Byron's exuberant masterpiece tells of the adventures of Don Juan, beginning with his illicit love affair at the age of sixteen in his native Spain and his subsequent exile to Italy. Following a dramatic shipwreck, his exploits take him to Greece, where he is sold as a slave, and to Russia, where he becomes a favourite of the Empress Catherine who sends him on to England. Written entirely in ottava rima stanza form, Byron's Don Juan blends high drama with earthy humour, outrageous satire of his contemporaries (in particular Wordsworth and Southey) and sharp mockery of Western societies, with England coming under particular attack.
Don Juan (Penguin Classics)
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George Gordon Byron was born on 22 January 1788 and inherited the barony in 1798. He gained a reputation for his startling good looks and extravagant behaviour, and on the publication of 'Childe Harold's Pilgrimage' became famous overnight. In 1815 he married Annabella Millbanke, but they were seaprated after a year. The rumoured relationship with his half-sister Augusta lead him to leave England in 1816. He eventually settled in Italy and supported Italian revolutionary movements, and in 1823 left to fight for Greek independence. He contracted fever and died in 1824.
T.G. Steffan is Professor Emeritus of English in the University of Austin, Texas. W.W. Pratt is a former Professor Emeritus of English in the University of Austin, and died in 1991.
Susan J. Wolfson (introducer) is Professor of English at Princeton University. Peter J. Manning is Professor of English at the State University of New York.
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First Sentence
Bob Southey! You're a poet, poet laureate, And representative of all the race. Read the first page
Front Cover | Copyright | Table of Contents | Excerpt | Back Cover
Bob Southey! You're a poet, poet laureate, And representative of all the race. Read the first page
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Front Cover | Copyright | Table of Contents | Excerpt | Back Cover
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
15 of 20 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
Basically i am writing this to contradict another review, the one called 'universal?' and dated january 1999. ive just finished studying this poem for my a levels, and i can safely say that absolutely everything in this poem is a parody or analogy about something or someone else, which is what makes it the masterpeice that it is. Juan's mother Inez is used by Byron to satirise both his own mother and his wife Annabella Milbanke. Juan's lover Haidee's father Lambro is used as a device to demonstrate the stifling effect society has on love etc etc. EVERYTHING in it is meant to mock something else. Byron writes little snippets in the style of Wordsworth then scoffs as at them to show how easy it is (for him anyway) to write that sort of poetry, and also lays into other contempories of his such as Coleridge and Southey. Byron says 'fools are my theme, let satire be my song.' which fools? the fools he knew from his life, who he wrote about in this poem. in order to get the most from this poem, it is probably best to read a biography of Byron in order to understand all of the reference he makes (most of which are extremely funny). i read Maurois and McCarthy, and i'd recomend the latter, 'Byron, life and legend,' by Fiona McCarthy as the best companion to Don Juan.
By Blondinka
Format:Kindle Edition|Amazon Verified Purchase
Yes this did exactly what it said on the tin. I only bought it because of my course work but it's a good version
16 of 25 people found the following review helpful
By A Customer
Format:Mass Market Paperback
Don Juan is one of those works that live forever. One of the greatest works of literature, Byron succeeds in encompassing everything in mock-epic. It has love, politics, passion and satire, to name but the few, and everyone should read it. Aeneid, Iliad, Metamorphoses and Don Juan, are in the same category, but the latter outshines them all!!
5 of 9 people found the following review helpful
By Roman Clodia
TOP 50 REVIEWER
Format:Paperback
With Don Juan, Byron epitomised the 'Byronic' hero who lives on in today's gothic and historical romances - cynical, brooding, dark on the outside with a tender heart within.
In a vast narrative poem full of lyrical and dramatic verse, Byron carries us on a journey with his anti-hero that is funny, moving, sexy and tragic by turns.
Definitely a book to take to that desert island, it'll keep you company for years.
In a vast narrative poem full of lyrical and dramatic verse, Byron carries us on a journey with his anti-hero that is funny, moving, sexy and tragic by turns.
Definitely a book to take to that desert island, it'll keep you company for years.
1 of 3 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
Definitely one of the finest poems ever written - brilliant, witty and profound. Knocks that bleating sheep Wordsworth into a cocked hat!
7 of 19 people found the following review helpful
By A Customer
Format:Mass Market Paperback
The poem attempts to encompass everything, as Byron tells us -- but everything literary, not everything in real life. War, stormy seas, tropical islands, British high-class society, queens and slaves -- all are presented as fictions, parodies, examples, not true portraits. Even the philosophy is purely literary in intent, none of it applicable to people on earth, but only to people in the world of early-nineteenth-century literature.
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