George Gordon Lord Byron (1788-1824)

1. George Gordon Lord Byron (1788-1824) Study Questions p. 267

2. STUDY QUESTIONS • Briefly mention Byron’s: • family • education • interests • travels • Family: Byron was born in London in 1788 from an old noble family of Scottish origins. His paternal grandfather was the younger brother of the 5th Baron Byron, while his maternal grandfather was a descendant of King James I. • Education: He attended exclusive schools such as Harrow ( a very old school where boys have been educated since 1243) and Cambridge University. • Interests: he won a reputation as a drinker, gambler, lover and spendthrift. • Travels: he travelled extensively . He set out in 1809 for Europe, including Portugal and Spain, but also Malta, Greece, Albania and Turkey. It is while he was on tour that he started ‘Child Harold’s Pilgrimage’ where the protagonist’s adventures take place in the same countries Byron was visiting.

3. What made him popular? Why? • The publication of ‘Child Harold’ in 1812, on his return to England, and a series of oriental verse tales. Both works are about love and adventuresin exotic lands and the heroes are proud and courageous and, like their author, they never bend to social requirements. This is the reason why they are known as ‘Byronic heroes’. • What scandal made him leave England? • His wife accused him of mental cruelty, but it was because of his incestuous love for his half-sister that he was shunned by almost all good society and chose voluntary exile from England where he was never to return. He lived on the Continent, especially in Italy, where he was an active supporter of the Carbonari.

4. In what circumstances did he die? • He was only 36 when he died of fever in Greece where he was taking part in the Greek rebellion against Turkey as one of the revolutionary leaders. His increasing desire for action had made him wish for a ‘soldier’s grave’. He is still considered a national hero in Greece. • Why was Byron influential in Europe? What did he embody? • He influenced poets and novelists such as the German Goethe, the French Balzac, the Russian Dostoyevsky, as well as painters and composers like Beethoven. He embodied the aspiration of freedom and the hate of social hypocrisy typical of the Napoleonic generation.

5. What is his Romantic hero like? • His Romantic hero is bold, impulsive, but also melancholy, proud and independent. He is the living model of a rebel who loves solitude, is attracted by wild nature and is haunted by some remorse. • How different is Byron’s style from that of the first generation of Romantic poets? • Unlike Wordsworth’s or Coleridge’s, Byron’s language is characterised by classical elegance: his great models were the great Augustan writers. So, although Romantic in spirit, he was neoclassical in form.