‘One virtue and a thousand crimes’: The Victorian Byronic Hero

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Snow, Bethan (2019) ‘One virtue and a thousand crimes’: The Victorian Byronic Hero. Undergraduate thesis, University of Chichester.

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Abstract

The Byronic hero is a cultural and literary phenomenon that characterises some of the most famous male characters in literature, and during its movement through the Victorian period, the Byronic hero evolved into a diverse and complex character. This dissertation analyses two forms of the Victorian Byronic hero, the Gothic Anti-Hero and the ‘Domestic Gentleman’, examining two characters for each hero type: Emily Brontë’s Heathcliff and Gaston Leroux’s Erik for the Gothic Anti-Hero, and Charlotte Brontë’s Mr Rochester and Elizabeth Gaskell’s Mr Thornton for the Domestic ‘Gentleman’. The aim of this dissertation is to investigate the Victorian Byronic hero as a sympathetic character and to discover and explore why readers are drawn to these characters - why they may feel sympathy for them and wish for their redemption - despite the crimes they commit and their malevolent, arrogant and manipulative behaviour.

Item Type: Thesis (Undergraduate)
Uncontrolled Keywords: ENL304 ENL305
Subjects: P Language and Literature > PN Literature (General)
Divisions: Departments > English and Creative Writing
Undergraduate Dissertations
Depositing User: Wendy Ellison
Date Deposited: 12 Sep 2019 12:28
Last Modified: 12 Sep 2019 12:28
URI: http://eprints.chi.ac.uk/id/eprint/4822

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