Wuthering Heights Archetypal Hero vs Byronic Hero English
Wuthering Heights: Archetypal Hero vs. Byronic Hero English 12 Regular SMIC 2012
Traditional view of a hero? • Come on… prior knowledge check… • Remember the fall with Mr. Weaver? ? ?
Does this help?
Characteristics of archetypal hero: • a mysterious birth and unknown parents • high birth and social status • unusual physical strength and prowess displayed at an early age • unusual intellectual gifts, recognized and praised by others • positive character traits such as honesty, loyalty, courage, and kind-heartedness--even if there are occasional lapses in adherence to traditional moral codes and conventions • qualities that make him a natural leader • ability to take risks and successfully meet tests of physical strength and wisdom • a spiritual vision that transcends the ordinary codes of morality and social convention • recognition as a hero by his people because of contributions to their culture.
We remember the bad guys and forget the good ones. Really? ? Ladies, what’s up with that? !
Two new terms: • Byronic Hero (today’s lesson) • Anti-Hero (breaks all the traditional rules)
Origin of term Byronic Hero • As name suggests, has a lot to do with the Romantic poet George Gordon, Lord Byron ( 1788 -1824). • A stormy, sensitive, fiercely proud man • The son of an army captain known as “mad Jack Byron. ” • His mother, an emotionally unstable woman, alternately pampered him and taunted him about his one physical imperfection- a clubfoot.
• Of noble birth, Byron lived in near poverty until an age of ten, when he inherited his great-uncle’s estate, Newstead Abbey. • This inheritance enabled him to attend Cambridge, where he gained a reputation as an accomplished athlete, especially in swimming and boxing. • After graduating, he traveled throughout Europe and parts of Asia. • He recorded his impressions in a highly fictionalized account of his travels in the narrative poem, Childe Harold’s Pilgrimage. • After publication of the first two cantos of the work, Byron said, “I awoke one morning to find myself famous. ”
• Suddenly he was the darling of high society, invited to a dizzying array of social events, where he was often the center of attention. • It is rumored that women (remember we are talking about the 18 th century here) stripped off their clothes and threw them at this handsome poet. Women flung themselves at him, and he usually didn’t turn them away (that’s an euphemism). • Despite this, he foolishly married a very prim lady, then found himself embroiled in a scandalous divorce case. • His affairs continued but were no longer ignored, and the society that had idolized him became his enemy.
• He left England, spending the rest of his years in self-imposed exile. • He wandered across Europe, writing bitter satirical verse aimed at the hypocrisy of the society that he had felt had betrayed him. • His love for freedom ultimately led him to Greece, where he joined the cause of Greek independence from Turkey. • He became an officer in the Greek army, but, before he ever saw battle, died of a fever in a Greek army camp at 36 years of age.
• Behind the poet was a hedonistic man who can at best be described as a womanizer and at worst a demonic vampire. • Byron’s poetic heroes are idealized portraits of himself • They are mysterious, somewhat exotic creatures whose passionate intensity cute them off from others • That is why in spite of being a romantic poet he lends his name to a race of heroes who are negative, intense, adored and hated at once by us.
Characteristics of the Byronic Hero Careful! A character does not have to possess all of the traits below to be considered a Byronic hero, nor is every character with some of these traits necessarily a Byronic hero. Blake’s The Marriage of Heaven and Hell
Characteristics of the Byronic Hero A distaste for social institutions and norms An exile, an outcast, or an outlaw Arrogant Cunning and ability to adapt Cynical “Dark” attributes not normally associated with a hero Disrespectful of rank and privilege Emotionally conflicted, bipolar tendencies, or moodiness High level of intelligence and perception Mysterious, magnetic, and charismatic Power of seduction and attraction Self-critical and introspective Self-destructive behavior Social and sexual dominance Sophisticated and welleducated Struggles with integrity Troubled past This list, adapted from http: //en. wikipedia. org/wiki/Byronic_hero, gives an overview of the character traits and attitudes typically associated with the Byronic hero.
Video clip of Byronic Hero • Humphrey Bogart in “Casablanca”
Examples: • Classical: • Modern:
How does this relate to Wuthering Heights? AH! That’s the question!
Back to Wuthering Heights • Kate Bush http: //v. youku. com/v_show/id_XMj. Qz. ODk 3 Nj. Q 0. html • Ukulele Band http: //v. youku. com/v_show/id_XOTg 5 Mz. Mz. Y=. html
Out on the wiley, windy moors We'd roll and fall in green. You had a temper like my jealousy: Too hot, too greedy. How could you leave me, When I needed to possess you? I hated you. I loved you, too. Bad dreams in the night. They told me I was going to lose the fight, Leave behind my wuthering, wuthering Wuthering Heights. Heathcliff, it's me--Cathy. Come home. I'm so cold! Let me in-a-your window. Ooh, it gets dark! It gets lonely, On the other side from you. I pine a lot. I find the lot Falls through without you. I'm coming back, love. Cruel Heathcliff, my one dream, My only master. Too long I roam in the night. Come home. I'm so cold! I'm coming back to his side, to put it right. I'm coming home to wuthering, Wuthering Heights, Heathcliff, it's me--Cathy. Come home. I'm so cold! Let me in-a-your window. Ooh! Let me have it. Let me grab your soul away. You know it's me--Cathy! Heathcliff, it's me--Cathy. Come home. I'm so cold! Let me in-a-your window. Heathcliff, it's me--Cathy.
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