Antihero
An antihero (sometimes spelled as anti-hero)[1] or antiheroine is a main character in a narrative (in literature, film, TV, etc.) who may lack some conventional heroic qualities and attributes, such as idealism, courage, and morality.[1] Although antiheroes may sometimes perform actions that most of the audience considers morally correct, their reasons for doing so may not align with the audience's morality.[2]
Antihero is a literary term that can be understood as standing in opposition to the traditional hero, i.e., one with high social status, well liked by the general populace. Past the surface, scholars have additional requirements for the antihero. Some scholars refer to the "Racinian" antihero, who is defined by several factors. The first is that the antihero is doomed to fail before their adventure begins. The second constitutes the blame of that failure on everyone but themselves. Thirdly, they offer a critique of social morals and reality.[3] To other scholars, an antihero is inherently a hero from a specific point of view, and a villain from another.[4] This idea is further backed by the addition of character alignments, which are commonly displayed by role-playing games.[5]
Typically, an antihero is the focal point of conflict in a story, whether as the protagonist or as the antagonistic force.[6] This is due to the antihero's engagement in the conflict, typically of their own will, rather than a specific calling to serve the greater good. As such, the antihero focuses on their personal motives first and foremost, with everything else secondary.[7]
History
An early antihero is
The term antihero was first used as early as 1714,[12] emerging in works such as Rameau's Nephew in the 18th century,[8] and is also used more broadly to cover Byronic heroes as well, created by the English poet Lord Byron.[13]
Literary
Huckleberry Finn (1884) has been called "the first antihero in the American nursery".[18] Charlotte Mullen of Somerville and Ross's The Real Charlotte (1894) has been described as an antiheroine.[19][20][21]
The antihero became prominent in early 20th century existentialist works such as Franz Kafka's The Metamorphosis (1915),[22] Jean-Paul Sartre's Nausea (1938),[23] and Albert Camus's The Stranger (1942).[24] The protagonist in these works is an indecisive central character who drifts through his life and is marked by boredom, angst, and alienation.[25]
The antihero entered American literature in the 1950s and up to the mid-1960s as an alienated figure, unable to communicate.
During the Golden Age of Television from the 2000s and into the present time, antiheroes such as Tony Soprano, Gregory House, Walter White, Don Draper, Marty Byrde, Nucky Thompson and Jax Teller became prominent in the most popular and critically acclaimed TV shows.[29][30][31]
See also
References
- ^ a b "Anti-Hero". Lexico. Oxford University Press. Archived from the original on 6 August 2020. Retrieved 26 September 2020.
- ISBN 9780786442645.
- S2CID 256361158.
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- JSTOR 26907483.
- S2CID 143440315.
- ^ ISBN 9781480411913.
- ^ a b c "antihero". Encyclopædia Britannica. 14 February 2013. Retrieved 9 August 2014.
- Carson-Newman University. Retrieved 3 October 2013.
- ISBN 9780748618859.
- ^ "Antihero". Merriam-Webster Dictionary. 31 August 2012. Retrieved 3 October 2013.
- Carson-Newman University. Retrieved 6 September 2014.
- .
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- ^ ISBN 9780141187099.
- ISBN 0393020398.
- .
- ^ Cooke, Rachel (27 February 2011). "The 10 best Neglected literary classics – in pictures". The Guardian. Retrieved 7 April 2020.
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- ISBN 9780761830979.
- ISBN 9789956727667 – via Google Books.
- ISBN 9789042016927 – via Google Books.
- ^ Brereton, Geoffery (1968). A Short History of French Literature. Penguin Books. pp. 254–255.
- ^ ISBN 9780631202707.
- ^ ISBN 9780275953645.
- ISBN 9780521436274.
- ^ Reese, Hope (11 July 2013). "Why Is the Golden Age of TV So Dark?". The Atlantic. Retrieved 31 October 2021.
A new book explains the link between the rise of antihero protaganists and the unprecedented abundance of great TV (and what Dick Cheney has to do with it).
- ^ Faithfull, E. (2021). How House brought the "savant anti-hero" into the mainstream and changed TV dramas. www.nine.com.au. https://www.nine.com.au/entertainment/latest/house-savant-anti-hero-medical-drama-9now/0e030210-8bfe-424f-b687-f2e36e6f0694
- ^ Pruner, A. (n.d.). Hear us out: Gregory House was TV's last great doctor. https://editorial.rottentomatoes.com/article/hear-us-out-gregory-house-was-tvs-last-great-doctor/