19th-Century Heroism
The Byronic Hero
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" (dictionary.com). As the dictionary definition points out, a Byronic hero is a rebel. He lives outside of the law - whether by choice or not. Most of the time, they live their lives this way because they feel alienated from society and they want to find the truth in things. These heroes are most likely alienated because they are known to be arrogant, exiled (they are wanderers), brooding, charasmatic, self-destructive, and misunderstood. A few examples of a Byronic hero are: Heathcliff (Wurthering Heights), Claude Frollo (The Hunchback of Notre Dame), Captain Ahab (Moby Dick). The two we will be discussing are Joaquin Murieta (The Life and Adventures of Joaquin Murieta, the Celebrated Calfornia Bandit) and Dorian Gray (The Picture of Dorian Gray).
Joaquin Murieta is a classic Byronic hero. This character was created by John Rollin Ridge in 1854. Now Joaquin is not a born hero. He is thrust into this role after living a life being wronged by discriminatory laws. You see, Murieta was born to "respectable parents" in Sonora, Mexico before moving to California during the Gold Rush. He was quickly introduced to the racism and ridicule that came with being of foreign blood in America at the time. It goes as far as a group of Americans beat him up, tie him up, and then rape his wife right in front of him. This course of events leads to Joaquin swearing to exact revenge upon all Americans. He achieved this by killing off members of the mob, while also building himself a gang of bandits (the banditti) who stole horses and killed all that tried to interfere.
It is clear from this that Murieta had many (if not all) of the characteristics of a Byronic hero. He is violent, ruthless, self-destructive, traumatized, and most importantly he is dedicated to pursuing justice over legality. He goes against the law in order to get what he is justifiably his. A few other distinctions that regulates Murieta being a Byronic hero is that he is courageous, handsome and charismatic. Solely based off the characteristics that he poses, one can only think of Murieta as a Byronic hero. However, when we look closer at who Murieta is as a person and the morals he has - it is even more clear that he is a true hero.
The craziest part about this tale is that it has been taken to be known as a "true tale" by historians of nineteenth-century California. "Ridge himself claims the story is true and important to the early history of the state" (Parins). If this was in fact a true story than how do we distinguish the fact from the fiction. Ridge does a great job when portraying the bandit leader Joaquin as a vigilante hero - but was that the true Joaquin? According to Parins, Ridge was first introduced to Joaquin when he first arrived in California and saw Joaquin's name in many of the newspapers. However, the real name of Joaquin was Joaquin Lugo. "But many of the accounts identified the leader simply as "Joaquin"; as time went on and Joaquin's stature as a superbandit grew, he was assigned several surnames, including Murieta (or Murrieta or Murietta), Valenzuela, Carrillo, Ocomorenia, and Botellier. It is not known whether all five existed or whether one or more Joaquins operated under aliases" (Parins). This shows that there must have been a real Joaquin - but which Joaquin is real? Regardless, it is clear that Joaquin was a vigilante in real life as well as in Ridge's novel. I do believe that there were some obvious changes in the novel to allow the readers to see a side of Joaquin that Ridge wanted them to see, but overall it is clear that he had all the aspects and characteristics of a Byronic hero.
"A band of these lawless men, having the brute power to do as they pleased, visited Joaquin's house and peremptorily bade him leave his claim, as the would allow no Mexicans to work in that region. Upon his remonstrating against such outrageous conduct, they struck him violently over the face, and, being physically superior, compelled him to swallow his wrath. Not content with this, they tied him hand and foot and ravished his young mistress before his eyes" (Ridge, Pg. 10).
--- This quote is the moment where the Americans break into Joaquin's house to beat him and rape his "mistress." This was important to Joaquin's path to being a Byronic hero because this was the moment in which his hatred for the "white man" boiled over and caused him to set out for his revenge - eventually leading him to his life of vigilante justice. If this event had not occured than Joaquin most likely would never have set out on his quest for justice and thus would never have been labeled a Byronic hero - or a Bandit for that matter. ---
"The daring bandit, upon hearing this speech, jumped on the monte table in view of the whole house, and, drawing his sixshooter, shouted out, "I am Joaquin! If there is any shooting to do, I am in" (Ridge, Pg. 31).
--- This quote truly shows the bravery and courage that Joaquin possessed (and also his lack of fear of death). After the incident with the Americans, Joaquin had nothing left to lose so all his fear of dying went away. Most people are afraid to die because of the pain and the unknown - but because Joaquin faced the pain of being betrayed by the Americans and watching as they raped his mistress, he no longer has that fear. I would say that this is the first time the reader sees just how ruthless that Joaquin Murieta was and/or would later become. ---
"...a fine-looking man whom [the townspeople] had never seen before -- having long, black hairhanging over his shoulders and a piercing black eye..." (Ridge, Pg. 67)
--- This quote is pretty self-explanatory as it is simply explaining how "fine-looking" Joaquin was. This is important in the aspect of Joaquin being a Byronic hero because as stated above, Byronic heroes are characteristicly attractive - which Joaquin apparently was. ---
"I will give you $10,000. JOAQUIN" (Ridge, Pg. 68) /// "I am Joaquin! Kill me if you can!" (Ridge, Pg. 87)
--- This is another quote that shows how courageous Joaquin was, but more importantly it shows his self-destructive nature. He shows this characteristic because he is literally tempting the people to kill him. He offers them money and taunts them - if that isn't self-destructive than I don't know what is! Though it was because of this arrogance that the people loved him so much. He was very charasmatic in that regard - though it doesn't make it any less foolish. ---
Dorian Gray is a bit harder to label as a Byronic hero. Oscar Wilde spawned this hero in 1890. The reason that Dorian Gray is so hard to label a hero of any kind is because he really doesn't do anything that is heroic throughout the entire novel. However, being a Byronic hero doesn't always constitute heroic acts being needed to be done. Gray is moody, arrogant, and shows signs of depression. His need (and want) to remain youthful shows that Dorian had selfish intentions - which in the end led to his demise. However, aside from his selfish ways, Gray is still seen as passionate, resourceful, adaptable and highly intelligent. Another quality that Dorian possesses is being sexually attractive, this is mainly due to the fact that he never ages. This causes him to keep his devilishly good looks intact for all of eternity. Both Lord Henry and Basil Hallwood were both emphatically infatuated with him - both of whom were male. This was in an era where homosexuality was forbidden, so in that manner we see Dorian as a person who is courageous and goes against the laws that govern him.
It is because of all these traits that we are able to successfully label Dorian Gray as a Byronic Hero. "Oscar Wilde's Dorian Gray, the typical decadent hero, could only proceed from an intense egotism" (Ryals, Pg. 88). In this article Gray is labeled as a "decadent hero."
Describe your image here
Describe your image here
Describe your image here
Describe your image here
A decadent hero is just another version of a Byronic hero. The two have many similarites - the most similar characteristic being that they both display high levels of self-consciousness (egotism). The reason they are classified differently is because a decadent hero has "egotism developed into a more subtle self-consciousness, the result of which was an intense search for sensations..." (Ryals, Pg. 88). It is easy to see that Dorian Gray is indeed egotistical in the fact that he wants to stay young and handsome for his entire life. Because of this desire to remain youthful, Gray eventually began to unravel and do some very un-heroic actions. However, it is for the characteristics that he possessed more than the actions that he portrayed that led to him being called a Byronic hero.
"Yes, he was certainly wonderfully handsome, with his finely curved scarlet lips, his frank blue eyes, his crisp gold hair. There was something in his face that made one trust him at once. All the candour of youth was there, as well as all youth's passionate purity. One felt that he had kept himself unspotted from the world. No wonder Basil Hallward worshipped him" (Wilde, Pg. 11-12).
--- This quote shows just how handsome that Dorian Gray was. It was to the point that he had Hallward "worshipping him." It makes Gray out to sound like the most superior looking man alive. He not only was able to capture the attention of all the women, but also of many men! It was because of this beauty that Gray possessed that led him to want to remain youthful forever and thus made the deal with the portrait. However, it is also due to his outer beauty that Gray is so well-recieved by other and thus is considered quite charasmatic. More so though, his shallow personality is his ultimate self-destructive quality as it leads him down the path of the portrait which inevitably ruins him. ---
"I know, now, that when one loses one's good looks, whatever they may be, one loses everything. Your picture has taught me that. Lord Henry Wotton is perfectly right. Youth is the only thing worth having. When I find that I am growing old, I shall kill myself" (Wilde, Pg. 19).
--- Gray's vanity and shallow nature is very easily seen with this qoute. It shows that he is so arrogant of a man that he believes that once one grows old and wrinkly that they are pretty much obsolete to the world. He pities all who he considers ugly and thinks that because of his good looks that he has nothing to ever worry about, other than growing old and losing those good looks. ---
"Suddenly there flashed across his mind what he had said in Basil Hallward's studio the day the picture had been finished. Yes, he remembered it perfectly. He had uttered a mad wish that he himself might remain young, and the portrait grow old; that his own beauty might be untarnished, and the face on the canvas bear the burden of his passions and his sins; that the painted image might be seared with the lines of suffering and thought, and that he might keep all the delicate bloom and loveliness of his then just conscious boyhood. Surely his wish had not been fulfilled? Such things were impossible. It seemed monstrous even to think of them. And, yet, there was the picture before him, with the touch of cruelty in the mouth" (Wilde, Pg. 66).
--- This is the first moment in the book where Gray starts to think his decision to make the deal with the portrait is a mistake. He realizes that the portrait is starting to show blemishes for the cruelty of his own soul and mind. He becomes worried when he sees this first crack, and yet he doesn't change his ways in order to prevent it from cracking more. Thus showing his self-destructive characteristics once again. ---