Byronic Heroes

Most Indians are familiar with the story of Devdas. The wealthy, frustrated, lovelorn, self-absorbed and ultimately tragic protagonist is one of the most popular fictional characters in Indian culture. However, anyone who reads or watched Devdas will be struck by how flawed he is. In a culture that practically reveres masculinity, a hero that ruins his life for the love of a woman is surprising and the story's popularity even more so.
A friend of mine mentioned Byronic heroes; essentially a character that doesn't possess 'heroic' qualities and are characterised by being rude, selfish, uncaring and a tendency to step on others. But they are also capable of great love and tenderness and this contrasted with their more dark qualities give their gentler emotions a poignancy that traditional heroes lack. There have been many popular Byronic heroes in popular movies, the Sandman from Spiderman for instance. All his escapades and his obvious lack of morals are finally revealed to be for his daughter. Other examples are Severus Snape from Harry Potter, Macbeth, Edward Rochester from Jane Eyre and my all-time favourite Scarlett O'Hara from Gone with the Wind. A more selfish, thoughtless and cunning heroine that Scarlett is hard to find.
Devdas fits into this mould perfectly and I suppose that is the reason for his appeal. Though there's immense admiration for the Mr Darcy's of the world, there's something incredibly human and appealing about a flawed character. Though all of us aim to be perfect there's no such thing as a perfect person and the Byronic heroes, in all their dark glory, represent the very essence of us.