Course paper theme: george byron-his life and work. Scientific advisor

1.2 Byronic hero
The figure of the «Byronic hero» pervades much of his work, and Byron himself is considered to epitomise many of the characteristics of this literary figure. The use of a «Byronic hero» by many authors and artists of the Romantic movement show Byron's influence during the 19th century and beyond, including the Brontë sisters. His philosophy was more durably influential in continental Europe than in England; Friedrich Nietzsche admired him, and the Byronic hero was echoed in Nietzsche's Übermensch, or superman.
The Byronic hero presents an idealised, but flawed character whose attributes include: great talent; great passion; a distaste for society and social institutions; a lack of respect for rank and privilege (although possessing both); being thwarted in love by social constraint or death; rebellion; exile; an unsavory secret past; arrogance; overconfidence or lack of foresight; and, ultimately, a self-destructive manner. These types of characters have since become ubiquitous in literature and politics.
«The Byronic hero» is a variant of the Romantic hero as a type of character, named after the English Romantic poet Lord Byron. Both Byron's own persona as well as characters from his writings are considered to provide defining features to the character type.
«The Byronic hero» first reached a very wide public in Byron's semi-autobiographical epic narrative poem «Childe Harold's Pilgrimage» (1812–1818). Historian and critic Lord Macaulay described the character as "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".
Byron's poems with Oriental settings show more "swashbuckling" and decisive versions of the type. Later works show that Byron progressively distancing himself from the figure by providing alternative hero types, like "Sardanapalus", Juan "Don Juan" or Torquil "The Island", or, when the figure is present, by presenting him as less sympathetic Alp in "The Siege of Corinth" or criticising him through the narrator or other characters.
Byron would later attempt such a turn in his own life when he joined the Greek War of Independence, with fatal results, though recent studies show him acting with greater political acumen and less idealism than previously thought. The actual circumstances of his death from disease in Greece were unglamorous in the extreme, but back in England these details were ignored in the many works promoting his myth.
The Byronic hero had a significant influence on later literature, in English and other languages.