Eric Draven - Modern Byronic Hero - (part one)

Eric Draven is the main character in the movie "Crow" (1994), which belongs to the genre of action fiction. The film is based on the comic book of the same name by James O'Barr from 1989. The story follows Eric, a rock musician driven by pain, when a crow comes to life a year after he and his fiancée were brutally killed by members of a Detroit gang. With the help and guidance of a crow, Eric wants revenge and restore order. He is a supernatural avenger whom I cannot kill because he is already dead. But he is also a grieving lover who suffers from the violent and premature death of his beloved. Dark, mysterious and tormented by painful past events, Eric recalls the so-called Byron hero - an exile who is partly a victim, partly a villain.

Byron's hero - origin and basic characteristics

In the period of Romanticism, the Gothic genre experienced a significant change - it began to retreat inside and the focus was placed on the thoughts and feelings of the heroes instead of their actions. According to Botting, this "internalization of the Gothic form", where dark and gloomy landscapes are only a reflection of the inner mental and emotional state of the hero, "represents the most significant turning point within the Gothic genre."

A romantic hero is not a hero in the true sense of the word. On the contrary, he possesses several character traits that make him closer to an anti-hero - he is rebellious, disrespectful of authority and power, abide by some law of his own, and fight for what he himself believes in, whether good or bad. Very often he feels alienated from society and from himself and it is difficult for him to fit in. He is isolated, pensive, often changes his mood and suffers from "world pain". Condemned to wander on the margins of society, he is a kind of exile - half victim, half villain. But unlike the Gothic villains, he is not the cause of evil and horror and his presence does not disturb the order. Evil is recognized in society itself, in its institutions of power and their corruption and tyranny, in such a way that its rebellion against social discipline makes it an attractive figure and demands our respect and understanding.

Byron's hero (so named because he developed mainly thanks to the writings of Lord Byron) is a version of a romantic hero. It is believed to be descended from the Greek legend of Prometheus, Cain, Milton's Satan from Paradise Lost, Goethe's Faust, and to stem from the Romantics' fascination with the nature of sin, the fallen world, rebellion, and the world of sensibility.

Lord Byron was a dominant figure during the Romantic movement and the characters he created, as well as the myths with which he performed his personality, are remembered better than some of his literary works. Byron's hero is a complex and intriguing character who developed together with Byron and when he has many traits and flaws. It’s a character that readers and audiences may not like, but it will certainly fascinate them with its irresistible and strong personality. He is often characterized as attractive, arrogant, narcissistic, intelligent, mysterious, sarcastic, cold, tortured in some way or persecuted by the past, and mostly includes some supernatural elements. He shows a great ability to feel and suffer, melancholy, self-destruction and often feels gloomy, but his suffering causes admiration and a pronounced ability to oppose generally accepted morality and social norms elevates him above the ordinary mortal.

He stands aside, suffers from moral or spiritual sin, and longs to be cleansed of any demons that haunt him. A strong sense of honor and a love of poetry and music, as well as a metaphysical rebellion, make him a typical figure of Romanticism. (taken from the "Encyclopedia of Romanticism")

It first appears in 1812 in Byron's "Pilgrimage of Childe Harold," but continues to evolve and also appears in his "Oriental Tales." In addition to the characters that Byron himself created, some of Byron's most famous heroes are characters from the work of the Bronte sisters, namely Heathcliff from "Hurricane Heights" and Mr. Rochester from "Jane Eyre".