generally, the hero has a disrespect for certain figures of authority, thus creating the image of the Byronic hero as an exile or an outcast. The hero also has a tendency to be arrogant and cynical, indulging in selfdestructive behaviour which leads to the need to seduce women. Although his sexual attraction through being mysterious is rather helpful, it often gets the hero into trouble. Characters with the qualities of the Byronic hero have appeared in novels, films and plays ever since Childe Harold s Pilgramage.

8 FAMOUS BYRONIC HEROES - Artemis Fowl II (Artemis Fowl by Eoin Colfer) - Edward Cullen (Twilight by Stephenie Meyer) - Erik/The Phantom (The Phantom of the Opera by Gaston Leroux) - Heathcliff (Wuthering Heights by Emily Brontë) - Lucifer/Satan (Paradise Lost by John Milton) - Mr. Rochester (Jane Eyre by Charlotte Brontë) - Scarlett O Hara (Gone With the Wind by Margaret Mitchell) - Severus Snape (Harry Potter series by J. K. Rowling) - Tyler Durden/Narrator (Fight Club by Chuck Palahniuk)