"In a Dark Wig": Reinventing Byron as Steerforth in David Copperfield

Abstract:Victorians like Charles Dickens both lauded the Romantic poets as heroes and deplored them for their loose morals. No figure caused more consternation for the Victorians than Lord Byron, a figure Dickens reimagined as James Steerforth in his novel David Copperfield. The character's tragedy re-enacts the ambivalent and highly charged relationship Victorians had with Byron, the most notorious hero–villain of the Romantic era. The ambiguous portrayal of Steerforth, constantly viewed through the worshipful eyes of David, reflects a broader coming to terms with the past that Victorian Britain sought to undertake in re-evaluating the heroic but problematic legacy of the Romantic era.