Reply to thread

Message

<blockquote data-quote="Doug McCrae" data-source="post: 4360920" data-attributes="member: 21169">The article actually uses the same language Reveal did for his 'sarcastic hero' saying he's not a 'knight in shining armor' type. Very, very few heroes these days are pure and virtuous, in fact only Superman comes close, which is why I think the current definition of anti-hero pretty much refers to all protagonists in fiction.As the article says, the meaning of anti-hero has changed a lot. The original lit crit definition was someone weak and incapable. The heroic traits being contrasted with here are the original ones of capability and competence, not virtue. Achilles is mighty. But he's an a-hole. The Penguin Dictionary of Literary Terms defines an anti-hero as &quot;A 'non-hero' or the antithesis of a hero of the old-fashioned kind who was capable of heroic deeds, who was dashing, strong, brave and resourceful... The anti-hero is the man who is given the vocation of failure.&quot;The word 'heroic' can refer to capability or virtue. The old heroes, like Achilles, had the former but not the latter. Hence the old meaning of anti-hero said nothing about virtue. To be an anti-hero was to be weak, a failure. The classic example is Willy Loman in Death of a Salesman.</blockquote>

[QUOTE="Doug McCrae, post: 4360920, member: 21169"] The article actually uses the same language Reveal did for his 'sarcastic hero' saying he's not a 'knight in shining armor' type. Very, very few heroes these days are pure and virtuous, in fact only Superman comes close, which is why I think the current definition of anti-hero pretty much refers to all protagonists in fiction. As the article says, the meaning of anti-hero has changed a lot. The original lit crit definition was someone weak and incapable. The heroic traits being contrasted with here are the original ones of capability and competence, not virtue. Achilles is mighty. But he's an a-hole. The Penguin Dictionary of Literary Terms defines an anti-hero as "A 'non-hero' or the antithesis of a hero of the old-fashioned kind who was capable of heroic deeds, who was dashing, strong, brave and resourceful... The anti-hero is the man who is given the vocation of failure." The word 'heroic' can refer to capability or virtue. The old heroes, like Achilles, had the former but not the latter. Hence the old meaning of anti-hero said nothing about virtue. To be an anti-hero was to be weak, a failure. The classic example is Willy Loman in Death of a Salesman. [/QUOTE]

Verification