Byronic hero

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The Byronic hero is an idealized, but flawed character exemplified in the life and writings of Lord Byron, characterized by his ex-lover Lady Caroline Lamb as being "mad, bad and dangerous to know".^[1] The Byronic hero first appears in Byron's semi-autobiographical epic narrative poem Childe Harold's Pilgrimage (1812-18). The Byronic hero has the following characteristics:

highly intelligent and perceptive
cunning and adaptive
often sophisticated and highly educated
self-critical and introspective
mysterious, magnetic and appealing
struggles with integrity
seductive and sexually attractive (sleeps with many women, claims them as his own, etc.)
dominant: in sexual relationships and interaction with people
conflicting emotions bipolar tendencies, or moodiness
a distaste for social institutions and social norms
being an exile, an outcast, or an outlaw
has "dark" attributes not normally associated with heroes
a lack of respect for rank and privilege
a troubled past
being cynical, demanding, and/or arrogant
often self-destructive
loner, often rejected from society

After Childe Harold's Pilgrimage, the Byronic hero made an appearance in many of Byron's other works, including his series of poems on Oriental themes: The Giaour (1813), The Corsair (1814) and Lara (1814); and his closet play Manfred (1817).

Byron's influence was manifested by many authors and artists of the Romantic movement and by writers of Gothic fiction during the 19th century. The Byronic hero provides the title character of Glenarvon (1816), by Byron's erstwhile lover Lady Caroline Lamb, and The Vampyre (1819) by his personal physician Polidori. Heathcliff from Emily Brontë's Wuthering Heights (1847) and Rochester from Charlotte Brontë's Jane Eyre (1847), Erik, the 'phantom' from Gaston Leroux' Phantom of the Opera, and Claude Frollo from Victor Hugo's The Hunchback of Notre Dame are other examples.

Scholars have also drawn parallels between the Byronic Hero and the solipsist heroes of Russian literature. In particular, Alexander Pushkin's famed character, Eugene Onegin echoes many of the attributes seen in "Childe Harold's Pilgrimage," particularly, Onegin's solitary brooding and disrespect for traditional privilege. The first stages of Pushkin's poetic novel "Onegin" appeared twelve years after Byron's "Childe Harold's Pilgrimage', and Byron was of obvious influence (Vladimir Nabokov argued in his "Commentary to Eugene Onegin" that Pushkin had read Byron during his years in exile just prior to composing "Onegin"). The same character themes continued to influence Russian literature, particularly after Mikhail Lermontov invigorated the Byronic Hero through the character Pechorin in his 1839 novel A Hero of Our Time.

The Byronic hero is also featured in many different contemporary novels, and it is clear that Lord Byron's work continues to influence modern literature as the precursor of a commonly encountered type of anti-hero. The lead character, Stephen Dedalus of James Joyce's A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man is one of the more notorious recent heroes of this genre. Another modern Byronic hero is the character Severus Snape from J.K. Rowling's popular Harry Potter series. Lelouch Lamperouge, the protagonist of the Japanese anime series, Code Geass: Lelouch of the Rebellion, is somewhat of a Byronic hero.