A Study Of Byron's Views Of Women In Don Juan

Byron is one of the most prominent and prolific romantic poets and his road to fame are marked by the publication of The Childe Harold Pilgrimage. Since the book has been published, Byron has received attention and popularity in English society and has become well-known in England overnight. However, Don Juan, a poem spanning 17 cantos, is his masterpiece and has won praise form great, which mainly deal with Juan's love affair with women on travels of the European Continent. As a result, this thesis is a tentative attempt at an analysis of the variety of women characters in Don Juan so as to reveal Byron's ambivalence attitude towards women.As a whole, the thesis is divided into three major parts, which includes introduction, main frame, and conclusion. Introduction starts with a brief introduction of Byron and his work Don Juan as well as a review of the women in his life shaped his attitude on women. It also includes an exposition of significance of Byron's employment of the Bible in interpreting the text as well as the social influence in shaping his view of women.The main frame interprets the text from three perspectives:Chapter One mainly focuses on Byron's contempt of women, regarding women as inferior to man both in body and intellect. In fact, on the one hand, Byron contends that it is dangerous for women to possess intellect; on the other hand, he- rails against the knowledgeable women in his conversations as well as in his poem Don Juan. Influenced by the Bible, Byron insists on that women belong to men in body and vulnerable in body.The second chapter offers a detailed analysis of the three types of women whom Byron bitterly attacked, including lustful,hypocritical and tyrannical women. In his Don Juan, Byron scattered mockeries, sarcasms, and ironies about these types of women, revealing his violently denigration of certain women.The third chapter deals with another point of Byron's view of women-his positive attitude or his approving of women, while the previous two chapters mainly about his negative attitude about women. It demonstrates his admiration of women from two aspects: their attractive outward appearance which most Byronic heroine possesses and some of virtuous women which Byron sincerely commends.The conclusion part of the thesis makes it clear that it is Byron's unique way to depict women in a paradoxical tone, so it is not sheer approving or totally approaching.