The Byronic Hero: Isn’t it Byronic? (Feat. Princess Weekes)

The Byronic Hero: Isn’t it Byronic? (Feat. Princess Weekes) | It’s Lit

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4 жыл бұрын

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Edward Cullen. Han Solo. Killmoklknger. Lestat. What do all these characters have in common besides being heartthrobs? They share a common ancestor: the Byronic Hero. Brooding, sensual, violent, intelligent, and single-minded, the Byronic hero has been a staple in literature dating back to the 19th century, but the archetype is all over film, TV and even video games. I see you Cloud Strife, all sad and angsty with your giant sword.
Hosted by Lindsay Ellis and Princess Weekes, It’s Lit! is a show about our favorite books, genres and why we love to read. It’s Lit has been made possible in part by the National Endowment for the Humanities: Exploring the human endeavor.
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Hosted and Written by: Princess Weekes
Director: David Schulte
Executive Producer: Amanda Fox
Producer: Stephanie Noone
Editors: Derek Borsheim, Sara Roma
Writing Consultants: Maia Krause
Executive Producer (PBS): Adam Dylewski
Editorial Producer (PBS): Gabrielle Ewing
Produced by Spotzen for PBS Digital Studios.
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Пікірлер: 1 000

@devxoid 4 жыл бұрын

"solitary figure who seeks to live out their life in isolation, but is pulled into society against their will...monstrous or dark appearance yet alluring personalities" ok so like. shrek

@pancakeofdestiny 4 жыл бұрын

Underrated comment.

@juanjuri6127 4 жыл бұрын

Somebody once told me the world was gonna roll me, I ain't that sharp, call me Ishmael

@curlzOdoom 4 жыл бұрын

Yeah, I mean, he fits the archetype pretty perfectly. He literally has "layers" of tough outside broken inside lmao.

@Valo805 4 жыл бұрын

S O M E B O D Y O N C E T O L D M E !

@bukketkid2567 4 жыл бұрын

Whoa I forgot about shrek 😱

@kaylareagan9039 4 жыл бұрын

Ah finally, the recognition that Megamind deserves.

@lilyme3 4 жыл бұрын

Megamind is the best. I adore that movie.

@princessthyemis 4 жыл бұрын

@@lilyme3 Yes!!!!!!

@princessthyemis 4 жыл бұрын

YES! Totally agree. That movie is amazing.

@MatthewMoreau 11 ай бұрын

Batman

@DerAykac 4 жыл бұрын

You managed to talk about the Phantom without directly involving Lindsey. Did you lock her up in the basement?

@Anna-xh6fk 4 жыл бұрын

No silly, in the attic

@Justanotherconsumer 4 жыл бұрын

In the catacombs beneath the opera house, perhaps..

@LindsayEllisVids 4 жыл бұрын

Who do you think added that line ;)

@mrclueuin 4 жыл бұрын

@@LindsayEllisVids 😄

@Bluebaritone 4 жыл бұрын

🤣😂

@jons787 4 жыл бұрын

If Lord Byron was alive today he'd be making problematic statements on Twitter.

@ayanomar1408 4 жыл бұрын

Yes! and still there would be fans defending him and he would come up with a vague apologies that paint him as a misunderstood romantic UGH

@michelottens6083 4 жыл бұрын

@@ayanomar1408 All the popular tyrants now see themselves as wronged batmen, yes.

@porsche911sbs 3 жыл бұрын

He'd be off in Kurdistan fighting the Turks or something

@Deoxys911 3 жыл бұрын

"On a bloodletting cleanse to rebalance my soul after my soulmate escaped our love room again. Why is life so cruel to men like me?"

@tonibercha7045 3 жыл бұрын

God yes!

@Raatcharch 4 жыл бұрын

Holy crap, I didn't realize that Ada Lovelace was Lord Byron's daughter. That is one hella influential family.

@marlonmoncrieffe0728 4 жыл бұрын

😃 Yeah, I had NO idea either until yesterday!

@fabrisse7469 4 жыл бұрын

It's one reason her mother had her concentrate on mathematics. Mama thought it could keep Byron's passions at bay.

@anonb4632 4 жыл бұрын

Not many people know Byron spoke with a Scottish accent...

@epif1 4 жыл бұрын

I read her mom was determined to not let her become as self-destructive as her father... and humanity benefited. I think some of her math work was using by Alan Turing during WWII

@LyonPercival 4 жыл бұрын

What amazing historical figures, his lineage really made a ripple

@vicbaez 4 жыл бұрын

At first I thought byronic ment "ironically bisexual"

@alicjapiela4630 4 жыл бұрын

Me too xdd

@nr5076 4 жыл бұрын

I am glad i am not the only one

@claytongriffith8323 4 жыл бұрын

😂😂😂

@anonb4632 4 жыл бұрын

Byron actually was bisexual.

@HughDingwall 4 жыл бұрын

I mean, it doesn't *not* mean that...

@dlein93 4 жыл бұрын

When you had the 'Vengeance Boy' and the 'Sad Boy' Venn Diagram, I half expected the overlap to be Batman lol

@marchg4114 4 жыл бұрын

Batman is a Dystopian Byronic hero. So is whatsisname from The Walking Dead, and Riddick, and numerous others I can't think of right now.

@michelottens6083 4 жыл бұрын

@@marchg4114 The vengeance part historically came into this emo rich kid myth (appropriated down the ages from the Europa/Zeus myth, to Odysseus, etc.) when the European rich kids got disillusioned at their inheritance having become a more democratic and less aristocratic world. Rich kids got into wayy more duels and crime and wanderlust as the nineteenth century wore on. The byrony they popularized stuck around, but yeah maybe in the Batman-type version there's even more of a nihilism to that realization that highclass power isn't respected by the plebs, and that wealth doesn't bring the power it was promised to.

@noorzahra988 3 жыл бұрын

I kept waiting for Jason Todd to pop up lol

@lesteryaytrippy7282 3 жыл бұрын

@@noorzahra988 yep, both his adopted dad Batman and his second son Jason do fit in the archetype.

@eddierayvanlynch6133 2 жыл бұрын

Me seeing Robert Pattinson's picture: 😳 Does Princess see the future???

@elizabethdevido2081 4 жыл бұрын

“I’m Losing To A Bird!” I see you creeping into the script Lindsay...

@SEAZNDragon 4 жыл бұрын

I expected a Lindsay Ellis reference but I would have thought it would have gone to Eric from Phathom of the Opera.

@LordPachotron82 4 жыл бұрын

I thought after she said "Phantom of the Opera" for the third time, Lindsay would appear.

@mhawang8204 4 жыл бұрын

Lemirado Parker Phantom AND Beetlejuice references? I spot a Lindsay Stan.

@johnjessop9456 3 жыл бұрын

The real question is whether or not a byronic hero would ask the society that has shunned and scarred them to... "See how they glitter."

@pianotavlelamp 4 жыл бұрын

“Leave nice people alone! No means no, Byrons!” is my favorite 2020 reprimand.

@emilykawaii123 4 жыл бұрын

"...under the misguided belief that you can change him" I'm in this picture and I dont like it

@fhengal 4 жыл бұрын

That's kinda the point, though. Byronic heros still exist within the milieu of Romanticism, albeit Dark Romanticism. So, they are still susceptible to being conquered and converted by the transports of romantic love. True love holds out the promise of salvation and redemption to the Byronic hero, and the lack of love damns him to continue to bravely bear up within his own personal inner hell, unless he gloriously succumbs to utter despair.

@marisp2588 3 жыл бұрын

haha don't worry, it's a group photo and we're all in it

@fredchallenger5278 4 жыл бұрын

TL;DW: The Byronic Hero is just a formal name for the Edge Lord.

@sofer2230 4 жыл бұрын

Byron was a *literal* Edge Lord.

@EphemeralTao 4 жыл бұрын

The Edge Lord is the Byronic Hero with all the redeeming, interesting qualities stripped away.

@tinyrocks7549 4 жыл бұрын

Like... Geralt of Rivia in the Witcher on Netflix... Derek Hale in Teen Wolf, the king of brooding and hotness. EDIT: oh Yennifer is the peak byronic hero, I see it now

@delphinidin 4 жыл бұрын

omg derek hale 100%. i guess that's why it's so funny to pair him with stiles: stiles can be serious about nothing, and byronic heroes are SRS ABOUT EVERYTHING DO YOU NOT SEE MY ANGSTING PAIN

@TheStanishStudios 4 жыл бұрын

Ooooh good call on Yennifer

@thriddoctor 4 жыл бұрын

Geralt is a perfect example, in the books nit the crummy series.

@Sharpclaw2000 4 жыл бұрын

doesn't she get punished though? like a lot.

@lordmorklen5166 4 жыл бұрын

Geralt is stoic, but don't think he's very traditionally Byronic. He's too balanced for that, and has functioning relationships to balanced the dysfunctional ones out. That's the one thing that for me, takes Bruce Wayne out of the Byronic heroes list too. Yennefer on the other hand - yupp, she Byronic to the level I think she taught Byron how to be an edgelord.

@nemilyk 4 жыл бұрын

I'd posit that Yennefer of Vengerberg from the Witcher series is another good candidate for a female Byronic hero.

@JGVIllustrations 4 жыл бұрын

Yes!!!

@theshrew2804 4 жыл бұрын

Oh my god!

@bukketkid2567 4 жыл бұрын

Word!

@michelottens6083 4 жыл бұрын

Best part, she doesn't get shamed or punished or painted as tragic, without Geralt and pals there to accept, defend and support her, or they gently point out any of her inhumane powertrip behavior for what it is. The Witcher is especially nice about these types of heroes, bad sides and all.

@maxxam4665 3 жыл бұрын

I came to comment land to say "Maybe Dettlaff...", but you pointed out something waaaaaay cooler.

@meatchuck6984 4 жыл бұрын

He doesn't show, when you're already late But remembers your name, on your very first date He's tall and dark, rarely in the mood Yet he's passionate, even when he broods Oh isn't he Byronic? Doncha think?

@Lucius1958 4 жыл бұрын

You need to do that in proper _ottava rima_: *Tho' late arrived, she saw he was not there;* *But, when he came, her name he still repeated;* *As dark and tall, as she was small and fair,* *But in his air, a conqueror defeated.* *He made no answer to her questioning stare,* *But muttered to himself, as he was seated:* *"Why think they me a hero so iconic?* *I'm just a fool: but still I'm called Byronic."*

@theburit0 4 жыл бұрын

I thought you were doing alanis morissette ironic but more Byronic

@sarasmr4278 4 жыл бұрын

A little too Byronic, yeah I really do think.

@caitlin228 4 жыл бұрын

I've always thought of Bond as a Mary Sue. The author insert is strong in that one

@Psychwriteify 4 жыл бұрын

This needs a thousand more likes.

@BawonoSA173 3 жыл бұрын

Consider this: the strongest author self-insert is in Dante's _Divine Comedy_

@Alina_Schmidt 3 жыл бұрын

Including darkness idolization and for bond wish fullfillment (doesn‘t sound like bond creator/s being okay...)

@roswynn5484 2 жыл бұрын

Can totally be both!

@zzzzzzzzzzzk 5 ай бұрын

Timothy Dalton and Daniel Craig's portrayals are more Byronic.

@coryl3943 4 жыл бұрын

I'm loving that she referenced Regina and Catra as female examples. I'd say Emily Thorne/Amanda Clarke in the show 'Revenge' is also a byronic hero?? She's relentless in her pursuit of the people she feels have wronged her family, sacrificing everything in the process. She's consumed by resentment which causes her to be self-destructive and very dangerous.

@briefisbest 4 жыл бұрын

Since Revenge is openly a modern retelling of The Count of Monte Cristo, this makes sense.

@MadameChristie 4 жыл бұрын

Goddamn Regina though. like if we're talking punishing female Byronic characters, Regina seems to have been the writer's favourite cosmic chewtoy XP

@marlonmoncrieffe0728 4 жыл бұрын

Ah, I finished binging the whole series on Hulu last month! Anyway, good call! Emily eventually has her happy ending though she does lose her ability to have children (assuming Victoria hadn't lied).

@mcsmaria28 4 жыл бұрын

That’s actually perfect because Revenge was based on the Count of Monte Cristo.

@kellharris2491 4 жыл бұрын

I love catra. So deliciously complicated.

@BougGroug 4 жыл бұрын

I was prepared to defend Zuko but then I remembered all the times he kidnapped someone.

@gennybaratta2460 4 жыл бұрын

“I’ll save you from the pirates”-Zuko “It took my uncle 10 minutes to do my hair”- also Zuko Zuko is 100% a Byronic (anti)hero

@Oxtocoatl13 4 жыл бұрын

That's true, but Zuko also confronted his past crimes and struggled to make amends for them. For me, that is the reason his redemption arc feels so complete: he has to work for it and live with the consequences, with none of that "I spent a lifetime as a genocidal monster but now I do one nice thing and then die heroically" BS.

@jdprettynails 4 жыл бұрын

@@Oxtocoatl13 Zuko's redemption arc won me over so completely, I was actually annoyed when Katara wouldn't forgive him at first. My brain: She actually has a really good reason to not forgive him right now... Me: I know, but...WILL SOMEONE JUST HUG HIM PLEASE??? *Iroh hugs him* Me: *intense sobbing* YES!

@jdprettynails 3 жыл бұрын

@Hiccups But also he makes mistakes. He tries to do better, fails and feels genuine remorse. Most characters in media aimed kids are either 100% good, 100% evil or used to be bad but then they do one good thing so that redeems them. Zuko isn't that at all. It takes him several tries to get people to trust him and his past is never completely ignored. (Even in the comics people are still mistrustful of him and the fire nation...which is understandable!)

@abigailmorgan6526 2 жыл бұрын

Oh! Byronic is ALSO toxic! Kinda goes hand in hand.

@Serai3 4 жыл бұрын

_Byron is not just an author, but an unprecedented cultural phenomenon. His work not only affects the novel, poetry, and drama, but fashion, social manners, erotic experience, and gender roles._ . So we're talking about the 18th century's David Bowie.

@juliamcqueen6305 4 жыл бұрын

I agree with you with James Bond being Byronic hero and Mega Mind too

@lichofthewilds4384 4 жыл бұрын

Don’t know how I feel about Zuko being associated to Edward Cullen

@withniejules2244 4 жыл бұрын

Right. Why associate Zuko with him 😭😭😭

@princessthyemis 4 жыл бұрын

Exactly! I saw him in the thumbnail and the only reason I clicked on this was to defend Zuko. He shouldn't be here.

@bukketkid2567 4 жыл бұрын

🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣

@cferracini 3 жыл бұрын

I can see why he is here but... Zuko is the only one whose character develops out of being Byronic. I like to summarise Byronic characters as "bad boyfriend material. no, you can NOT change him, because he does NOT want to be changed NOR believes himself ABLE to change / does NOT even think he is wrong"

@rhiaofthemyscira 3 жыл бұрын

Zuko is a brainwashed, abused and angsty teen. Who learns his world view was wrong and then genuinely chooses to stand up for his morals. After watching this video and learning what a byronic hero is I don't really see how this applies to him, other than he had teenage angst. Comparing him to the other characters in this video is does not do him justice.

@sarahberlaud4285 4 жыл бұрын

I find it so interesting that the Byronic Hero as a genre of character had died down during what could basically be considered the harder decades of the 1900s (think the great depression, various wars, post-war starvation and rationing in much of the world), and then picked up again once things were much rosier (the booming economy of the 80s, social justice movements having made great steps in the 60s and 70s, etc.). I wonder if, with the hard times currently faced by society, the genre will taper away again? It's a bit like how when mainstream music gets "too happy and poppy," it often snaps back to darker, harder, or edgier places. No idea if this is actually the case, and I have no background in this!

@wochenente6977 4 жыл бұрын

It does make sense when you see literature, shows and movies as escapism. If your real life is bad you look for happy, fluffy stories. If you are privileged and have nothing to worry about in life, angsty stories are really appealing

@RectPropagation 4 жыл бұрын

I've been re-watching a lot of Todd in the Shadows' reviews while I work (music reviews lend themselves well to just listening instead of actually looking when necessary) and it's interesting to see how pop music has changed over the past decade.

@Dyundu 4 жыл бұрын

So, kind of like how Batman and Superman sort of take turns in the spotlight? Huh. I wonder how well that idea would correlate to the time frames you mentioned, especially with the various interpretations of those characters, as both have had different portrayals that correspond to different heroic archetypes, including Classical and Byronic for both. Thanks for the food for thought!

@TheSongwritingCat 4 жыл бұрын

At least for the more aristocratic type of Byronic hero, it's easier to empathize with that societal ennui when the world isn't burning.

@Revelwoodie 4 жыл бұрын

@@TheSongwritingCat Exactly. The romantic pull of a Byronic hero comes from a place in which a person can feel comfortable about, and even intrigued by, the idea of 'dancing with the devil.' That's why a young reader's first adolescent crush is often one of these characters. (For me it was Sydney Carton, and of course Heathcliff.) If you're 12 years old, live in the security of your parents' home, and have no real world experience of pain and heartache, then pain and heartache can seem alluring. That allure is GONE when darkness visits you in the REAL world.

@marianahernandez4679 4 жыл бұрын

Lindsey isn’t here but we’re still losing to a bird and getting phantom content and Kylo ren feels

@bencebotye3904 4 жыл бұрын

I just realized Kylo Ren is a Frankenstein's monster, created by the body-parts of the Seik, Batman, Sasuke and Snape.

@Domdrok 4 жыл бұрын

1. I love Princess as a host. 2. The shaking of the pictures kind of messes with my motion sickness. 3. This trope reminds me of manic pixie dream girl but opposite sexes.

@medealkemy 4 жыл бұрын

Oooh, good point ! Byronic heroes are literally (haha) Depressed Vampire Nightmare Boys ! Never noticed that before

@mysteriiis 4 жыл бұрын

depressive demon nightmare boy

@Crosshill 3 жыл бұрын

the manic pixies are the total inverse of byronic, thats kinda a fun dynamic

@itwasagoodideaatthetime7980 4 жыл бұрын

Lord Byron Mad, Bad & Dangerous to Know the original 'Bad Boy' Anti Hero.

@Author.Noelle.Alexandria 4 жыл бұрын

There's literally not evidence at all that Caroline said that. Her friend, Lady Morgan, said she did later on, but that's the closest evidence. Nothing but a friend saying so later on in her own life when writing a book about her life, and the most important part was being Caroline's friend during her affair with Byron. It's very unlikely that Caroline said that line.

@itwasagoodideaatthetime7980 3 жыл бұрын

@@Author.Noelle.Alexandria George Washington never said "I can not tell a lie it was I." But it still is associated with him. Just because Caroline may not have said " Mad, Bad & Dangerous to know" about Byron. Doesn't mean but that phrase isn't associated with him.

@danteller8282 4 жыл бұрын

I used to be obsessed with Byron and thought I could only find meaning through art. Later I started to fall in love with science and became more intensely interested in Ada Lovelace. Turns out, both are pretty formative, important, and worth pouring your interest into.

@melenatorr 4 жыл бұрын

What a wonderful essay - thank you so much! In an interesting twist, Anne Bronte, with her "Tenant of Wildfell Hall", wrote what might be called an anti-Byronic Hero novel.

@pinkcloudsnightlightbell 3 жыл бұрын

Omg... isnt there a Hark A Vagrant comik about Anne lol.👁👁

@MariaVosa 4 жыл бұрын

So - is Scarlett O'Hara the quintessential female Byronic Hero? She seems to fit the bill prefectly, including the manipulative aspect.

@casir.7407 4 жыл бұрын

she is, and id say the other guy, the clark gable fella could be considered one two. really, gone with the wind owes a lot to wuthering heights

@Firegen1 4 жыл бұрын

Oh definitely! Primo example.

@charlesgrybosky1916 4 жыл бұрын

Funny. I thought the same thing myself. I could not identify with her character at all, partially because a good bit of the tragedy surrounding her life was of her own doing. And, being a bit of an American Civil War historian, there was all the history that Margaret Mitchell decided to either rewrite or ignore that I could not get past. The movie was bad but the book was worse in that regard.

@ambds1975 4 жыл бұрын

Mitchell acknowledged herself that she grew up so heavily steeped in the mythology of the Glorious Cause that she didn't realize the South had lost the war until she was ten. But Scarlett and Rhett are definitely the antiheroes, given the heavyhanded message that Good Nice People like Ashley and Melanie aren't equipped to exist in the new world.

@TheSongwritingCat 4 жыл бұрын

Even if you removed the gendered tilt to the words most often used to describe Scarlett, I wouldn't call her a Byronic hero. Byronic heroes tend to be a little moodier and more depressive. She has a different temperament. Scarlett is kind of... always on, where Byronic heroes are prone to sudden fits of temper.

@gabe_s_videos 4 жыл бұрын

"Behind Blue Eyes" by The Who is absolutely about this kind of character.

@blue_tree_meadow 4 жыл бұрын

I would say then, that the ultimate, current, female Byronic hero, is Villanelle from, "Killing Eve."

@JGVIllustrations 4 жыл бұрын

I wanted to agree but she's not really an angsty character bc she's literally a psychopath (aka no feelings)...but I think Yennifer from the Witcher for sure

@Whosaskin 4 жыл бұрын

@@JGVIllustrations I'd agree regarding the first two seasons but by the second half of season 3 Villanelle is kinda angsty

@TheGloria21 3 жыл бұрын

Emma from Jane Austen is a good example i think

@Misstressofdons 3 жыл бұрын

Villanelle is a villain, not a hero. There have been plenty of good examples of female byronic heros posited by other commenters and in the video.

@blue_tree_meadow 3 жыл бұрын

@@Misstressofdons ok 🙂

@andenp8233 4 жыл бұрын

I love these! You (Princess) and Lindsay bring such lovely thoughtfulness and strong book-nerd energy to this channel and I love it. I'm usually familiar with many of the things you discuss, but I always learn a lot from you and it makes me want to learn MORE, read more, write more etc, rather than stay content with the knowledge I have. It's great, thanks.

@julielineberry1852 4 жыл бұрын

Any chance of us getting a video on the humble Himbo?

@D9992. 4 жыл бұрын

I need a himbo video

@eoincampbell1584 4 жыл бұрын

Not sure there's a very strong literary background for Himbos.

@lettuceprime4922 4 жыл бұрын

@@eoincampbell1584 - Conan the Barbarian.

@josuebartley7272 3 жыл бұрын

Eoin Campbell Thor is and always has been the original himbo

@Sharpe1502 4 жыл бұрын

I will always be depressed that no one ever talks about Secretary (where both characters are arguably Byronic and they both get a happy ending) but talk about 50 Shades of Grey.

@SomeTigerBass 4 жыл бұрын

This is an exceptionally good point.

@jso6790 4 жыл бұрын

And, as I understand it was a much better movie than the 50 Shades ones.. not that I know for sure having only seen Secretary and been emotionally grossed out by it.

@alarcon99 4 жыл бұрын

YES!!! PREACH!!! Specially with that trash “365” out on Netflix now 🤢 🤮

@Sharpe1502 4 жыл бұрын

J So James Spader’s character is actually named Mr. Grey, so 50 Shades completely ripped it off.

@jso6790 4 жыл бұрын

@@Sharpe1502 OH wow. I did not remember that! YIKES.. I saw Secretary years ago. I mean, I might be misremembering, but the author of 50 Shades was just a fan fic writer who married a movie producer, right? That would explain a great deal.

@amandacalling 4 жыл бұрын

Byron was also basically the first pop superstar. And he’s a national hero to the Greeks because he help them fight for freedom from the Ottoman Empire.

@Whosaskin 4 жыл бұрын

I love how despite Lindsay's absence, Phantom is still there.

@mithrandirearendur1282 4 жыл бұрын

and "I'm Losing to a Bird!"

@laurenbraswell5158 2 жыл бұрын

"The phantom of the opera is there, inside your mind!"

@jordang7479 4 жыл бұрын

Regina was the best thing about once upon a time and I hated it when her plans didn't work out!! I stopped watching after three seasons but i rooted for her.

@lilyme3 4 жыл бұрын

Oh absolutely. I gave up on Once, once I realized they'd never give her a happy ending. She was my only reason to keep watching for as many seasons as I did.

@gp8189 4 жыл бұрын

me an intellectual: ah, the proto-tsundere

@0neBadMonkey 4 жыл бұрын

His daughter was THE Lovelace. Mind, blown. I really look forward to these videos, you always teach me stuff i didnt know i didnt know. Thx

@windyhead7960 4 жыл бұрын

I'd say Han Solo is more of an anti-hero than Byronic; I mean, just anti-hero; not Byronic anti-hero; a lot like Clint Eastwood's character in dollar trilogy.

@cptpapa 4 жыл бұрын

windyhead 7 I agree and anti-hero might even be too much. He never killed for profit/love/fun, stayed with the hero but talked big but never follow through and does not have a history of being a victim.

@uzma3758 4 жыл бұрын

I think Han Solo was always a loner who needed to find a purpose in life that is more then acting for himself. His arc in the original trilogy was to stick to his new found friends and to realise he was a part of the galaxy and had to do his part. I dont think he's a byronic nor anti hero cus he doesn't have a tragic backstory, he didn't do anything with malicious intent, the bad things he had done were due to his selfishness and self preservation.

@Firegen1 4 жыл бұрын

Had they handled his son better Kylo Ben would have been a Bryon.

@Vespuchian 4 жыл бұрын

I'd certainly agree he would count as an anti-hero in Star Wars (that is, he's just not heroic: he's a profit-motivated criminal/mercenary, "not in this for your rebellion", doesn't play well with others, etc.) but as the trilogy continues he grows into a proper Guile Hero. Never would have thought of him as a Byronic Hero before this video.

@Lucius1958 4 жыл бұрын

@@uzma3758 *"If a man hath no freedom to fight for at home,* *Let him combat for that of his neighbours;* *Let him think of the glories of Greece and of Rome,* *And get knocked on the head for his labours.* *To do good for mankind is the chivalrous plan,* *And is almost as nobly requited;* *So battle for Freedom wherever you can;* *And, if not shot or hanged, you'll get knighted."* - Byron

@nmarrs8539 4 жыл бұрын

“And your slightly stacker like tendencies” you nailed that one on the head.

@suzanneclark7706 4 жыл бұрын

Anyone else think about “Beauty and the Beast” while watching this?

@sarahherbison5419 4 жыл бұрын

The Ron Pearlman edition...

@scarletharlot8511 4 жыл бұрын

@@sarahherbison5419 Oh God stop reminding me of it. I showed it to my fiance. Forgot just HOW bad it is

@sarahherbison5419 4 жыл бұрын

@@scarletharlot8511 hey, leave my Furry Fabio out of this 🤣

@Lord_Of_Night 3 жыл бұрын

No. As someone who read the actual fairytale, the Beast is not a Byronic hero in the slightest. He gives Beauty space and only sees her for like 5 mins a day, she does whatever she wants and she actually has him accepting her choices, which he does happily. Goddamn, Beast was also the only person in that story who wasn't even classist! His mother disliked commoners marrying royalty and he wasn't having any of this classism. Read the story before making these assumptions.

@austinshoupe3003 3 жыл бұрын

The animated Disney version is Bell centric. I'm not sure the beast counts as a hero at all, let alone byronic.

@karlgrimm3027 4 жыл бұрын

Gargoyles and "Tangled the series" both have good female Byronic heroes Demona, and Cassandra both make bad decisions and keep doubling down on them in an effort to prove they were never wrong

@rafaelfcf 4 жыл бұрын

OMG, is this finally a Princess centered video? #finally

@HilBethJay 4 жыл бұрын

I was ON BOARD with Catra in She-Ra and her redemption arc. And I was a Catradora fan from season 1!

@Mark_Goddin 4 жыл бұрын

Thank you! This was very helpful in understanding the term “Byronic Hero.” ...And now I have conflicting feelings about the Byronic hero. Great.

@sarasmr4278 4 жыл бұрын

I'm pretty sure that's the point of the Byronic hero. Do you love him, or leave him and forever wish you'd been The One? If you stay you know he will hurt you, but will it be worth it?

@mylamename14 4 жыл бұрын

“Wide Sargasso Sea” by Jean Rhys forever changed how I look at Jane Eyre.

@digitaljanus 4 жыл бұрын

ME AT 0:00 - "Almost 15 minutes? That's kind of long for an It's Lit video..." ME AT 14:48 - "Aww, it's over already?"

@zoinksscoob7020 4 жыл бұрын

This comment is so pure and wholesome

@bhelm847 4 жыл бұрын

Come on! Mention Kylo Ren but no Anakin Skywalker/Darth Vader? Look at the man! Hot guy with a lot of issues and obsessions with those he loves becomes scarred from his fall from grace until his new obsession, his son, redeems him!

@ammieloris 3 жыл бұрын

I love this episode, especially the nod to Ada Lovelace's genius and your point that female Byronic heroes exist, but aren't treated the same by their creators and audiences. I appreciate that in this episode, the jiggling portrait of Byron is grounded with a generous stationary background. When the full-screen image jiggles, as it does in some It's Lit episodes, I get vertigo. I bet I'm not the only one.

@Animefreakess 4 жыл бұрын

I never really thought of Lord Byron as a highly intelligent man... He had a way with words but not more then his contemporaries. I think it was more of a melding of his reputation and literature that gives him his legacy.... His daughter on the other hand. She was highly intelligent.

@AnitaSleap1080z 4 жыл бұрын

Huh. I guess that's why I liked Jessica Jones so much. I only enjoyed season 1, but I loved watching her character and wanting more women like her.

@Ozgipsy 2 жыл бұрын

I didn’t know Byron was depicted as a Vampire in that novel. I did know he was the personality behind Vampyre

@sweetdee8884 4 жыл бұрын

I feel like Edwards low on the scale compared to most the other examples listed lol Also LOVE Catra being included!!

@Lord_Of_Night 3 жыл бұрын

Midnight Sun is out and, oh boy! Being in his head underscores the byronic-ness.

@jordang7479 4 жыл бұрын

I think Louis is more the byronic one of the vampire chronicles.

@MeltedBrains89 4 жыл бұрын

THIS! I was about to comment this too. Now, if you read the whole vampire chronicles there are times where Lestat leans towards being byronic (aka Imma-dig-myself-a-hole-on-the-ground-bc-I-have-no-purpose phase or Imma-lay-on-the-floor-of-this-convent-bc-the-devil-visited-me-and-nothing-has-meaning-anymore phase), but most of the time Lestat likes being a vampire, I mean he's still creepy and stalkerish but he's usually in a good mood and enjoys living through the changes humanity has made, as opposed to Louis who will always brood because he wanted death and not immortality and doesn't try to keep up with humanity. I'm pretty sure that Louis was conceived as a byronic hero archetype since he was a 19th-century wealthy man from a good family that felt responsible of his brother's death and was roaming the streets of New Orleans in an intoxicated state hoping to be murdered bc he wanted to die but was not going to do it himself. Then Lestat comes along, spoils his hopes of dying a tragic death, and steals the spotlight. Oh wow! Sorry about the bible of a comment, feel free to ignore me. I didn't even realize that I had so much to say about this

@Revelwoodie 4 жыл бұрын

@@MeltedBrains89 I can see that. But Louis also reminds me a lot of the Edith Wharton hero-type. Mr. Edmund Wilson has described the defects of the typical Wharton hero: “.. the male type which most conspicuously recurs ... is the cultivated, intelligent man who cannot bear to offend social convention, the reformer who gets bribed without knowing it in marrying a rich wife, the family man who falls in love with someone more exciting than his wife but hasn't the courage of his passion .... It is a phenomenon unfamiliar to Europe, this connoisseur whose culture is sterile, this idealist whose impulses are thwarted, this romantic who cannot act his romance ....” www.utpjournals.press/doi/abs/10.3138/utq.23.4.354?journalCode=utq

@jordang7479 3 жыл бұрын

@BB80Delta dude... We're talking about a vampire, not your love life.

@Firegen1 4 жыл бұрын

Ah Bryonic heroes. Can't decide if I wanna be with one or be one or both.

@elleplaudite 4 жыл бұрын

You want to be/be with someone unlikeable, manipulative, and abusive? I hope you recognize how thoroughly unhealthy that is.

@Firegen1 4 жыл бұрын

No, I recognise how my struggles with my autism have made me throughly unlikeable to outside world and incidently "mad, bad and dangerous to know." Especially as an under diagnosed female on the spectrum with more of the tendencies of the traditionally male spectrum symptoms. In an odd way looking through Byronic heroes and their fatal flaws I have been able to give my therapists a better format for creating a consequences predictor for me. So yeah I connect to aspects of the trope and the man himself. However, by all means read my statement at it's basest form. Not like we are on a literary analysis channel or something.

@TryinaD 4 жыл бұрын

Same, as an autistic person I’ve always wanted to become Byronic for some reason. Must be the ‘already on fringes of society’ part

@camelpimp 4 жыл бұрын

am i a weeb if i say "squall is a better example of byronic hero than cloud, at least in the original game"

@cheshirecandy 4 жыл бұрын

literally made the same comment lol

@kellharris2491 4 жыл бұрын

It's very true.

@kamilee4123 4 жыл бұрын

You right. And if we wanna talk about the original game, Vincent is WAY more Byronic, but he’s a side character and not the protagonist.

@moniqueloomis9772 3 жыл бұрын

@@kamilee4123 This is an underrated comment! ❤

@RayOfTruth 3 жыл бұрын

Or Cecil and Kain from Final Fantasy IV.

@Tareltonlives 4 жыл бұрын

Ah, my least favorite hero archetype! So easily turned into edgelord power fantasies

@ianbyrne465 4 жыл бұрын

Some people really get the wrong idea about characters like this. Their selfish narcissism and lack of care does the world at large are flaws, not strengths. The point of the character is that they (hopefully) grow past these. Alternate endings might include dying/disappearing (either through narrator/other characters leaving them, or just running off into the proverbial wood), wholely believing they were right, and serving as a cautionary tale. Or, perhaps burning out in a blaze of glory, Pyrrhic victory sort of thing. The point is that the character either has to grow, or their bad qualities destroy them. Because, edgelord people do not succeed in real life. They either die out on their own, or are destroyed by crushing loneliness and sorrow that they refuse/can't give up

@nwahnerevar9398 3 жыл бұрын

You just read bad literature

@SomeTigerBass 4 жыл бұрын

I'm so glad you did this video (and such a good job on it). I've always felt that Byronic heroes done well can be the most fascinating characters in literature.On the flip side, done badly they can destroy a piece of work irredeemably.

@ash1rose 4 жыл бұрын

Yep, I knew all of my loves were Byronic, and your shout out to FFVII gave me the courage to comment on Sephiroth having those qualities, too. But for circumstances *staples hand to forehead* I always knew I was writing Byronic heroes, too. I wish I'd found your channel sooner ♥

@dieorwrite9460 4 жыл бұрын

Megamind and Catra!!! Now those are some relatable examples of byronic heroes lol

@dropkickcorpse 4 жыл бұрын

My favorite Byronic Hero is Kogami Shinya from Psycho-Pass.

@j.briansmith2818 2 жыл бұрын

Your ability to frame classic literature in modern and accessible ways is such a pleasure to watch!

@annaangelic2318 4 жыл бұрын

This is an incredible video! Legitimately giggling at Princess Weekes' amazing way of playing up the ~drama~

@tarrynclaassen9581 2 жыл бұрын

This was a FANTASTIC video! Thank you.

@tattooedgirl22 4 жыл бұрын

Guts from Berserk is for sure a byronic character but I still love him.

@gregorclegane7563 4 жыл бұрын

Yeah it's weird he wasnt mentioned. Guts predates Cloud.

@whathell6t 4 жыл бұрын

Guts is also in a new category, the Struggling Hero.

@loiselder9806 4 жыл бұрын

Gosh I love this, and the It's Lit! Series so much. I'm currently a Classical Studies MA student, and did my BA in C.S too, but I did English Lit at A-Levels and fell in love with Mary Shelley and the whole Byronic lead. I cannot wait to get back into it all and read more come September when my degree is done, and this video really cemented that for me. It's been too long!

@Dyundu 4 жыл бұрын

I can’t believe I never figured out that Cloud Strife is a Byronic hero in FFVII. I mean, he’s like, *textbook* Byronic.

@kellharris2491 4 жыл бұрын

Also squall

@m87020 2 жыл бұрын

this lady emmits unrestrained fight me energy and I am living for it

@DaddyK1tt3n Жыл бұрын

How does this channel have less than one million subscribers? Every show is a hit! Everything is thoughtfully written and masterfully delivered by the hosts. It's criminal that the 1M subscriber mark hasn't been hit yet.

@cheshirecandy 4 жыл бұрын

Surely Squall is more of a Byronic-Hero than Cloud? 🤔

@RayOfTruth 3 жыл бұрын

Cecil and Kain from Final Fantasy IV and Vincent from FFVII are better examples too.

@sonichfrollein9130 4 жыл бұрын

That was a great video. I loved listening to you, Princess!

@mjjloverdg 2 жыл бұрын

I am so happy I found the channel I'm loving everything

@mightygregdoge 4 жыл бұрын

I cannot say how valuable this video was to a podcast I help write and edit that has been delving into a series of books that include gothic themes. So thank you.

@wonderwall62 4 жыл бұрын

I nodded real hard when she mentioned Zuko and Kylo Ren

@jan-erikella7772 4 жыл бұрын

Fun fact: Bertha Mason's room is *not* in the attic. It's one of several famous misreads of "Jane Eyre", sich as misinterpreting the first line to mean that Jane wants to go out (she doesn't), or that the final line is "Reader, I married him" (nope: the novel ends with Jane writing about St. John Rivers, of all people.)

@infamousElle 3 жыл бұрын

Sooooo good. Thank you!

@Imperiused 4 жыл бұрын

This was great. Had a good laugh a couple of times. Can't believe I've been missing out on this. Glad you guys joined channels together!

@Neanthia333 4 жыл бұрын

My favorite professor introducing us to Byron: "Byron, ah yes, the original dark edgy boi."

@morganbishop7212 4 жыл бұрын

Interestingly enough, "Paradise Lost" was a heavy influence on many romantic and gothic writers, and Milton's version of Satan fits a lot of the criteria for a byronic figure--- particularly his charisma, backstory, and ultimately self-destructive tendencies. I wonder if he was another influence on on the archetype itself, or more of a prototype.

@CerebrumMortum 3 жыл бұрын

The best thing about this channel is the presentor. She really makes the subject comes to life in interesting and indepth way.

@RickyDog1989 4 жыл бұрын

One of the best its lit so far!!

@phoenixfritzinger9185 4 жыл бұрын

The whole thing about Cloud is that pretty much anything that made him a real Byronic hero was a facade he put up to seem tougher like he actually did become a first class SOLDIER instead of just being in the infantry the entire time and some memory joggling with Zack Fair and whatever Professor Hojo did to him The “Emo Cloud” thing didn’t come along until later, first appearing in the first Kingdom Hearts game (and he was like some weird combo of both himself and the infamously angsty Vincent Valentine) and was later solidified in Advent Children which a lot of people think happened because Cloud had hella PTSD and wasn’t simply being “emo” In the first game he was a downright goofball, like one of his first lines is “Let’s mosey”

@kamilee4123 4 жыл бұрын

I think it’s more fair to call Cloud an anti-hero than a specifically Byronic one.

@RayOfTruth 3 жыл бұрын

Cecil and Kain from Final Fantasy IV and Vincent from FFVII are better examples.

@snailart9214 4 жыл бұрын

I knew you knew what you were talking about when you brought out Mega Mind. Subbed.

@yoemisa 2 жыл бұрын

i really like your videos , thanks for existing ✨✨

@018FLP 2 жыл бұрын

To be honest, Megamind is very very well written, it took me by surprise, because i was expecting exactly the first layer the movie shows about how superhero films works. And it keep peeling layers like a onion, there is a time that AC/DC is playing while he dances in the roof of a building and shoots fireworks while in a mec. It's incredible.

@clay9617 4 жыл бұрын

Lord Byron also died fighting in the to support the Greek War of Independence.

@TheSongwritingCat 4 жыл бұрын

Love that she keeps talking about Bertha Mason like Rochester didn't also constantly neg Jane and think it would be funny to dress up like a gypsy one time to trick her. He was an all around jerk.

@JGVIllustrations 4 жыл бұрын

This was an amazing analysis. Thank you for making sense of our secret love for the Edward Cullens in literature in an intellectual and overall respectful way. I mean, they are our problematic favs no doubt about that. This was awesome to watch!!

@DoodleDabble 4 жыл бұрын

Just discovered your channel this week and I’m in looooooveee!!! I’ve been looking for a deep literary analysis of tropes!!!

@vellaeleanor3683 4 жыл бұрын

Ah Yes, all of the fools that will forever occupy my heart and hopefully never my reality. I love them so much. Let's not get into the psychology of exactly why.

@Caterfree10 4 жыл бұрын

Ah finally, a recent video on Byronic heroes that includes Kylo Ren that wasn’t done by an explicit Reylo. (I say explicit bc idk if she likes Reylo or not, I’m just here. :p)

@garboil 4 жыл бұрын

Very cool video! But Hey! It was at one of Byron’s parties that Mary Shelley wrote Frankenstein - single handedly inventing the genre of science fiction and creating a complex story of TWO Byronic heroes. Props to Mary Shelley!!!

@individualm6712 4 жыл бұрын

Sooo eye opening! Thank you!

@dorderre 4 жыл бұрын

So you mentioned Faith from Buffy tVS (love you for that :)) but missed Angel and Spike, THE dark, brooding and tortured Vampires of the same show :D

@kellharris2491 4 жыл бұрын

Well she did say basically all vampires count as well.

@justabitofamug6989 4 жыл бұрын

"faith from buffy" Me: yess queen "catra from she ra" Me: YAAASSS QUEEEEN

@anthonycoca2202 2 жыл бұрын

This was excellent. So much so that I watched it twice consecutively and then went on a quest to familiarize myself with Lord Byron‘s poetry and popularized quotes. I had only previously heard of him as an individual. A mere caricature of who he was. I had no idea of anything beyond one or two scandals. You gave to me a more rounded representation and for that, I’m grateful because it propelled me to do a bit of research and I think his literary works may become a slight obsession. At least, for the time being...

@AlEcyler 4 жыл бұрын

This is brilliant analysis. Never stop.

@FRMJD1996 4 жыл бұрын

Byronic, could it come from... LORD BYRON!!! 😂No, no, that would be way to obvious.

@LonelyLilPetunia 4 жыл бұрын

Great video! I was excited to see female examples. Never thought of Catra that way but it makes sense.

@inviernum4201 4 жыл бұрын

Excellent video; I loved the humor and the explanation behind this trope. I learned a lot and hope to see more of you. Thanks!

@cobrachicken07 3 жыл бұрын

I subscribed for Dr Z's Monstrum, but will stay for Princess' AMAZING perspective on literature. The pop culture references are excellent. Don't stop being awesome!