Mad, Bad, ect...
Posted by Cassia on October 18, 1997 at 14:13:35:
In response to My Edward, written by Stolzi on October 17, 1997 at 11:24:26
] ] I think you've picked up on why such a seemingly disagreeable psyche could remotely be attractive...the idea that there exists something noble (or heroic, as you say) in them .
] Isn't this the tremendous advantage of having these heroes in fiction ? I adore them, but they are bad prospects in real life. "Mad, bad and dangerous to know," as Lady Caroline Lamb said of Byron.
I just finished reading a biography of Byron and the thing that struck me the most about him was that he never seemed to truly acheive adaulthood. So "mad, bad, and dangerous to know" he remained all of his life. So love of the Byronic hero also has two other aspects: the maternal-protective one (which one would have to develope quickly if one wanted to live somewhere besides the streets) and the rebelious (symbolised more in Wuthering Heights than JE. Perhaps, by seeking such a hero the heroines are also setting themselves a quest but unlike the traditional male quest this is an internal one, "be all that you can be" by proving your devotion to me, as impossible as I am.
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