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Byron’s unfinished mock-epic flips its hero’s character. In other
famous representations Don Juan is aggressive and arrogant, yet here we find a
softer, more naïve manifestation. We are privy to his childhood and upbringing
and the adventures he falls into – shipwreck, slavery, and war among them. With
so much drama within it may come as a surprise that it is the digressions of
the narrator that leave more of a lasting impression.
The narrator and Byron are hard to separate, expressing many of the
same views. The dedication, which was suppressed at the time of publication,
is a biting critique of many of his contemporaries – Southey who he suspected
of spreading rumours about him, and Wordsworth and Coleridge who many of the
younger Romantics believed had sold out, all come under his scrutiny. Each
canto digresses into the narrator’s views on political and religious figures
including women pushing for more independence. These tangents are so frequent
that it becomes difficult to follow the thread of the tale of Don Juan.
It received a difficult reception on
publication. Being published serially, as was the norm at the time, it fell to
two separate publishers to continue to bring it to the public, as the irreverent
language and content put some off. Unsurprisingly, Wordsworth was not an
advocate, but Byron’s friend Percy Bysshe Shelley believed it to be quite
remarkable. Today, it is a book that students struggle through and not many
choose as their entry into Byron’s work, as I did. Lengthy and rambling, you
feel at times as though you’re sat next to a gossipy aristocrat at a dinner
party. Interesting for its insights into Byron’s own life and opinions, it is at
times enjoyable and at others a bit of a slog.
Pick up a copy:
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