Don Juan (Magill Book Reviews)
At a glance:
- Author: Lord George Gordon Byron
- Type of Work: Epic Poetry
- Genres: Satire, Poetry, Narrative poetry
- Subjects: Power, personal or social, England or English people, Eighteenth century, Wealth, Spain or Spanish people, Diplomacy or diplomats, Turkey or Turkish people
- Locales: England, Russia, Constantinople, Seville, Spain, Turkey
Although the Don Juan of literary and operatic tradition is a coldly amoral seducer, Byron’s version of the character begins as a sheltered youth but is progressively tarnished by his worldly experiences. A wellborn Spaniard, Juan is sent abroad when his mother and her lover, Don Alphonso, discover him to be having an affair with Alphonso’s 23-year-old wife, Julia.
Don Juan’s grand tour of Europe, from Greece, Turkey, and Russia to England, contains all the material of epic convention: storm and shipwreck, slavery, warfare, and political diplomacy. Most prominent among his...
[The entire page is 661 words long]
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