Works Cited
Shmoop Editorial Team. "Heathcliff in Wuthering Heights" Shmoop.com. Shmoop University, Inc., 11 Nov. 2008. Web. 1 Apr. 2012.
Bronte, Emily. Wuthering Heights. London: Penguin, 1985. Print.
"Byronic Hero." Dictionary.com. Dictionary.com. Web. 01 Apr. 2012.
"Love in "Wuthering Heights"" Love in "Wuthering Heights" 14 Mar. 2011. Web. 01 Apr. 2012.
Other famous Byronic Heroes
- Oedipus, from Oedipus Rex
- The Beast, from Beauty and the Beast
- Rochester, from Jane Eyre
- Frollo, from the Hunchback of Notre Dame
- James Steerforth, from David Copperfield
Elements of a Byronic hero:
- Must have certain strength in character
- Cynical
- Self assured and quick-witted
- Is not necessarily evil, but must capable of seemingly evil deeds
- Probably considered more of a rebel than a hero
- Self-destructive
- Having a troubled past or suffering from an unnamed crime
- Mysterious, magnetic and charismatic
- Sophisticated and educated
- Struggles with integrity
- Treated as an exile, outcast, or outlaw
Elements that make Heathcliff a Byronic hero:
- Heathcliff enter the Earnshaw home as an orphan, and was mistreated, soon becoming a product of abuse and neglect in the house. He is also not given the surname Earnshaw, like the rest of his adopted family.
- Heathcliff has a very dark and mysterious vibe to himself. He is a complex character with pleasant surprises and also faults to his character which makes him not good, but not necessarily bad.
- He also is one to give many threats, and it is questionable if there is anyone he really cares for besides Catherine.
What Is a Byronic Hero?
A kind of hero found in several of the works of Lord Byron. Like Byron himself, a Byronic hero is a melancholy and rebellious young man, distressed by a terrible wrong he committed in the past.
- Byronic heroes were very popular in times of Gothic literature.
- This was because of the major influences from works by Lord Byron in the 19th century.
as
A Byronic Hero