Anti-hero

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In literature and film, an anti-hero has widely come to mean a fictional character who has some characteristics that are antithetical to those of the traditional hero. An anti-hero in today's books and films will perform acts generally deemed "heroic," but will do so with methods, manners, or intentions that may not be heroic. The actual use of the word, however, is fairly recent, and its primary meaning has somewhat changed. As recently as 1940, the 600,000-word Merriam-Webster New International Dictionary, Second Edition, listed it but without a definition. By 1992 the American Heritage Dictionary of the American Language defined an anti-hero only as "a main character in a dramatic or narrative work who is characterized by a lack of traditional heroic qualities, such as idealism or courage," not as a person who nevertheless performs heroic acts. Even the more recent Merriam-Webster's Collegiate Dictionary, 11th Edition, of 2004, says: "(1714): a protagonist or notable figure who is conspicuously lacking in heroic qualities." The original meaning, therefore, is that of a protagonist who is ineffectual and hapless, rather than resolute and determined, whether his motives are good or bad. In some instances, anti-hero has come to refer to a protagonist of a work whose actions and motives are villainous or questionable.

Thus, anti-heroes can be awkward, accident-prone, antisocial, alienated, arrogant, bitter, cowardly, cruel, distempered, emotionless, fanatic, indifferent, immoral, insane, greedy, humorless, obnoxious, obtuse, unempathetic, passive, pitiful, selfish, sadistic, sociopathic, mentally twisted, savage, vindictive, morally ambiguous or just ordinary. When the anti-hero is a central character in a work of fiction the work will frequently deal with the effect their flawed character has on them and those they meet along the narrative. In other words, an anti-hero is a protagonist that lives by the guidance of their own moral compass, striving to define and construe their own values as opposed to those recognized by the society in which they live. Additionally, the work may depict how their character alters over time, either leading to punishment, un-heroic success, or redemption.

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[edit] History

There is no definitive date when the anti-hero came into existence as a literary trope. Apollonius of Rhodes' Argonautica portrays Jason as a timid, passive, indecisive man that contrasts sharply with other Greek heroes.[ 1 ] Yet the anti-hero has evolved over time, changing as society's conceptions of the hero changed, from the Elizabethan times of Christopher Marlowe's Faust and William Shakespeare's Falstaff, to the darker-themed Victorian literature of the 19th century, such as Philip Meadows Taylor's Confessions of a Thug. The Byronic hero also sets a literary precendent for the modern concept of the anti-hero.

The Man with No Name, an often cited example of an anti-hero, played by Clint Eastwood
The Man with No Name, an often cited example of an anti-hero, played by Clint Eastwood

In modern times, the popularity of the anti-hero has seemingly boomed. Pulp fiction and noir detective stories of the mid-20th century presented characters such as Sam Spade, who lacked the glorious appeal of previous heroic figures, became more popular. Sergio Leone's "spaghetti westerns" showcased a wandering vigilante (the "Man with No Name" played by Clint Eastwood) whose uncharismatic demeanor clashed with other heroic characteristics. The late 20th and early 21st century saw the rise of comic books and graphic novels featuring a boom of anti-heroic characters such as Batman, whose dark and brooding nature, along with their questionable methods, contrasted with their openly "heroic" peers like Superman. The apparent selfish nature of an anti-hero is often revealed to be a facade used to survive in a harsh universe, from which the anti-hero is sometimes redeemed through an act of love or friendship, such as with Star Wars' Han Solo.

Many modern anti-heroes possess, or even encapsulate, the postmodern rejection of traditional values symptomatic of Modernist literature in general, as well as the disillusion felt after World War II and the Nuclear Age. It has been argued that continuing popularity of the anti-hero in modern literature and popular culture may be based on the recognition that a person is fraught with human frailties, unlike the archetypes of the white-hatted cowboy and the noble warrior, and is therefore more accessible to readers and viewers. This popularity may also be symptomatic of the rejection by the avant-garde of traditional values after the counter-culture revolution of the 1960s.[ 2 ]

The values surrounding the characterization of an anti-hero have arguably changed. In the postmodern era, traditionally defined heroic qualities, akin to the classic "knight in shining armor" type, have given way to the "gritty truth" of life, and authority in general is being questioned. The brooding vigilante or "noble criminal" stereotype of characters like Batman is slowly becoming part of the popular conception of heroic valor rather than characteristics that are deemed un-heroic.[ 3 ]

[edit] See also

[edit] References

[edit] Footnotes

  1. ↑  Haggar, Daley (1996). "Review of Infinite Jest". Harvard Advocate Fall 96. 
  2. ↑  Erickson, Leslie (2004). "The Search for Self: Everyday Heroes and an Integral Re-Visioning of the Heroic Journey in Postmodern Literature and Popular Culture". Ph.D Dissertation University of Nebraska. 
  3. ↑  Lawall G, (1966). "Apollonius' Argonautica. Jason as anti-hero". Yale Classical Studies 19: 119-169. 

[edit] External links

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