To say that Lord Byron had a troubled existence maybe an understatement. None the less his life and lifestyle gave him plenty of material to write about. In fact, Byron's own life can easily be seen within Don Juan.
The poem opens with Don Juan living in Seville with his parents Don Jose and Donna Inez. An unhappy marriage, Don Jose and Donna Inez "wished not each other divorced, but dead" (line 203). Their marriage mirrored Byron's parents own marriage. His father spent his mothers fortune then fled leaving her with Byron and a resentment that Mrs. Gordon used against Byron.
After Don Jose's death, Don Juan inherits the family estate because "Juan was the sole heir" (line 289). Again Don Juan mirrors Byron's life. Lord Byron only inherited his title because he was the only male heir available for his recently deceased uncle. Without his childless uncle, Lord Byron would have probably ended up penniless or having to work for a living thanks to his wasteful father.
Byron even takes some liberties with the origins of Don Juan by changing Juan from the seducer to the seduced which according Byron had happened to him. At sixteen, Don Juan is pursued by the married Donna Julia (line 435-440). Byron claims that his older nurse pursued him and brought about his sexual awakening much like Julia awakened Juan. Byron continues to use his life as the model for Don Juan.
It appears that Byron sees himself as a Don Juan of sorts. Byron instills himself into Juan, and molds Don Juan into Byron. Perhaps his ideal version of himself. Since the idea of seduced not seducer is not the reputation of Byron's. Perhaps he was trying to turn around his public image, blaming his seducer habits on his own weakness to be seduced. Whatever the reason maybe, it is clear that Byron has projected himself onto Don Juan.
Lauren,
ReplyDeleteOK post, but not as successful as your previous ones. You do a good job of focusing on the beginning of the poem, and I like the idea of making connections between Don Juan's and Lord Byron's parents, but your comments seem rather formulaic and reductive rather than insightful. Also, here when you quote you only provide brief phrases, and don't dig into the context or meaning of the passages as much as you did in previous posts. Finally, there are more grammatical and syntactical errors here than in your previous posts. Be sure to proofread!