Referring To The Almighty and Great Superman
When the word Superhero is mentioned, the common man would typically reference the all-great and powerful Superman. A hero is a figure in a culture that is morally just, shows courage, and obtains physical abilities that are simply out of this world. But they are not the only heroes American culture celebrates; society must acknowledge the anti-hero. 'What is an anti-hero?' is a question that many could not answer. If one thinks of an anti-hero, most would assume it was another term for the villain in the story. In actuality, the distinction between a villain and a superhero are debatable within the anti-hero disposition. When referring to anti-heroes in comics, movies, and television we typically see what is known as a Byronic- hero.
Myself included confused the two terms as being the same but they are not. A Byronic-hero is a 'troubled' good guy. He does things that may not always be right but he does them for the greater good. He is a tragic hero and will never feel happy within himself. An anti-hero is a selfish individual who see no wrong in his actions. He makes all decisions for the betterment of himself and is happy with who he is. Now that we have identified the differences, what is commonly referred to as an anti-hero will be discussed an a Byronic-hero from here on.
Before the psyche of why society enjoys these types of figures can be analyzed, the Byronic-hero must first be more defined. A Byronic-hero can be described as the protagonist of the story but unlike Superman, Batman, and Captain America, they lack morality within their actions. Most Byronic-heroes are 'heroes' on accident or because their self-interest have placed them into that position. To better understand the makeup of the Byronic-hero, let's look back in its history within American Culture. The term 'Byronic-hero' was first used in the early 1800s. The first appearance of a Byronic-hero was in the poem Childe Harlod's Pilgrimage by the English Romantic poet Lord Byron.
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The poem was a semi-autobiographic narrative and the main character was 'a man proud, moody, cynical, with defiance on his brow, and misery in his heart, a scorner of his kind, implacable in revenge, yet capable of deep and strong affection'(Christiansen). The figure of the Byronic-hero was a complicated mix of Napoleon Bonaparte and John Milton's figure of Satan. Byron humanized the tortured figures and their psychology creating as sense of sympathy within the reader. Early adaptions of this archetype can be found in Victorian narratives like Frankenstein, The Hunchback of Norte Dame , or David Copperfield.
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