The Byronic Hero

The Byronic Hero was first published in 1962. This study of the origins and development of the Romantic hero through its apogee in the works of Byron critically examines the major Romantic heroes of comparative literature and places them in the wider perspective of history. Professor Thorslev devotes the first part of his discussion to the cultural origins and “family relationships” of a range of pre-Romantic and Romantic hero types, and to analyses of those aspects of the spirit of the times wh