Scarica Lord Byron: life, themes and style e più Temi in PDF di Inglese solo su Docsity! BYRON’S LIFE (1788-1824) He was born in London, after his father’s death he became an avid reader of classical poetry He first published some works but they didn’t become successful because of his satire against the accepted culture of his times After his great-uncle’s death he inherited some money and the title of Baron of Rochdale He decided to complete his education doing the “Grand Tour” around Europe. He went to Portugal, Spain, Italy, France, Greece and to the Near East. This journey contributed to share his taste for antiquity, literature and art Thanks to the success of Childe Harold’s Pilgrimage he became famous and he became also involve in some affairs with married women and he offended London’s fashionable society He left England and he went to Italy, where in fell in love with Teresa Guiccioli and he became interested in the struggles for the national liberation. He sailed for Greece to take part to the war against the Turks but he died of fever in 1824. THEMES He was a romantic icon: he lived in the name of extravagance, anti-conformism and disdain for the morality of the times He introduced the figure of the Byronic hero: a gloomy, melancholic aristocrat torn between sin and noble aspirations He was an outsider: his works were inspired by his own restless involvement in contemporary life and they weren’t inspired by nature and its contemplation He voiced his political dissent: the problem of oppression and the need for liberty are recurrent themes in his works Love was either described as an unreachable ideal or as a folly to be mocked STYLE He never rejected classicism (he always conformed to the poetic diction of tradition) even if some themes and subjects were considered scandalous He experimented with a wide variety of genres and meters An important difference between Byron’s style and the one of the first generation of Romantic poets is the acute sense of irony, typical of Don Juan DON JUAN Long poem in 16 cantos, composed between 1819 and 1824 but he left it unfinished Don Juan’s amoral libertinism symbolises the triumph of human freedom over social and moral obligations The presence of forces beyond human control as history and fate adds irony and humour to Don Juan’s story Don Juan isn’t only the seducer but he’s also a victim of events and circumstances he hasn’t planned at all It was written in ottava rima, an italian stanza form composed of eight 11-syllable lines The narrative voices speaks to the reader, makes comments, suggests ideas and he rejects them It’s Byron’s moder work, where he shook the foundations of Romanticism and of his own former poetic efforts The myth of Don Juan originated in Spanish folk legend in 1630, when the first written version was offered by Tirso de Molina (El burlador de Sevilla y convidado de piedra)
