English Literature - To What extent is Heathcliff a “Byronic” hero?
To what extent is Heathcliff a “Byronic” hero? With evidence from the text(s), compare the character to other
instances of the type from romantic literature.
Emily Brontë only novel, Wuthering Heights, is one of the most renowned books in English literature. At its time of publication it
received mixed reviews and was often frowned upon for many of its features that make it a classic today. Wuthering Heights paints a
stark and, quite often, disturbing picture of life in a period that was rarely written about so boldly and blatantly. Other than its
breaching of taboo subjects, the characters of Wuthering Heights and their personalities were far darker, complex, and as a result,
tended to be more real than the more pleasant characters in most writings of the day. Arguably the most important of these
characters is Heathcliff, of whom it could be said the story revolves around. It is his dark and complex personality that is largely
responsible for the various twists and turns that the plot takes. It is, however, difficult to class him as one type of character or
another. Heathcliff’s importance to the plot obviously makes him a main character, but his remorseless cruelty rules him out of
being a protagonist, whilst his pitiable past and his role in the story’s main love affair puts his being an antagonist in a doubtful light.
One possibility is that he is something called a “Byronic” hero. As with the characters in Wuthering Heights, defining what exactly a
Byronic hero is can be difficult, and the result, vague. As such, the remainder of this essay will compare Heathcliff to several
archetypal Byronic heroes in order to determine to what extent he is or is not one.
The creator and namesake of the Byronic hero was Lord Byron, English writer and poet. This type of character was first seen in
Childe Harold from Byron’s “Childe Harold’s Pilgrimage”.
Whilome in Albion's isle there dwelt a youth,
Who ne in virtue's ways did take delight;
But spent his days in riot most uncouth,
And vexed with mirth the drowsy ear of Night.
Ah, me! in sooth he was a shameless wight,
Sore given to revel and ungodly glee;
Few earthly things found favour in his sight
Save concubines and carnal companie,
And flaunting wassailers of high and low degree.
(Childe Harold’s Pilgrimage, 1812)
As is evident in the above passage, Childe Harold was anything but chivalrous. He is obviously no fool as is evidenced by his title of
‘Childe’, a term used for a young man who would become a knight, but he “shamelessly” enjoys “ungodly glee” and “carnal
companie”, which makes for a less than perfect character, to say the least.
Childe Harold basked him in the noontide sun,
Disporting there like any other fly,
Nor deemed before his little day was done
One blast might chill him into misery.
But long ere scarce a third of his passed by,
Worse than adversity the Childe befell;
He felt the fulness of satiety:
Then loathed he in his native land to dwell,
Which seemed to him more lone than eremite’s sad cell.
(Childe Harold’s Pilgrimage, 1812)
We then see that he is sick of the life he has been living in that “He felt the fullness of Satiety”. Now disillusioned of society, he
decides to leave his home and seek out a better life in the world. This is a man with questionable morals, who disapproves of
society, and so decides to leave it in a kind of self-inflicted exile. All of these are qualities that are seen in Heathcliff. For example, to
call his morality questionable would be to grossly understate his nature. Although it is never bluntly stated, it is clearly implied that
Heathcliff begins and maintains an adulterous and possibly incestuous relationship with Catherine. Some have also suggested that
Heathcliff may have partaken in necrophilia after she was buried:
I said to myself—“I’ll have her
be motionless, it is sleep.” I
fell to work with my hands; the
seemed that I heard a sigh from
in my arms again! If she be cold, I’ll think it is this north wind that chills me; and if she
got a spade from the tool-house, and began to delve with all my might—it scraped the coffin; I
wood commenced cracking about the screws; I was on the point of attaining my object, when it
some one above, close at the edge of the grave, and bending down. “If I can only get this off,”
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English Literature - To What extent is Heathcliff a “Byronic” hero?
I muttered, “I wish they may shovel in the earth over us both!” and I wrenched at it more desperately still.
sigh, close at my ear. I appeared to feel the warm breath of it displacing the sleet-laden wind.
(Wuthering Heights, 1847)
There was another
The most obvious link, however, is that of the self-inflicted exile. Heathcliff and Harold’s reasons for leaving their respective
situations were different in the specifics, but similar in base conceptuality. Harold was fed up with a meaningless life, while
Heathcliff left after hearing the one person he cared about say that it would degrade her to marry him, thus making his life at
Wuthering Heights empty and meaningless. At the most basic level, both are outcasts in society and both are so, at least in part, by
choice.
Another archetypal Byronic hero is the character of Don Juan. Although the legend of Don Juan predates Byron by nearly 100 years,
he did write an epic poem with the same title, and it is this version that will be used as an example. The legend varies slightly
depending on whose account is being examined, but the character of Don Juan himself changes very little. The story is of a rebellious
young man who becomes involved in an affair with an older, married woman. After this, it is decided that he should travel, hence
beginning a long string of adventures filled with riches, gambling, and most notably, repeated seductions. Almost all of the major
plots rely heavily on the questionable relationships that he forms with women of different ages and stations of life. One specific
example is in the third part of the poem when he is rescued by, and then seduces, the daughter of a rich trader. Once it is believed
that the father has died, Don Juan is, for a time, owner of all that the daughter and her father possessed. This bears both similarities
and differences to what Heathcliff did to Isabella Linton by seducing her and using her as a means to gain property and revenge.
Both men are obviously skilled seducers, a feature prevalent in Byronic heroes, but it would appear that their motives were quite
different:
From their tongues they did dismiss it; and Catherine, probably, from her thoughts. The other[Heathcliff], I felt certain,
recalled it often in the course of the evening. I saw him smile to himself—grin rather—and lapse into ominous musing whenever
Mrs. Linton had occasion to be absent from the apartment.
(Wuthering Heights, 1847)
--------For woman's face was never form'd in vain
For Juan, so that even when he pray'd
He turn'd from grisly saints, and martyrs hairy,
To the sweet portraits of the Virgin Mary.
(Don Juan, 1819)
Heathcliff had eyes for no other than Catherine, but was willing to seduce Isabella Linton for his own gain. This is as opposed to Don
Juan who, despite his shortcomings, was not merely interested in what material possessions he could get from a relation.
This brings to attention what is one of the biggest grey-areas within the realm of this character definition. There is a fine and
indistinct line between a Byronic hero and a ‘villain’. When contrasted against these first two examples, Heathcliff would appear to
be sitting rather close to this boundary. One final example, Mr. Darcy from Jane Austin’s Pride and Prejudice, shows an entirely
different breed of Byronic hero that ought to clarify exactly what characteristics are essential to one. Mr. Darcy is a rich gentleman
with a rather large estate and an ego to suit. We see him near the beginning of the novel at the Meryton ball, where he refuses to
dance with the main heroine, Elizabeth Bennet, and says within her earshot that she is “tolerable” but not “handsome enough to
tempt” him. He is incredibly egotistical, and yet he is considered to be a very attractive person by many throughout the novel.
"Perhaps that is not possible for anyone. But it has been the study of my life to avoid those weaknesses which often expose a
strong understanding to ridicule."
"Such as vanity and pride."
"Yes, vanity is a weakness indeed. But pride—where there is a real superiority of mind, pride will be always under good
regulation."
(Pride and Prejudice, 1813)
--------"Oh! my dear, I am quite delighted with him. He is so excessively handsome!...
(Pride and Prejudice, 1813)
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English Literature - To What extent is Heathcliff a “Byronic” hero?
He is conflicted by his self-centeredness and seems to swallow at least some of his pride by the end of the novel. The fact that he is
missing the string of mistresses, the tendencies towards drink and gambling, and other more severe shortcomings that the previous
examples had, goes to show that a Byronic hero need only be a conflicted individual who, because of certain ‘flaws’ that would make
any lesser man undesirable, is considered attractive. Furthermore, one might dislike certain features of a Byronic hero, and yet be
attracted by these very things at the same time. Although Mr. Darcy’s faults are only minor, the way in which he manages to turn
them to his advantage and become more attractive because of them is what makes him a Byronic Hero. The question that must then
be asked is: to what extent does Heathcliff fit this description?
Heathcliff has no shortage of inadequacies, but as to whether or not he is made more attractive or simply more detestable by them
is more difficult to discern. To start, the only two characters who are ever really drawn to Heathcliff are Catherine and Isabella.
Catherine liked Heathcliff since he was a child, and adding to that the fact that her sanity is questionable, it is unlikely that his
possible Byronic side would be affecting her. Isabella, on the other hand, finds him attractive for little given reason, and when
confronted about this, she describes Heathcliff far more graciously than any other throughout the novel:
Mr. Heathcliff is not a fiend: he has an honourable soul, and a true one, or how could he remember her?’ (Wuthering Heights,
1847)
Although this behavior is exactly what we’d expect from someone infatuated with a Byronic hero, the fact that only one person
thinks about him in such a way places some doubt on the extent of his ‘Byronity’. He is described rather handsomely in appearance:
He had grown a tall, athletic, well-formed man; beside whom [Edgar] seemed quite slender and youth-like. His upright carriage
suggested the idea of his having been in the army. His countenance was much older in expression and decision of feature than Mr.
Linton's; it looked intelligent, and retained no marks of former degradation. A half-civilised ferocity lurked yet in the
depressed brows and eyes full of black fire, but it was subdued; and his manner was even dignified: quite divested of roughness,
though stern for grace.
(Wuthering Heights, 1847)
Yet, despite this, he is almost invariably recognized as a menace to all. It seems that he has the all the makings of a Byronic hero, but
the weight of all his wrongdoing tips him over the line from hero to villain. It could be said, then, that despite his numerous
similarities to archetypal Byronic heroes, he lacks one of the main things that all such characters have: respect from others.
Heathcliff always had the potential to become a Byronic hero, but he never fulfilled it.
References:
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Wuthering Heights. 1847. Emily Brontë. [ONLINE] Available at: http://www.gutenberg.org/files/768/768-h/768-h.htm. [Accessed 03 November 2014].
Childe Harold’s Pilgrimage. 1812. George Byron. [ONLINE] Available at: https://ebooks.adelaide.edu.au/b/byron/george/b99c/complete.html. [Accessed
03 November 2014].
Don Juan. 1819. Lord Byron. [ONLINE] Available at: http://www.gutenberg.org/files/21700/21700-h/21700-h.htm. [Accessed 03 November 2014].
Pride and Prejudice. 1813. Jane Austen. [ONLINE] Available at: http://www.gutenberg.org/files/1342/1342-h/1342-h.htm#link2HCH0011. [Accessed 03
November 2014].
Poem Summary. 2014. [ONLINE] Available at: http://www.cliffsnotes.com/literature/d/don-juan/poem-summary. [Accessed 03 November 2014].
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