It started when a 'painting' caught my eye on deviantart.com, a site a haunt not because I have any talent, but because others there do, and I frequently find pieces that spark my imagination. This piece was of a character in a book by Anne Rice. I've often come across her name and know she writes about vampires (I've seen the film version of Queen of the Damned, which apparently butchers the book) but this time I decided to investigate more closely. So I went to her website.
I skimmed into the study questions for Interview with the Vampire and found that Louis the vampire is considered a Byronic hero. I immediately googled 'Bryonic hero', because all I know about Lord Byron I learned from Tom Stoppard's play Arcadia, and that wasn't much.
Wikipedia lists these qualities as Byronic:
- high level of intelligence and perception
- cunning and ability to adapt
- sophistication and education
- self-criticism and introspection
- mysteriousness, magnetism and charisma
- struggle with integrity
- power of seduction and sexual attraction
- social and sexual dominance
- emotional conflicts or moodiness - suffers from titanic passions
- a distaste for social institutions and norms
- being an exile, an outcast, or an outlaw
- 'dark' attributes not normally associated with a hero
- disrespect of rank and privilege (though he may possess it)
- a troubled past - a hidden curse or crime
- cynicism
- arrogance
- self-destructive behaviour
And it occurred to me that my Brander might fit this list.
He doesn't quite, though. I'll go through it again.
- high level of intelligence and perception √ Yes, although I'm not so sure he's terribly perceptive
- cunning and ability to adapt √ He evades capture and lives in foreign countries
- sophistication and education √ He's lived as a noble and spent centuries studying magery
- self-criticism and introspection ? Hm, possibly
- mysteriousness, magnetism and charisma √ Naturally!
- struggle with integrity √ I suppose he feels torn between using Airdlyn and caring for her
- power of seduction and sexual attraction √ Yes, I guess so, in gentle, subtle way
- social and sexual dominance ? I'm not so sure... Airdlyn holds her ground well
- emotional conflicts or moodiness - suffers from titanic passions x Brander isn't what I'd call passionate. Devoted is a better word
- a distaste for social institutions and norms x He's striving to take his country back to its norms
- being an exile, an outcast, or an outlaw √ Obviously
- 'dark' attributes not normally associated with a hero √ Mostly his dark past, I suppose, which isn't dark because of him... although I suppose he nurtures revenge
- disrespect of rank and privilege (though he may possess it) x I think Brander feels all the weight of his rank and privilege and struggles to live up to it
- a troubled past - a hidden curse or crime √ Obviously
- cynicism √ Yes, but this fades after Airdlyn arrives
- arrogance x No, although he is proud, but there's a difference
- self-destructive behaviour x not unless you count fighting for what he believes in
Brander is 'beautiful but damned', as one article described the Byronic hero. And the main elements are there - the intelligence, the exile, the darkness, the magnetism. So I suppose he is a bit Byronic, at least to begin with. He grows out of it, of course, as Airdlyn heals him.
The one thing that saves Brander from being Byronic at all, really, is his kindness. Brand has a gentle, loving heart, and although he has suffered greatly, his sympathetic soul pervades his character.
In some ways I'm pleased to see that Brand follows in the vein of these other, powerful characters. But at the same time, I'm relieved that he doesn't entirely fit the description.
Most of all, I'm so thankful he finds purity and light and forgiveness at the end.
And that's not at all Byronic.
