“'Twere long to tell, and sad to trace,
Each step from splendor to disgrace;
Enough—no foreign foe could quell
Thy soul, till from itself it fell;
Yes! Self-abasement paved the way
To villain-bonds and despot sway.”1
Few other topics in Star Wars culture spark as much debate as the role of Anakin Skywalker in the saga.
As an innocent, idealistic child Anakin overcame slavery to play a key role in saving the planet Naboo from the Trade Federation. From there he grew to become a moodier, but still heroic, young Jedi apprentice. Despite a rebellious and impulsive nature, Anakin embraces his Jedi goals with fervor and becomes a larger-than-life hero during the Clone Wars. Nevertheless, Anakin remains a slave of his own human nature, and ultimately makes choices that result in his tragic fall from grace.
Anakin’s life story conjures up a complex range of emotions and sentiments. He was at different times loved and reviled, leaving some to label him as either hero or villain. I believe neither label is a good fit. True heroes are role models. They give us examples to follow. True to Byron’s determination not to write role models, Anakin serves as more of a warning than an example. Very real and human flaws plague him. He makes mistakes that cost him dearly. In that regard he is someone we can identify with. He shows us the darker side of human nature and gives us a reason to avoid those aspects of our own nature.
In this paper I hope to explore each of the characteristics of the Byronic hero and show how Anakin Skywalker/Darth Vader measures up, both as an individual and as an ideal.
Almost every definition of the Byronic hero contains some version of the following criteria:
- Is supernaturally gifted, possesses great talent and great ego
- Is an exile, isolated from society
- Is rebellious, defies authority
- Lacks respect for rank and privilege
- Dislikes society, government or social institutions
- Is highly passionate and moody
- Hides something from the past
- Is ultimately self-destructive
Let’s begin our comparison with Anakin Skywalker as he is when we first meet him in The Phantom Menace. As a boy Anakin is definitely a child of nature in terms of his personality. Peter Thorslev, a Byronic scholar, describes such a child as “naïve, unsophisticated, impulsive, aggressive.”2 In addition, Anakin is supernaturally gifted. We are told that at the tender age of nine he flies podracers -- something normal humans do not possess the skills to do. When we do actually see him fly, we are told that his abilities leave even the Jedi in awe. He is also a gifted mechanic, as he tells Padmé Naberrie, “I can fix anything!”3 We see the skill demonstrated in the protocol droid he has built, as well as in the pod he manages to finish in time for the Boonta Eve race.
In addition to his extraordinary abilities, we see in Anakin an especially positive outlook. He is fond of using his gifts to help others. Early in the story we are told he is “engaged in building a protocol droid to help his mom.”4 Then, when Qui-Gon Jinn and his company are stranded, needing parts for their ship, he insists, “We have to help them.” In the novelization, we even see him giving credits to an old pallie vendor in Mos Espa so she can buy a cooling unit to help her tolerate the desert heat.5 It is precisely this desire to help others that most clearly displays Anakin’s passionate nature at this point in his life. From his words and deeds, we see that he knows slavery is a bad thing, that people have a responsibility to help each other, and that cheating is wrong.
In terms of being exiled, not only is Anakin a slave, thus isolated from free society, he is also relegated to the Outer Rim world of Tatooine, a planet very much cut off from the goings on in the heart of the galaxy. Though he doesn’t express an open dislike for the galactic government, he most likely shares his mother’s views that the Republic and its laws might as well not exist for all the good they do those who live in the Outer Rim.
A rebellious nature and disrespect for authority is something we don’t see at this point in Anakin’s life. He works hard for his master, Watto, accepting his lot as a slave with stoicism beyond his years. Likewise he shows great respect for his mother. Although he loves podracing, when his mother asks him to stop he promises that he will.
One of the first hints of approaching darkness in Anakin’s character is seen when he becomes unreasonably angry at the thought that he might never see Padmé again once she leaves Tatooine. With very little provocation, he jumps into a fight with a young Rodian boy. ”Anakin was hitting him as hard and fast as he could, not thinking about anything but how angry he was, not even aware that the source of his anger had nothing to do with his victim and everything to do with losing Padmé.”6 In addition to anger, we see fear. Though the young Anakin convinces himself he isn’t afraid of anything, there is one thing that gives him pause, “He might not ever be afraid for himself, but he was sometimes very afraid for his mother.”7
It is in Attack of the Clones that we begin to see more of the darker Byronic characteristics emerge in Anakin. As a young Jedi Padawan, it is his quest for knighthood that gives Anakin a tie to Byron’s first heroic character, Childe Harold. The term “childe” was used to designate an eldest son and it was a title that son often kept until he achieved knighthood.8 Both Anakin and Harold were cynical, suffering and guilt-ridden. Yet a contrast is found in that Harold seemed to begin with these miens and lose them over time, whereas Anakin began without them only to take them on as time went by.
As a young Jedi Anakin remains supernaturally gifted, displaying an affinity for the Force that more seasoned Knights envy. Unfortunately, along with his skill comes a generous measure of pride and a great ego. He tells Padmé that although Obi-Wan is a great mentor, “in some ways -- in a lot of ways -- I’m ahead of him.” He takes his confidence a bit further, allowing us to see his rebelliousness and growing disrespect for his master. In Padmé’s apartment he readily challenges Obi-Wan’s authority by announcing they will seek the identity of Padmé’s would-be assassin. Then later, in the garage of the homestead on Tatooine he insists Obi-Wan is “just jealous of me…he knows that I’m already more powerful than he is.”9
Even so, this pride is not necessarily a bad thing. Thorslev also writes “there is always something of rebellious individualism, of pride, of hubris, about heroes.”10 Anakin certainly doesn’t lack for pride in his abilities, and he makes that clear when his master tells him, “If you’d spend as much time working on your lightsaber skills as you do on your wit, young Padawan, you would rival Master Yoda!” to which Anakin replies, “I thought I already did.”11
Though little is said in Romantic era literature about physical appearance as a trait of the Byronic hero, it is worthy of note that the tendency was to make them dashing, brave, and handsome. One particularly beautiful description of the Byronic hero says he “has the appearance, the air of the fallen angel.”12 Indeed, Anakin Skywalker is physically attractive. One other item of his appearance stands out possibly more than his good looks to point him toward the Byronic. As Atara Stein points out “the contemporary Byronic hero is almost always dressed in black.”13 Once Anakin becomes a Jedi we never see him again without his trademark black overtunic or cloak.
One of the hallmarks of a Byronic hero -- the tendency towards self-destructive acts -- is only hinted at in this second installment in the Star Wars Saga. The first time we see it is during the speeder chase through Coruscant. Obi-Wan chastises his Padawan for his recklessness, commenting that Anakin almost got them killed. Anakin is unconcerned and immediately proceeds to jump out of the speeder, falling hundreds of stories through the Coruscant traffic lanes until he manages to latch on to a passing vehicle. The same recklessness, with little thought for the preservation of his own life and limb, is evident at the end of Episode II when he ignores his master’s warning and rushes in to confront Count Dooku on his own. He pays a hefty price in this instance with the loss of his arm.
At this stage, the young Jedi Anakin’s dislike of government isn’t readily apparent. He defends both Senator Amidala and Supreme Chancellor Palpatine to his master. It isn’t until his conversation with Padmé at the picnic on Naboo that we truly begin to see his disillusionment with the Republic and its leadership. Initially he is teasing Padmé, but she stumbles on the truth when she asks him, “You really don’t like politicians, do you?” and Anakin replies, “I like two or three.”
Their conversation continues and Anakin admits that he doesn’t think the galactic system of government works. Though he insists he was teasing when he alluded to a dictatorship, there is an undercurrent in the air that lets us know he wasn’t being as flippant as he would like Padmé to believe. Despite this growing cynicism towards the Republic Anakin continues to do his duty. Stein describes the behavior as Byronic when she says “He may well have a callous contempt for the people he serves, but he serves them, nonetheless.”14
That isn’t to say his disillusionment doesn’t have an effect because clearly it does. In Anakin’s case his feelings are tied directly to the creation of his own moral code. First, with his open disregard of the Jedi mandate in Padmé’s apartment, then later when he disregards orders so that he can go and rescue his mother, and finally when he loses control and kills the Tuskens on Tatooine. None of these things is usual Jedi behavior, but it is likely that Anakin’s negative feelings towards the system contribute to his repeated violation of the Jedi tenets he was raised to obey.
Byronic heroes are said to have highly passionate natures. Nothing better illustrates Anakin’s own passionate nature than his love for Padmé Amidala. It is very much a force beyond his control. In Attack of the Clones Anakin insists, “You’re asking me to be rational. That is something I know I cannot do.”15 Though the canon universe never states it outright, we are led to believe that Anakin loves Padmé so much he would have resigned the Jedi Order just to be with her. Nevertheless, Padmé is adamant that they must set aside their love so they can both fulfill their obligations to the systems they serve. She tells Anakin, “we live in a real world. Come back to it.” In that sense, Anakin and Padmé are very much like another traditional Byronic hero and his lady love. As Atara Stein describes Emily Bronte’s Heathcliff and Catherine -- “They are larger than life; their love cannot endure in a real world where…social considerations of necessity must preempt romantic love.”16
In Byron’s works we see passions of this sort as typical. The Venetian in “The Giaour,” Conrad in “The Corsaire,” and Lara in the work of the same name are all typical Byronic heroes in that they are passionate and steadfast in their love of one woman. In these cases, as in Anakin’s, passionate feelings ultimately lead to the keeping of secrets. Although marriage and attachment are forbidden to the Jedi, Anakin manages to convince Padmé that their love must survive. The two finally marry in a secret ceremony on Naboo. Of course, Anakin does not disclose this new bond to his master or to the Jedi Order. With that deliberate act of subterfuge, Anakin solidifies his journey into darkness and deception.
“The Giaour” offers us another similarity to Anakin. Byron himself describes the Venetian as seeking revenge for the death of his lover, a female slave.17 When Anakin’s mother is killed by a band of Tusken raiders, he exacts vengeance by killing the entire Tusken village. Words penned by Byron could just as easily be used to describe his actions: “And I, alas! Too late to save! Yet all I then could give, I gave, ‘twas some relief, our foe a grave. His death sits lightly; but her fate has made me -- what thou well may’st hate.”18 In the end both Anakin and the Venetian achieve their goal -- atonement for a wrongful death -- but both are forever changed by the act. In Anakin’s case such a massacre is clearly not heroic. Even so, we can sympathize with such dark desire for retribution. It is our sympathy which disguises the horror of the act itself and leaves us believing Anakin is still worthy of the hero moniker.
Though little is known at this point of Episode III, there is one aspect revealed by the movie trailer that bears inclusion here. Faust, a romantic precursor to the Byronic Hero, represented the thirst for infinite knowledge. It is commonly known that Anakin felt responsible for his mother’s death. He believes he should have been there to prevent it and even goes so far as to tell Padmé that someday he will find the means to “stop people from dying.” In the recently released theatrical trailer we see Anakin questioning Palpatine about the secret to sustaining life in the face of death, surely representative of a quest for knowledge of the infinite. Palpatine tells him he cannot learn this secret from a Jedi and we, the audience, are given our first real glimpse into Anakin’s darker future.
Once Anakin surrenders to darkness and becomes Darth Vader, some argue that he becomes a true villain. I find that label difficult to accept because his motives are seldom, if ever, self-serving. Alexander Walsh describes well why one might believe Vader doesn’t fall into the traditional villain category: “[h]e acts with deep feeling, and his intentions are 'good,' though fierce and mistaken.”19 Although we find fault with Vader’s methods we still find ourselves being convinced that he believes he is doing the right thing.
As a Dark Lord of the Sith, Vader is fearsome and solitary. His presence inspires fear in the men around him. Lucas describes it thus, “The cloud of evil which clung tight about this particular one was intense enough to cause hardened Imperial troops to back away.”20
Anne Radcliffe, an author thought to have influenced Byron, describes a character very similar to Vader in The Italian. “Among his associates no one loved him, many disliked him, and more feared him. His figure was striking, but not so from grace; it was tall, and though extremely thin, his limbs were large and uncouth, and as he stalked along, wrapped in the black garments of his order, there was something terrible in its air; something almost superhuman…His was not the melancholy of a sensible and wounded heart, but apparently that of a gloomy and ferocious disposition.”21
Vader is at once repulsive and attractive. Along with his dark cruelty he carries equal parts of power and mystery. “The Giaour” is likewise described in terms that are both lovely and dark: “His floating robe around him folding…with dread beheld, with gloom beholding.” And later in the same stanza, “If ever evil angel bore, the form of mortal, such he wore: By all my hope of sins forgiven, such looks are not of earth or heaven.”22 Once again, we see the trademark black garments. In fact, black is so much a part of Vader’s appearance that one could almost say he becomes the color itself.
In addition to a powerful physical presence, we are shown that Vader has retained both Anakin’s supernatural powers and his ego. In a moment of rare introspection we are privy to Vader’s thoughts, “while he would have preferred the company of equals, he had to admit reluctantly that at this point, he had no equals.”23 Alongside the obvious arrogance it is surprising to see a hint of loneliness in that statement. It gives us a rare glimpse into the isolation Vader experiences by virtue of his position and his power. It makes us almost sympathetic to him.
Along with his emotional isolation, it is easiest to show Darth Vader’s exile in a physical sense -- his suit makes normal interaction with people around him impossible. Though he is surrounded by his officers at all times, he is very much set apart from them in terms of normal human interaction. In fact, in the novelization of Return of the Jedi Vader’s own thoughts about his mask are very telling. He mentally describes it as “his voice, and his breath, and his invisibility -- his shield against all human contact.”24
Although Vader serves the Empire, we are given the impression that he does so because it is the will of his master. His disdain for Imperial officers is clearly demonstrated when he tells them that their ultimate weapon is “still insignificant when set against the Force.”25 When General Tagge argues against that viewpoint, Vader thinks nothing of giving the man a small taste of Sith power by using the Force to constrict his windpipe. While that may not display an actual dislike for the Empire, it definitely indicates defiance, rebelliousness and a lack of respect for others who serve it. The fact that Tagge is a General doesn’t faze Vader in the slightest, especially when he feels called upon to defend his own beliefs.
It is this very defense of himself and his values that show Vader as equally passionate as Anakin. We shouldn’t be surprised, however, that Darth Vader gives off a more dispassionate air. Though he appears to have more success than Anakin at actually controlling his passions, we must remind ourselves that the very nature of the Dark Side of the Force resides in allowing one’s passionate feelings -- in Vader’s case, anger, fear, hate -- to have free reign. In the realest sense, Vader is the dark byproduct of Anakin Skywalker’s passionate nature.
Oddly enough, despite his obvious power over officers of the Empire, Vader prefers not to take on the leadership role. Manfred, one of Byron’s heroes, also eschews the leadership role for himself. He seems to feel as if it is almost beneath him. “I could not tame my nature down; for he must serve who fain would sway; and soothe, and sue, and watch all the time, and pry into all place, and be a living Lie, who would become a mighty thing among the mean -- and such the mass are; I disdained to mingle with a herd, though to be a leader -- and of wolves. The lion is alone, and so am I.”26 We are never quite certain why Vader has never sought a more powerful position within the Empire, but this theory -- that he prefers to remain solitary and unaccountable to that system -- probably works as well as any.
In Atara Stein’s work the Byronic hero is described as “an agent of oppressive…authority, who yet draws the admiration of his audience due to his awesome abilities. He then becomes transformed into an agent of revolt against the institutions that created or employed him.”27 We see that twice in Anakin’s life, both in his time as a Jedi Padawan -- when he turns to the Dark Side and takes part in the destruction of the Jedi Order -- and again as Darth Vader -- when, in one final impulsive act, he saves his son by destroying the very master he left the Jedi to serve.
It is this final valiant gesture of self-destruction and sacrifice that succeeds in destroying Darth Vader forever, thus returning Anakin Skywalker to the status of hero. It is a victory made tragic when we realize that he has returned to humanity only to die of his injuries moments later. One of the most touching scenes in the original trilogy takes place once Vader has cast aside his dark master and asks Luke to help him remove his mask. Knowing that his death is certain, he seeks that last moment of human contact, that last exchange of words and glances with his son.
Although tragic, we seem to realize that Vader could have come to no other end. Stein describes this Byronic phenomenon by pointing out that the such heroes are destined to remain isolated from society: “he cannot be reintegrated into society, even if he has benefited that society with his heroic actions; he must be rehumanized, then exiled or destroyed.”28 In that sense, Anakin Skywalker comes full circle. In my mind, it is the entirety of the journey -- from innocent child to evil Sith Lord to rehumanized champion -- which solidifies Anakin Skywalker as a Byronic hero.
Note: the author reserves the right to add additional content to this paper at some future time pending the release of Episode III: The Revenge of the Sith.
Works Cited:
1. Byron, G. G. The Poetical Works of Lord Byron, Hurst & Company, New York. 207.
2. Thorslev, P., The Byronic Hero. University of Minnesota Press, Minneapolis, 1962. 21.
3. Brooks, T. Star Wars, Episode I: The Phantom Menace. Ballantine Books, New York, 1999. 131.
4. Brooks, T., 21.
5. Brooks, T., 192.
6. Brooks, T., 184
7. Brooks, T., 77.
8. The Collaborative International Dictionary of English, v.0.44, <http://www.dictionary.net/childe>. 2005.
9. Salvatore, R.A. Star Wars, Episode II: Attack of the Clones. Ballantine Books, New York, 2002. 283.
10. Thorslev, P. 16.
11. Salvatore, R.A. 94.
12. Clarke, J., The Influences of Pushkin and Byron on M. Yu. Lermontov’s “The Prisoner of the Caucasus,” Stanford University, 1972. 15.
13. Stein, A., “Immortals and Vampires and Ghosts, Oh My!: Byronic Heroes in Popular Culture.” <http://www.rc.umd.edu/praxis/contemporary/stein/stein.html>. 2005.
14. Stein, A., The Byronic Hero in Film, Fiction and Television. Southern Illinois University Press, Carbondale. 2004. 7.
15. Salvatore, R.A. 205.
16. Stein, A., 13.
17. Byron, G.G., 206.
18. Byron, G.G., 215.
19. Welsh, A. The Hero of the Waverly Novels, with New Essays on Scott. Princeton UP, New Jersey, 1992. 40.
20. Lucas, G., The Star Wars Trilogy, Episode IV: A New Hope. Ballantine Books, New York, 1993. 8.
21. Radcliffe, A., The Italian. http://www.horrormasters.com/Text/a0081_01.pdf. 1797, 2005. 23.
22. Byron, G.G., 214.
23. Lucas, G., 106.
24. Kahn, J., The Star Wars Trilogy, Episode VI: Return of the Jedi. Ballantine Books, New York, 1993. 24.
25. Lucas, G., 31.
26. Byron, G.G., 339.
27. Stein, A., 2.
28. Stein, A., 2.
