Lord George 1788 - 1824

Gordon Byron
 Life
- Born in London from an aristocratic
family which gives him the title of
“Lord”
- He was born with a club foot that
caused him much humiliation and a
fragile self-esteem
- He attends Cambridge University Byron’s outward journey

and writes his first volume of poetry

in 1807
- In 1809 he leaves for a Grand Tour
of Europe, during which he
composes the first canto (of four) of
Childe Harold, based on his
experiences during his travels that
was to secure his fame on his return
to England Byron’s return journey
 Love matters
In 1815 he gets married but his marriage collapses
one year later because he is charged with incestuous
relationship, a very serious and scandalous offence,
with his half sister Augusta Leigh

He is now ostracized by society, so he

leaves England forever

Geneva, Venice, Rome

Augusta Leigh
In 1823 he decides to support the
War of Independence of Greece Byron had the reputation of one
against the Turks but he dies of fever who had romances with several
before being involved in any fight. St. women, many of them married. He
Paul’s and Westminster Abbey was handsome, women found him
refused him funeral services. He was attractive and many young men
tried to imitate him
buried in the family tomb
 Main works
CHILDE HAROLD’S PILGRIMAGE
His main works (1812-1818): an autobiographical
poem about Childe, a young man
who was a candidate for knighthood.
Colorful descriptions of exotic
DON JUAN (1819): Satiric poem based on
nature, a lyrical exaltation of
the legend of Don Juan, portraying Juan
freedom, lonely hero
not as a womanizer but as someone easily
seduced by women. It’s Byron’s
masterpiece on a social, political and
literary level.
The two first cantos were published
anonymously. He completed 16 cantos,
leaving the 17th unfinished.
 A contrasting figure
Byron is often seen as a contrasting figure especially by
earlier Romantics such as Wordsworth or Coleridge:

He stood for a poetic revolution but worshipped the

classics, of which he used the witty style (e.g. in Don
Juan) to express humour and satire very much unlike
the dramatic tension of Wordsworth’s poetry

He worshipped idealism but never lost touch with reality

He was a freethinker but derived from his youth the

Calvinistic sense of original sin (predestination to a life of
sin and sorrow)

He was a Baron, a member of the highest aristocracy, but

he supported all forms of freedom, willing to die for it

This contrasting personality found expression in all the different genres

he adopted, from satire to lyric, from drama to epic, to prose, and all the
different poetic styles: Spenserian stanzas, heroic couplets, blank verse,
terza rima, ottava rima
 The Romantic Byron
His life: aristocrat, handsome, successful poet, but
misunderstood and abused by his fellow-countrymen.
His worship of liberty: he firmly believed in individual
liberty.
His rebellion: he hated any sort of constraint and
oppressions. He wished to be himself without compromises.
His titanism: exaggeration of all wild passions and emotions.
His satanism: admiration for fallen rebels (as Milton’s Satan).
His individualism: he always introduces himself into his
poetry.
His melancholy: derived from the discrepancy between real and ideal;
His interest in history: past ages and fallen empires
His nationalism (he joins Italian Carbonari and fights against Turks in Greece)
He sees nature as a reflection of himself (storms, rolling oceans, high
mountains). the wildest and most exotic natural landscapes reflect his mood
and feelings.
His taste for exoticism and Gothicism
His restlessness: to travel and look for new experiences and sensations.
 The Byronic Hero
WHAT IS THE BYRONIC HERO?
The Byronic hero is characterized by a typically
Romantic aspiration to freedom and by the rebellion
against society and its hypocrisy. He is melancholy,
independent, moody, moody, very sensitive, more
intelligent than the average man. He loves solitude
and is attracted by the wild scenes of nature. He is
passionate, impulsive, bold. He seems haunted by a
secret, a grief or a remorse. He is very attractive:
Women find him irresistible but he refuses their love.

People considered the Byronic Hero as an autobiographical portrait of the

author himself
 Byron the satirist: Don Juan
Byron was also a fervent satirist: he used satire
to denounce the evils of society. An example
of Byron’s satire is his “Don Juan”.

The character of Don Juan, symbol of a “sexual

libertine”, first appeared in “El Burlador de
Sevilla” by Tirso de Molina: it’s the story of Don
Juan Tenorio, a libertine and cynical adventurer
who pursues pleasure, especially with women,
without caring about the harm that he may
cause. In Spanish he is a burlador: a man who
has no respect for religion, moral or social
codes. After going through a series of
adventures from place to place, cheating both
women and men, Don Juan dares to mock a
dead. Don Juan will end his life burning into the
flames of hell, because of his immoral behaviour.
 Byron’s Don Juan
COMPOSITION AND STYLE THE POEM WAS
Unfinished CRITICIZED BECAUSE IT
WAS THOUGHT TO LACK
16 cantos
MORALS
Ottava rima

PLOT AND SATIRE

It tells of the adventures of Don Juan, a 16-year-old boy brought up in Spain.

He is a young, friendly character, almost naive: his honesty contrasts with the the
hypocrisy and falsity of the people he meets.
He is not the seducer as in the Spanish version but rather the seduced: in love
affairs he is passive: : it is the woman who always makes the first move.

Byron’s intention was satirical: he wanted to offer a satire on the lack of loyalty,
sincerity, love and compassion in his society. Through this work, he presents the
follies and faults of his age and of British establishment