Scarica George Gordon Byron. e più Appunti in PDF di Inglese solo su Docsity! BYRON Born in Dover, Kent, in 1788. He descended from two aristocratic families. He began to write at Trinity College, Cambridge. In 1807 published Hours of Idleness, a small volume of lyric poems. He showed his taste for satire, in 1809 he set out on his Grand Tour of Spain, Portugal, Malta, Albania, Greece and the Middle East. After his return to England in 1812, he published the first two cantos of Childe Harold’s Pilgrimage. He became a literary and social celebrity. In 1815 he married Annabella Milbanke. His marriage collapsed a year later because of his incestuous relationship with his half-sister Augusta Leigh. He left England in 1816, never to return. He lived in Geneva, where he became a friend of the poet Percy Bysshe Shelley. He moved to Venice, where he began his masterpiece, Don Juan. In 1819 he moved to Milan where he became involved in the patriotic plots against Austrian rule. He committed himself to the Greek struggle of independence from Turkey. He died in the town of Missolonghi in 1824, struck by a severe fever. THE BYRONIC HERO A moody and mysterious romantic rebel who hides some sin or secrets in his past. He is characterised by proud individualism, he rejects the conventional moral rules of society. And he could be considered an outsider, isolated and attractive at the same time and that’s why women couldn’t resist him even if he refuses them. He is of noble birth, but wild and rough in his manners. His looks are hard, but handsome. Has a great sensibility to nature and beauty. Bored with the excesses of the world. BYRON INDIVIDUALISM Byron believed in individual liberty. He wished to be himself without compromises. He denounced the evils of society by using satire. His mood and choice of themes were Romantic. MANFRED Set in the Alps, partly in Manfred’s castle, partly in the mountains. It can be found a powerful alpine landscape with peaks and abysses. Manfred’s tower, standing under the moon, becomes the symbol of the overreached. Manfred wants dominion over the natural elements. Manfred is a sort of magician, tormented by remorse, whose cause seems to be his affair with his sister Astarte. He invokes spirits, which appear but are of no use to him. He is caught in a moment of crisis. His torment leads to the loss of identity and his final suicide. INFLUENCES the Byronic hero; Milton’s work; the Gothic novels. STYLE Manfred becomes his own narrator. Byron manipulates the narrative leaving gaps. The reader experiences the same sense of exclusion as the hero. CHILDE’S HAROLD PILGRIMAGE The childe is a young noble awaiting knighthood. The work is made up of four cantos. The story deals with young Harold’s travels. Introduces exotic settings. Contains descriptions of nature. The first two cantos are set in Spain, Portugal, Albania and Greece. The third canto is set in Central Europe. The fourth canto is set in Italy. BYRON’S VIEW OF NATURE Nature is not a source of consolation and joy. It does not embody any theory. It has no message to convey. The wildest and most exotic natural landscapes reflect the poet’s mood and feelings.
