BYROMANIA
was what Lord Byron's wife called it: the fanatic obsession over Byron and his works. Byron's influence spans across nearly every genre of artistry. Here's a closer look...
WORKS
Beauty and the Beast -- It's Disney's Jane Eyre
“Once upon a time, in a faraway land, a young prince lived in a shining castle…But then, one winter’s night, a beautiful enchantress… transformed him into a hideous beast…If he could learn to love another, and earn her love in return…then the spell would be broken. If not, he would be doomed to remain a beast for all time. As the years passed, he fell into despair and lost all hope. For who could ever learn to love a beast?”
The Count of Monte Cristo -- Classic, Classic, Classic Byronic Hero
“Veritable hero of Byron! Franz could not…even think of [the Count] without representing his stern head on the shoulders of Manfred, or beneath the cap of Lara. His forehead was marked by the line that indicates the constant presence of a bitter thought; he had those fiery eyes that seem to penetrate to the heart, and the haughty and disdainful upper lip that gives to the words it utters a peculiar character that impresses them on the minds of those to whom they are addressed.”
Persuasion -- Jane Austen satirizes Byron's fans
“…having talked of poetry…and how ranked the Giaour and The Bride of Abydos, and moreover, how the Giaour was to be pronounced…he repeated with such tremulous feeling the various lines which imaged a broken heart, or a mind destroyed by wretchedness…”
Moby Dick -- Herman Melville: Great Romantic; Captain Ahab:
America's Byronic Hero
“Childe Harold not unfrequently perches himself upon the mast-head of some luckless disappointed whale-ship, and in moody phrase ejaculates:– ‘Roll on, thou deep and dark blue ocean, roll! Ten thousand blubber-hunters sweep over thee in vain.’ ”
Arcadia -- A biography of Byron...without Byron
“He is the author of ‘Childe Harold’s Pilgrimage’, the most poetical and bravest hero of any book I ever read before, and the most modern and the handsomest, for Harold is Lord Byron himself to those who know him…”
ARTISTS
Emily Bronte - Author
Emily grew up in the era when the cult of Byronism flourished. Heathcliff, her primary character in Wuthering Heights, is widely recognized as a Byronic hero.
Oscar Wilde - Playwright
Wilde sympathized with Byron’s homosexuality and difficult life. Wilde also adopted a lifestyle similar to Byron’s -- notorious indeed.
Mary Shelley - Author
A good friend of Byron’s, Mary was inspired by Byron to write a tale of horror -- Frankenstein. Byron himself can be seen in her characters Doctor Frankenstein and his monster.
Edgar Allen Poe - Poet/Storyteller
In America, Byron inspired a following as well, primarily led by the likes of Poe. Poe’s stories are gothic and brooding, much like many of Byron’s own works.
Virgil Thompson - Composer
Composed his last opera entirely concerning Lord Byron (called Lord Byron) -- it was one of Thompson’s favorites.
Pytor Ilyich Tchaikovsky - Composer
Tchaikovsky empathized with Byron -- especially in forbidden love (Tchaikovsky was in love with his own nephew). Among Tchaikovsky’s most popular works is his symphony Manfred
Aleksander Pushkin - Author
One of the many Russian authors who swore to live as Byron lived and write as Byron wrote. The eponymous protagonist of his most famous work, Eugene Onegin, is a Byronic character.
Charlotte Bronte - Author
Charlotte, like her sister Emily, grew up in a time of Byron fanaticism. Her chief love interest in Jane Eyre - Rochester - is a classic example of a Byronic hero..
GENRES
Vampirism
The same night Byron issued the challenge to the Shelleys to write a ghost story, there was another man there who participated – Byron’s traveling companion and physician, John Polidori. Having traipsed after Byron across Europe, Polidori knew Byron almost better than anyone – especially in his darker moments. Polidori took the challenge and wrote “The Vampyre” – the story of the aristocratic Lord Ruthven, the ‘vampyre’ of the tale. Upon publication, the public immediately equated the alluring vampire to Lord Byron himself, an easy connection since the character was clearly based off of Lord Byron and his characters anyway (and there is much evidence to suggest that Polidori was adapting an idea from Byron in the first place).
This glimpse of dangerous sensual darkness marked the beginning of the popular perception of vampires – they were intimate, attractive, and compelling. The Victorian Era’s rebellion against Byronic sensuality temporarily suppressed this view of the vampire – but the 20th century renewed the type in full force. From Bella Lugosi’s Dracula to Anne Rice’s Lestat, vampires are sexy, mesmerizingly beautiful and ever so dangerous – the same characteristics used describing the reckless Lord Byron. The vampire as it stands today is such an entrenched Byronic image that forever and again renews the traits of the great Lord himself – and new tales are cropping up continually (Stephenie Meyer and Charlaine Harris being two very recognizable examples).
Gothicism
Before Byron and his writings, the gothic genre was a parody of itself – thanks to Mrs. Radcliffe’s infamous novels, the style had become nothing more than a melodramatic farce. No one thought it worth much, and few of the upper class read any works of the style (that they would admit). But with the introduction of Byron’s dark writings and his outrageous lifestyle, the genre experienced a sharp upturn in popularity.
Thanks to Byron, gothicism infiltrated writings, fashion, architecture, art pieces, theatr
ical performances and the like. Suddenly, gothic writings were fashionable and somehow more respectable – people were crazy about the dark mystique that seemed to define Byron. Especially in America (with writers such as Edgar Allen Poe and William Faulkner), the gothic genre appealed to huge audiences, courtesy of Byron’s impression upon artistic minds. Gothicism became a prevalent backdrop for myriad works (including, for example, Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein). The gothic movement was truly manifested in the off-shoot genre of vampirism – a very specific branch of Gothicism.
Since poetry was the most powerful medium of imagery at the time, the gothic movement was truly driven by Byron’s highly descriptive writings. With the introduction of film and it’s innovative visual nature, Byron’s explicit influence died away to leave an implied influence – an influence that continues to this day in the infinite number of horror, suspense, dark romantic and other like films.
Romanticism
In his time, Lord Byron was widely acknowledged as the best and most creative romantic poet. Audiences appreciated his works best of the era’s poets. Percy Shelley said of Byron’s poetry that it was the greatest of the age and embodied the spirit and passion of the
romantic movement. Even after Byron’s death, his name epitomized the Romantic era. The spirit of his life and works drove the movement throughout the 19th century – particularly in countries like France and Russia, where his influence is best represented by the works of Victor Hugo and Alexandre Dumas.
