Charles Dickens and the Byronic Hero

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Charles Dickens and the Byronic HeroAuthor(s): William R. HarveySource: Nineteenth-Century Fiction, Vol. 24, No. 3 (Dec., 1969), pp. 305-316Published by: University of California PressStable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/2932860Accessed: 18-01-2016 20:30 UTC

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2/13

Charles Dickens and

the ByronicHero

WILLIAM R. HARVEY

L

TTLE HAS

BEEN

SAID

of CharlesDickens's

use

of

that

popular

romanticharacterype fthe ateeighteenthndearlynineteenth

centuriesn

England

which

we havecome to know

as the

Byronic

hero. With the

exception

of

occasional

remarks

uch

as

Edgar

Johnson's

eference

o

James

Steerforth's

Byronic

corruption"

or Mario

Praz's

acknowledgment

f Steerforths

a

symbol

f the

Romantic

poet

in

disguise-of

Byron

n

particular2-most

ritics

have

either ailed osee the type

nDickens'swork r

have gnored

it. But

in

Dickens's

aternovels there s

certainly

omething f

a

Byronic

ature-Byronic, hat s, n the

senseof theirbeing more

cynical ndgenerallyfa darker utlook hanhisearlyworks.3

There

is,of

course, very pparent hift

rom hepredominantly

light-hearted

tmosphere f Pickwick

Papers (1836) or the

comic

elements

even

in

Dombey

and Son

(1848) to the

considerably

darker

view and

somber world

of The Mystery of

Edwin Drood

(1870), and

accompanyinghat

hift s an attempt t

more complex

character

ortrayal.

dmundWilson

notes of the early Dickens:

"The

onlycomplexity f which

Dickens s capable is

to make

one

of

his

noxious

haracters ecome

wholesome, ne ofhis

clowns urn

into a seriousperson." And he adds, "Dickens'sdifficultyn his

middle

period, nd

indeedmore or less to

the end, is to get good

and

bad

togethern one

character." In this ssay

am concerned

William

R.

Harvey

is an

assistant

professor of

English,

University

of

South

Alabama,

Mobile.

IEdgar

Johnson,

Charles

Dickens:

His

Tragedy and

Triumph

(New

York,

1952),

II,

696.

2Mario

Praz, The

Hero

in

Eclipse

in

Victorian

Fiction,

trans.

Angus Davidson

(London,

1956),p. 127.

That

Dickens,

like

many

others,

equated

Byronismwith

cynicism

nd a bitter

outlook

is

evidenced

by a

phrase

in

a

letter

to

Miss

Angela

Burdett-Coutts n

which

he

jokingly

claimed

thathe

was

"in

danger

of

turning

misanthropical,

Byronic,

nd

devilish"; Feb. 28, 1843, The Letters of Charles Dickens, ed. Walter Dexter, "The

Nonesuch

Dickens"

(Bloomsbury,

938), ,

508-509.

4Edmund

Wilson,

"Dickens:

The

Two

Scrooges,"

n

The

Wound

and

the

Bow

(Boston,

1941),pp.

62-65.

[305]

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3/13

306 Nineteenth-Century

iction

with ickens's ttemptsoachieve his nity.nhiseffortso ink

good

nd bad

n a

single

haracter,ickens

sed he

Byronic

ero,

a character

ypewhose

ascinationor he

omanticeriod

temmed

at east

npart rom

his ery ombination.

The Byronic ero

reached

tspeakof development

ndpopu-

larityn the

works f

Lord Byron,ut

s PeterThorslev

otes n

his excellent

tudyfthe

volution fthe

ype,

he haracteron-

tinued o appearn

numerous orks f

heVictorian

eriod:

This agonizedHero ofSensibilityas Byron'segacy o the iterature

of

the

ge

whichucceeded im.... [He]

appears gain and

again...:

sometimes

orbidlynalytic

f

his

own

emotional

nd spiritual

tates,

and

n his

Weltschmerz

onging or

ome ngagement

o absolute

ruth

which

will

ridhim

ofhis

painful

elf-consciousness;onging

o "mingle

with he

universe,"

ut

beingcontinually

rustratedn his

desireby

the reassertion

f

his

skeptical,

ometimesynical,

nd

sometimes

e-

morseful

go....

Certainlyhisproblem

fcommitment,

his ntense

and

ongdrawn

elf-analysis,

he

gonized

assiveness

some

kind f

en-

gagement"

eing necessary or

action) reappear

n England

as the

dominantraits f heroesnArnold's mpedocles,n much f Tenny-

son'swork see The AncientSage, or passagesof In Memoriam),espe-

cially

learly

n

Clough's ipsychus,

nd

even

n

Pater's

Marius.5

Thorslev

dds,

however,

hat

he

Byronic

ero, s

he appears

n

theVictoriange,

survivesnly s a solitary

nd ensitive

ufferer:

with he

oss

ofhis

titanic assions,

ispride, nd

hiscertaintyf

self-identity,

e oses lsohis tatus s

hero." This ossof

tatuss

notwhollyrue

f hose yronic

haractersn Dickens's

ovels;

he

Byronicype-or

a variationf

t-attains leading

ole

at least

once.

Dickens's se

of the

Byronic

haracter

s

foreshadowed

n

the

dandies

nd

fops

whoappear

n

his work.7

survey

fDickens's

S Peter L. Thorslev, Jr.,The Byronic Hero: Types and Prototypes Minneapolis,

1962), pp. 144-145.

Ilbid., p. 187. It is probably this loss of hero status that prompts Thorslev

to

write also,

"The

literary

raditiondied in

England

almost with

Byron.... Generally

speaking .. the Romantic heroes did not survive in important works of Victorian

literature" p. 192). Even so, Thorslev seems to contradicthimselfhere.

7

Probably because of Byron's unconventional and/or avant-garde dress and

appearance, Byronismbecame associated with dandyism. Baudelaire's description of

dandyism,which he called "the last glitter of heroism in a decadence," points to

certain elements which the Byronic hero and the dandy have

in

common. Dandies

are "disclassed, disgusted, dis-occupied men of great natural powers [who] easily

come to think that they an found a new aristocracy,which t will be hard to destroy



4/13

Dickens

and the

Byronic

Hero

307

novels revealsDick Swiveller,Cousin Feenix,David Copperfield

and Pip (at

least to some

degree),

Mr.

Turveydrop, enryGowan,

and JamesHarthouse,

o name

some

of

the

more

prominent.

All

are characterized y ennui, restlessness,

nrealized

potential,

nd

uncertaintyf purpose.

n

addition,

here re several

dandies

who

are either

partially

r

wholly

villainous:

Sir

Mulberry

Hawk is

a

libertine;John

Chesterhas

an evil

influence

n

his

illegitimate

son;

Carker

s malevolent

nd diabolical.

But in a number f

related haractershere s

considerably

more

than ust dandyism. he differences obviousbetweenSir Mul-

berry

Hawk

(Nicholas Nickleby, 1839)

and

James

Steerforth

(David Copperfield, 850),

betweenCousin

Feenix

(Dombey

and

Son, 1848)

and

Eugene Wrayburn Our

Mutual

Friend,

1865).

AngusWilson pinpoints

hisdifference hen

he

compares

Carker

of

Dombey

and Son

with Steerforth.

bout Carker

he notes

a

"sensuality

of the

cold, calculating,

rather

epicene

imitation-

Byronkind";

but

of Steerforth e observes he following harac-

teristics:

Steerforth

espises

he

world,

he

puts

other alues above

work,he sometimes ishes hathewasnotwastinghis life,he has

the vestige

f

a

power

o

love

or

at

any

rate to

wantto be loved."

Most of thesetraits,

f

course,

re

typical

f the

Byronichero-a

type epresented y Steerforth,

ut

not

by

Carker.

From his first ppearance in

David

Copperfield, teerforths

portrayed

s a

cut

above his

companions,

leader with

bility

nd

charm. He

is the most

respected

tudent t

school, commanding

thedeferenceven of

Mr.

Creakle, he tyrannicalmaster.He faces

hisopponentswith scorn ndanger," ndhe is "a noble fellow n

appearance." Butall his abilities eemto be nothing o him. He is

carelessly

ffhand

nd

flippant

bout

everything.When David

meets

him

after

their

school

days together, teerforth escribes

himself

s

an Oxford

man: "That

is to say, get bored to death

down

there, eriodically..

"

(xix, 271). But he does not intend o

because they

will base

it

on

the

rarest nd

less

destructive

aculties, n

extraordinary

giftswhich cannot

be won

by moneyor labor"

(quoted

in

Richard

Aldington,Four

English

Portraits,

1801-1851

[London, 1948],

pp. 91-92). The

alliance of

dandyism

and

Byronism s of

especial

interest

n

an

examination of

Dickens's

use of

the type.

8Angus

Wilson,

"The

Heroes and

Heroines of

Dickens," in

Dickens and

the

Twentieth Century,"ed. John Gross and Gabriel Pearson (London, 1962), p. 9;

emphasis

added.

9Charles Dickens,

David

Copperfield,

vii,

104. For this

study I

have used

the

"Collins

New

Classics"

series of

Dickens's

novels, printed

by the

Collins Clear

Type

Press

(New

York,

1952-1956); all

future

references o

the

novels will

be

incorporated

into

the text.



5/13

308

Nineteenth-Century

iction

take degree ecause I find hat amheavyompanynough or

myselfs

am"

276).

Even

s his

hip oes own

ndhe s

about

o

die, he waveshis red cap to those n shore

n

a last

gesture

f

mockery

nd defianceoward ife.'0

Like the ypical yronicharacter,teerforth

as bout

him

n

aristocratic

ir

compounded

f his

polish,

is

charm,

is worldli-

ness.His snobbishnd ndifferentttitudeoward he ower lasses,

who ack

sensitivity,"

hile ot t

odds

with he

Byronicontempt

for he herd"

n general,s probably ore eflectivef

Dickens's

owndisapprovalfsuch trait. he samemaybe true fSteer-

forth's

corn f

work

nd

hiswillfulness.

If

Steerforth'sast s notpreciselyinful, here

s an element f

mystery

bout

his

onnection ith

Rosa

Dartle. he reader ventu-

ally

earns hat he

carwhich

isfigures

nd embitters

er

s

the

result fSteerforth'siolent nd passionateemperament.ndeed,

David ees n bothMrs. teerforthnd her on

the ame unyield-

ing,wilful pirit" xxxii, 434). This

characteristic,ombined

with

a misdirected

nergy,esultsn his eductionnd

ruin

f

Emily,

n

act sinfullynd rebelliouslyppropriateo the Byronic ero,

particularly

n theVictorian

ge.

How Steerforth

eels bouthis crime fter

e

has committed

t

the

eader ever

iscovers,ut t is clearly vident

hat

efore

he

deed he

knewpangs f conscience orwhathe was about to do.

That

he

recognizes

is

ownfaultsnd

regretsis

nature

s obvious

as he

expostulates

o

David,

I

wish

o God

I had

had a

judicious

father

hese

ast

wentyears " nd again,

I

wishwith llmy oul

I had

been

better

uided....

I

wishwith ll my oul couldguide

myselfetter." heanguish fremorse,haracteristicfByronism,

is

apparent

n

hismoody eflection,It wouldbe better o be

this

poor eggotty,rhis outof nephew.. than o

be myselfwenty

times

icher

nd

twentyimeswiser, nd be the orment

o myself

that

havebeen... ." Finallyaughing ff he

mood, e explainst

as

having been afraid fmyself"xxii, 302-303).

Steerforth

s an extraordinarilyuccessful

lendof villain nd

hero.

The

reader

dmires im, s doesDavid, n spite f theflaws

in his

characternd the crime n which hey

esult. here are

several easons or ur admiration.irst, mily s so insipid hat

the

reader, speciallyoday's eader, oesnot

feelgreat ympathy

10The scene s

reminiscent

f the

comparison

sed in

Byron's

Childe

Harold's

Pilgrimage,

anto II,

stanza

6,

ines

141-144.



6/13

Dickens and the

Byronic

Hero

309

overherplight; ndeedone speculates hat her experienceswith

Steerforth

ight

well have

compensated

er for

the

shame

that

followed.

n

addition,

teerforth

ainly

truggles

ith

himself,

nd

hisgreat

regret

orwhat

his

nature

eads

him

to

do wins our

sym-

pathy.

Finally,

s

David

reports

his

first

meeting

with

him,

it

is

clearthat

Steerforths

no

ordinary

erson:

Therewasease n

his manner-a

gay

nd

light

mannert

was,

but not

swaggering-which

still

believe o

have

borne

kind

of

enchantment

with t. stillbelieve im,nvirtue fthis arriage,isanimal pirits,

his

delightful

oice,

his handsome

ace

and

figure,

nd,

for

ught

know, f

some

nborn ower

f

attractiono

have carried

spell

with

himto

which

t was

a natural

weakness

o

yield,

nd

which

not

many

persons ould

withstand.

vii,

110)

And

the

subsequent

narrative

roves

David

right.

His

magnetism

fatally

ttracts

mily,

but

it

also wins forever

he

oyalty

f

David,

of

Dickens,

and of

the

reader.One

feels,

somehow,

that

Steer-

forth,

ike the traditional

Byronic

hero,

s

beyond

the

rules

and

regulations fmoreordinarymen.After teerforth'seductionof

Emily,

David

speaks

of him in

language

which

makes

t

clear that

he has still his

early

fascination. ven

the

enormity

f

Steerforth's

sin,

n

David's

eyes,

nd the

grief

hat

t

occasions

annot

negate

the

sympathy

ith which

Dickens

has

drawn him.

"Yes, Steer-

forth,

ong

removed

from he

scenes

of this

poor

historyMy

sor-

rowmay

bear

involuntary

itness

gainst

you at

the

Judgement

Throne;but

my ngry

houghts r

reproaches

everwill,

know"

(XXXII,

21).Many

of

David's

readers

eelthe

ame.

InHard Times 1854) andLittleDorrit 1857),twonovelswhich

followed

hortlyfter avid

Copperfield,

here

re

several

harac-

terswith

ome

Byronic

esemblances.

ames

Harthouse, he

politi-

cal

aspirant

f

the

earlier

novel, s an

example of

the

cynical,

en-

sual

indifference

nd

the

scornof

the

dandy s

well as the

Byronic

character.

n

Little

Dorrit

Blandois

s,as

Hillis

Miller

pointsout,

a

link

between

entilitynd

evil,

riminality,r

diabolism."As

such

he

approaches he

Byronic

ype, uthe

remains

undeniably

vil-

lain,

dying

an

appropriate

nd

unregretted

eath.

In the

same

novelHenryGowan is characterizeds polished,urbane, ardonic,

and

faintly

atanic.

Had he a

larger

part n

Little

Dorrit, t

seems

11

Joseph

Hillis

Miller,

Charles

Dickens: The

World

of

His

Novels

(Cambridge,

Mass.,

1958),

p.

229n.



7/13

310

Nineteenth-Century

iction

likelyhat e woulddeveloplongByronicines;heis involvedn

little

ction

f

mportance,

owever,

nd

we

are

eft

nly

with

n

impressionf his wasted

bilities,

is

cynicism,

nd

his

feeling

that

verything

s

"hocus-pocus."

A character

ho

s

equally

isenchanted

ith

ife

but

who

s

far

lessdandifieds

Sidney

arton

f

A

Tale

of

Two

Cities

1859).

Just s careless

nd

reckless

n

his attitude

s

any

of the

wastrels

who

preceded

im,

artons

perhaps

more

itter

han

hey:

Asto

me,"he

says

o Charles

arnay,

the

greatest esire

have,

s to

forgethat belongo t thisterrestialcheme"].thasnogood n

it for

me-except

wine

ike this-nor

I

for t."

This

attitude

amountslmost o

misanthropy

hen

e

adds,

I

am

disappointed

drudge,ir.

care

for

o

man

onearth,nd

no man

on

earth

ares

for

me"

II, iv,

104106).-12

Like

the

Byronic

ero,

arton s

also a man

of

great

otential;

it s the

egal

research

nd

preparation

f

cases

which

e

does

for

Stryverhat

makes he atter

o

successful.

ickens

mphasizeshis

aspect

of

Carton's

situation.

There

is "no

sadder

sight

than

the

man ofgoodabilities ndgoodemotions,ncapable ftheir i-

rected

xercise,

ncapable f

hisown

help nd

his

own

happiness,

sensible f

the

blight

n

him,

nd

resigning

imself

o

let

it

eat

him

way"II, v,

113).

But

Carton s

resigned

n

ustthis

way,

d-

mits hat e s

ncorrigible,

nd

drinks

o

excess. t

the

ame

ime,

he

s

omewhat

epentantor

is

dissipation.

e

says o

Lucie, The

curse

f

those

ccasions

s

heavy pon

me,

for

always

emember

them"

II,

xx,234).

EdgarJohnson

laims hat

arton s

"one

who

feels

within

imself

deep

ense f

having

one

wrong,

f

guilt nd

remorse,nd oftheneed ofatoning orhis errors."

3

Suchan

analysisupports

he

observationf

Carton's

yronism,

ut

f

his

remorse

s

simply

or

his

dissipation,t

seems

pallid

substitute

for

he

deeper

nguish

ndured

y

the

onventional

yronic

ero

for

is ecret

ins;

n

this

espect

arton

alls

hort

f

themark.

The

same

may

be

said

of

his

appearance,or

he is

describedo

often s

slovenly

nd

disreputable-lookinghat t

s

difficultosee

himas the

dashing

nd

striking

yronic

igure.'4

ickens

inally

'2Again,

ompareChilde

Harold's

Pilgrimage,anto

III, stanza

113, ine

1049:"I havenot oved heworld, or heworldme."

'3

Johnson,

I,

981.

14In

Dickens's

efense

quote Thorslev:

Heroes

are almost

never

found

to be

'pure'

and

unalloyed

n

their

onformity

o a

type

xcept

perhaps

n

works

f

the

most minor

iterary

igures; ne

might

ay that the

relative

impurity' f the



8/13

Dickens and the

Byronic

Hero

311

refers o his "naturally andsomefeatures,"which,however, re

clouded by a "wasted ir"

(III, ix,

344).

More

in

keeping

with

the

traditional

igure

re Carton's ensi-

tivity nd his morose nd

gloomy

moods. n

regard

o the former

(and also

in

connection

with Carton's

remorse),

Dickens writes

that

Carton's

pillow

was wet withwasted ears"

II, v, 113).

This

aspect

f hisnature s

particularly

vident n his devotion o

Lucie,

who

says

of

him,

"he has a hearthe

very

eldom

reveals,

nd...

there

re

deep

wounds

n it.... I

have

seen

it

bleeding" II, xx,

234).Also n thetraditions his nclination o seekdeath s a relief.

It

is true

thathe sacrifices imself

o assure

Lucie's

happiness,

ut

his

careless

nd

weary

ttitude

eveal

his

onging

or

scape.

As

Car-

ton

himself

ays,

I am not

old,

but

myyoungway

was

never he

way

to

age" (III, ix,

345).

Dickens omments

though

ot n

a

direct ef-

erence o

Carton),

In seasons f

pestilence,

ome

of

us will

have

a

secret

ttractiono

the

disease-a terrible

assing

nclination

o

die

of

t"

III, vi,315).

Carton's amous inal

words how

his

willingness,

even

eagerness,

o

meet

death.

This eageranticipation f death is an occasional trait of the

Byronic ero,but

t

is

noteworthyhatCarton's

eath s a purpose-

ful

one, apparently

he

first orthwhile

ventof his ife; and what

is

perhaps

more

mportant

s

thathis death

results

rom

is

selfless

dedication o Lucie. Thus Dickens

diminishedmuchof the Byron-

ism that surrounds

Carton,

one

of

the

hallmarks f

the Byronic

character

eing

his

totally gocentric

ehavior.

As Cartonplans

Darnay's scape andhis own death),

he loseshis

istlessness. e has

"the settled

manner

f

a tiredman,

who had

wandered

nd strug-

gledandgot ost,butwhoatlength truckntohisroad and saw ts

end"

(III, ix, 348).

And

it

is

at

this

ime hatMiss

Prossobserves a

braced

purpose"

n

Carton's

rm and

a "kind of nspirationn his

eyes"

III, viii, 332).

JohnGross

bserves

hat

A

Tale

of Two Cities

ndsfairly heer-

fullywith

ts

hero

getting illed."

15

Although e isright bout the

tone

of

the

ending,

t

would

be more

ccurate o saythat he novel

ends

happily

with

half

of ts

hero

getting illed.The otherhalf, f

course,

s

Sidney

Carton's ouble,CharlesDarnay;he

escapesdeath

character

s

a

type s in

direct

roportiono

the

relative

enius

f the

author"

p.

23).

l

John

Gross,

"A

Tale of

Two

Cities," in

Dickens

and

the

Twentieth

Century,

ed.

John

Gross

nd

Gabriel

Pearson

London, 962),

. 187.



9/13

312

Nineteenth-Centuryiction

and ives ontentedlyith hewomanwho nspired arton's acri-

fice.'6 idney

arton s half-heroas the losesthatDickens ad

come o making Byronic

haracter

heprotagonistf one of his

novels.

nd

Carton,s

he

approaches

he ole

of eading haracter,

is manifestly

ess

pure"

s

a

Byronicype

han

teerforth,

ho

has

no pretensionso being he

hero f

his tory.

In Dickens's astcompleted ovel,

Our

Mutual

Friend

1865),

he

againattemptedoplacea Byronicharactern the ead role.'7

EugeneWrayburn,ikeSteerforthnd HenryGowan nd a num-

berofothers efore im,sagain he harmingut dleand ndo-

lentgentleman.ohnson escribes im s a "rebel nd misfit ho

can

findnothing o believe n and nothing orth oing n the

world."

8

Eugene

himselfums

up

his nature

nd his attitude

toward onventionalitiess he observesocularly o his friend

Mortimer

ightwood,

I am

in a ridiculous umour ..; I

am a

ridiculous ellow. verythings ridiculous"I, xiii,168).Or again,

this ime n a more eeply elf-analyticalood: You knowwhat

am,my earMortimer.ou know owdreadfullyusceptibleam

to boredom. ou know hatwhen became nough f a manto

findmyselfn embodied onundrum, boredmyselfo the ast

degree y ryingofind utwhat meant. ou know hat t ength

I

gave t up, nddeclined oguess nymore" II, xxiv, 78).

Wrayburn'sharacters stronglyeminiscentfSteerforth's,ut

because e s thehero f he toryor t east neof hem), ickens

16Hillis

Miller also

notes

this division of the

hero,

necessary,

he

feels,

"to fulfill

the theme of

resurrection'

that is, descent into death and

return

from

t

to

a

life

at last

given a

meaning)

.."

(p.

248).

17Not all

may

agree,

however,that

Eugene

Wrayburn is the

hero

of the

novel.

JohnHarmon,alias JulianHandford,alias JohnRokesmith, n someways s a more

obvious

hero.

He

certainly

ccupies

a more

central

position

n the

story

nd

draws

the

various threads

of the

narrative

together.Arnold

Kettle

has noted that

his function

is to

connect

diverse

characters nd

diverseareas

and

themes:

the

area of

wealth

and

the area of

poverty,

he river and

the

dust-heaps,

the

Boffins

nd

the

Wilfers,

nd

Eugene Wrayburn

and

Lizzie

Hexam. See

Kettle's

discussion,

Our

Mutual

Friend,"

in Dickens and

the

Twentieth

Century, d. John

Gross

and

Gabriel

Pearson

(Lon-

don,

1962), pp.

214-215.

Harmon

is the

main

figurearound

whom

revolves the

mystery

which is

central to

the

novel,

although his

identity is

revealed to

the

reader

about

half-way hrough

he

novel. But

as a hero, he

lacks

stature

and

interest.

In

his

position

as unifying

haracter,

e

functions

assively;

eventsoccur

around him,

but he

does not

bring

themabout,

nor do they

eem

to affect

im as

much as theydo

others.

Wraybum,on the otherhand, is a sharplydelineated figure, ctively nvolved in

the

plot

and clearly

motivated.

AngusWilson

sees

Wraybum

as the

most

developed

hero

in

Dickens's

work p. 10).

He is

certainly he

most

developed

hero in this

novel.

:8Johnson,

II,

1034.



10/13

Dickens and the Byronic

Hero

313

showsmoreclearlyhis personality;heportrayal as morepsycho-

logical substance.

Hillis Miller saysof Wrayburn,

In the nd .. boredom

ecomes

nguish,

he

nguished

ecognition

f

the ointnothingness

f elf nd world.A

personufferinghis nguish

sees

the

nsignificance,

he

emptiness,

he

nullity,

f

things

ithin

he

closed

ircuit

f

the humanized

orld.

verything

eturns

heselfto

itself,

hereforeo

nothing.

uch a characterecomes like one

cast

away,

or

the

want

of

something

o

trust

n,

and

care

for,

nd

think

well

of.'..

...

19

This

condition iffersery

ittlefrom he

Weltschmerz,

r

"world-

pain,"

whichThorslev

notes s a trait f the

Byronic

ero.

Eugene's

suffering

rom hiscause, in combination

with his

other

Byronic

traits,

ndicates

learly

is

kinship

o the traditional

ype.

Certainly,

f

Wrayburn

ooked

to

his

society

or

the

something

to

trust

n or

think

well

of,

his indifferencend his belief

that

"everything

s ridiculous" are well founded.

The circle that

Eu-

gene

moves n is

represented

y Podsnap,Veneering,

nd

"the

divineTippins"-all of whompoint up itsarrogance nd hypoc-

risy. ugene

feels

nothing

but

contempt

or

these

elfish,

arrow-

minded people.

On

the

occasion of the

various

dinner

parties

n

the novel,

where Dickens shows

"society"

t

its

best, Eugene is

alwaysgloomy his

usual

mood)

and

taciturn;

e contributes nly

an occasional

arcasticwitticism.20is scorn

for

ociety

nd

people

in

general hows

clearly

n

the following xchangebetweenhim

and

Mortimer:

"If wewere tending lighthouse]n an isolated ock n a stormy

sea,"

said

Eugene,

moking,

ith

his

eyes

n

the

fire, Lady Tippins

couldn't

put

off

o visit

us, or, better till,mightput off nd get

swamped. eople

couldn't skone to

wedding

reakfasts.herewould

be

no Precedents

o hammer t, except he plain-sailingrecedent f

keeping he ight p. It

wouldbe exciting o ookout forwrecks."

"But otherwise,"uggestedightwood,there

might e a degree f

sameness

n the ife."

"I

have thought f that

lso," aid Eugene, s if

he really ad been

considering

he

ubject

n itsvarious earings ith n eyeto thebusi-

ness; but t wouldbe a definednd limitedmonotony.t wouldnot

extend

eyond

wo

people.

Now it's a questionwithme, Mortimer,

91Miller, p.

301; the

internal quote

fromOur Mutual

Friend, I,

xxxviii,

336.

20

ee, for

example, I, II,

29,

31, 33,and II,

x, 126,

128.



11/13

314

Nineteenth-Century

iction

whethermonotonyefined ith recisionnd imitedothat xtent

might ot be more ndurable

han

the unlimited

monotony

f

one's

fellow-creatures."

I, xiI,

149)

Like

SidneyCarton,

Wrayburn

s

onlymildly inful;

or at

least

we don't see his sins.Dickens howed

Eugene's

faults-muchas

he

did

in his

autobiographical

endering

f David

Copperfield

nd

Pip-but

he

was hesitant

o

makehis hero too

sinful,

venwhen

he

is oftheByronic

ype.

in

is

always aid

for n

Dickens's

novels,

nd

the punishmentsalways evere.As itis,Eugenealmostdies;were

he more

wicked,

we should

surely

ose him.

There

is

a

touch of

Steerforth's

akishness

bout

Eugene, too,

which

suggests hat,

even though

we

aren't shown

his

worst

ide,

he is

hardly

better

thanhe should

be.

It

is

doubtful hathis

motives

n

pursuing izzie

Hexam

are

honorable.

Although

he

loves her

and

eventually

mar-

ries her,

marriage s apparently

ot

his

original

ntention.

ugene

acknowledges

n

severaloccasions

hat

"Heaven

knows

am

not

good";

and he

reflects

n

his nature

as

it

affects

izzie)

as one

that

"exacts tspainsand penalties ll round"butone thathe mustgo

throughwith III, Lvi, 654).

After

is

marriage

e

tells Mortimer

thathe wouldhave

received

o more

han

he deserved f

Lizzie

had

turnedhim over withher footwhen

she found him

injured and

"spat

n

my

dastard ace"

III, LXVI, 758).

It

seems lear

enough

hat

Eugene plannedto

seduce Lizzie

and, therefore,

esembles teer-

forth

ven more

closely.

In

Wrayburn ickensagain chose

to

reform

is

Byronichero,

and

before he

story nds,

many

f

Eugene'sByronic

ualities are

negated. ugene finds nLizziesomethingndsomeone o care for;

almost

miraculously

e

comes to

accept

what Arnold

Kettle calls

"the

popular

values of thosewho work

with their

hands."

1

As

a

result,he decides

to "turn

to"

in

earnest, omething

hat he has

never

done

and that

seemscompletely ut of

character

or him.

And,

of

course,

t

is out

of

character,

or

we

don't

expect hisfrom

the traditional

yronic haracter.

t

is as

inappropriate orWray-

burn

as

it would have been

for

Childe Harold or

Manfred or

Steerforth,

nd

thus

Dickens's

modificationan

only be

called in-

artistic.teerforthemains ickens'smost uccessfulreation n the

mold of

the

Byronic ype;Wrayburn, s

AngusWilson

observes,

is

merely

Steerforthedeemed."

2

1

Kettle,

P.

225.

'

Angus

Wilson,

p.

8.



12/13


13/13

316

Nineteenth-Century

iction

bodied nCarton'sndWrayburn's odifications;he wo harac-

ters re almost

n

affirmationf

hisprinciples.

Undoubtedly,here

re

other,

erhaps

minor

easons

nderlying

Dickens's xcursion

nto Byronism.

s

a

shrewd usinessmans

well as

a brilliant

riter,

e was

perfectlyilling

o

cater

o

his

publicwhent

wasnecessaryo do so.

f

hisreaders ere ascinated

by hekind f

ensationalismnherentn theByronic ero,

ickens

would

ertainlyive t to them.And he was probably lso moti-

vated y he warenesshat ismost

triking

nd

memorablehar-

acterswerehisvillains, othisheroes. he Byronicharactersn

Dickens's ovels

might

ellhave

been ttemptsocapitalize

n

this

ability.

A

much

more

mportant

nd

intriguingeason, owever,

s re-

lated oDickens's endencyo dentify

imself ithhis

characters.

Whenthe

character

as

an

extension

f

himself,

or

xample,

t

suffered

nd

toned

or

hose f

Dickens's

wn

faults hich e

had

ascribed

o the

haracter.

dmund

Wilson

as

noted,

For heman

of

pirit hose hildhood as

been rushed y he rueltyf

organ-

ized ociety,neof wo ttitudessnatural:hat fthe riminalr

that

fthe

ebel.

Charles ickens,

n

imagination,asto play he

roles fboth...."

25

There ould

hardly e

a

more daptable har-

acterype

or

his

urpose

han

heByronic ero-a

character

hat

included

lements

f

both he

riminal

ndthe

ebel.

ut

ust

s

in

Dickens's eal

ifehe

had

uppressedny ebelliousnessr

criminal

inclinations,26

o

too did he

find

t

necessaryopurgeWrayburn

and

Carton

f

their

yronismefore e

could

llowthem o

pass

as

heroes.

ignificantly,ohnJasper,

he

main

character

f The

MysteryfEdwinDrood, snot hero.nstead, e s evidentlyhe

murderer,

lthough

e

may

not be

aware

f

his own crime.Re-

spectable

nd

pious

on

the

outside,

e is

tortured

y rresistible

and

unconscious

mpulses

oward

vil

on

the nside.And perhaps,

as Edmund

Wilson

as

uggested,

e

too s

a

reflection

f

Dickens's

interpretationf

certain idden spects fhis ownpersonality.27

25

dmund

Wilson, . 15.

20In connection

with

Dickens's

ublic

reading

of

the

murder cene n

Oliver

Twist,

owever,t is

intriguingo

read

his oking

references

o "his

murderous

n-

stincts"nd his "vaguesensation f being wanted' s I walkabout the streets."Letter oW. P. Frith, ov.16,1868, etters,II, 678.

27

ee

also

Johnson,I,

1123.

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Charles Dickens and the Byronic Hero

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