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A review by blueyorkie
Don Juan by Susan J. Wolfson, Peter J. Manning, Lord Byron, Truman Guy Steffan
5.0
There are few writers as sulphurous as Lord Byron who manages to remain sympathetic. Bisexual, lover of his half-sister, handsome dark man who led a life of decadence and debauchery; wandering through Europe with its tamed bear, its Venetian gondolier and other baggage. But also rebellious soul, in love with freedom and justice, having defended the English weavers against industrialization, the Armenians against Turkish persecutions, and died flying to the aid of the insurgent Greeks (very symbolic assistance of the rest according to Trelawney)! But above all, he was a vast and formidable poet.
Contrary to what one might think, this long poetic ode of seventeen songs is straightforward to read. In an extravagant and magnificent style of course, but also full of humour! True to his taste for scandal, Byron revisits the highly pure myth of Don Juan to reverse it completely.
Don Juan is no longer the violent and cynical seducer that we meet from Tirso de Molina to Mozart. He is a naive and good-willed adolescent who seduces women in a completely involuntary way! Circumstances snatch him from one, and already the next takes him; my faith he lets himself go. There is probably an autobiographical side to it; despite his clubfoot, Byron was renowned for his beauty. His fame and the identification of the writer and his heroes only increased his prestige, and even if the term "groupie" is a bit strong to refer to many of his female admirers, he may not be so far from the truth!
Don Juan's travels across Europe and the Orient also echoed his own, especially across the Greek islands. To accentuate the resemblance, he adds long digressions on his own life and takes the opportunity to settle his accounts with his ex mistresses, wife, friends, enemies, rivals, and so on.
He also added original chapters, while the different Don Juan then all took up roughly the same episodes. The one with Haydée notably inspired a magnificent painting by the Pre-Raphaelite painter Ford Brown.
An innovative, satirical and ironic work, therefore. But above all, the final and unfinished work of a dazzling spirit and steeped in the enormous contradictions.
Contrary to what one might think, this long poetic ode of seventeen songs is straightforward to read. In an extravagant and magnificent style of course, but also full of humour! True to his taste for scandal, Byron revisits the highly pure myth of Don Juan to reverse it completely.
Don Juan is no longer the violent and cynical seducer that we meet from Tirso de Molina to Mozart. He is a naive and good-willed adolescent who seduces women in a completely involuntary way! Circumstances snatch him from one, and already the next takes him; my faith he lets himself go. There is probably an autobiographical side to it; despite his clubfoot, Byron was renowned for his beauty. His fame and the identification of the writer and his heroes only increased his prestige, and even if the term "groupie" is a bit strong to refer to many of his female admirers, he may not be so far from the truth!
Don Juan's travels across Europe and the Orient also echoed his own, especially across the Greek islands. To accentuate the resemblance, he adds long digressions on his own life and takes the opportunity to settle his accounts with his ex mistresses, wife, friends, enemies, rivals, and so on.
He also added original chapters, while the different Don Juan then all took up roughly the same episodes. The one with Haydée notably inspired a magnificent painting by the Pre-Raphaelite painter Ford Brown.
An innovative, satirical and ironic work, therefore. But above all, the final and unfinished work of a dazzling spirit and steeped in the enormous contradictions.