In fiction, an antihero (feminine: antiheroine) is a protagonist archetype whose character or goals are antithetical to traditional heroism. The term dates to 1714, although literary criticism identifies the trope in earlier literature.
There is no definitive moment when the antihero came into existence as a literary trope. The antihero has evolved over time, changing as society's conceptions of the hero changed, from the Elizabethan times of Fa...
more
In fiction, an antihero (feminine: antiheroine) is a protagonist archetype whose character or goals are antithetical to traditional heroism. The term dates to 1714, although literary criticism identifies the trope in earlier literature.
There is no definitive moment when the antihero came into existence as a literary trope. The antihero has evolved over time, changing as society's conceptions of the hero changed, from the Elizabethan times of Faust and William Shakespeare's Falstaff, to the darker-themed Victorian literature of the 19th century, such as John Gay's The Beggar's Opera or as a timid, passive, indecisive man that contrasts sharply with other Greek heroes to Philip Meadows Taylor's Confessions of a Thug. The Byronic hero also sets a literary precedent for the modern concept of antiheroism.
The Byronic hero is a rebellious antihero who is sympathetic despite his rejection of virtue.
Antiheroes differ from Tragic heroes because a tragic hero is still primarily heroic but...
less
