Don Juan Cantos I & II (1819)
Cantos I & II were published together in July 1819. They were considered so controversial that both Byron and his publisher (John Murray) decided to print them anonymously – to avoid prosecution by the courts and/or being sued by the Society for the Suppression of Vice.
The Dedication had also been considered too provocative and potentially libellous. The full dedication was not officially printed in a major edition until well after Byron’s death. It was another scathing satirical attack directed at Robert Southey, Poet Laureate.
Bob Southey! you’re a poet – poet-Laureat,
And representative of all the race;
Although ‘tis true that you turn’d out a Tory at
Last, - yours has lately been a common case;
And now, my Epic Renegade! what are ye at?
With all the Lakers, in and out of place?
A nest of tuneful persons, to my eye
Like “four and twenty Blackbirds in a pye.”
Byron agreed not to publish the Dedication and wrote a brief note on the proofs to explain his reasoning:
“As the Poem is to be published anonymously omit the dedication – I won’t attack the dog in the dark – such things are for Scoundrels and renegadoes like himself”.
Cantos I & II: Spain & The Aegean Sea
Byron’s Don Juan is not a predatory womaniser but an innocent young man who is passive and easily seduced. The narrator is a witty, world-weary voice that constantly digresses into personal reflections on politics, poetry and society.
Juan is raised in Seville by a strictly virtuous mother, Donna Inez (a thinly veiled satire of his wife, Annabella Milbanke). The romantic Donna Julia, a twenty-three-year-old married family friend, fancies the sixteen-year-old boy. Despite attempting to resist his charms, Julia embraces a love affair with Juan and falls in love. Suspecting his wife’s infidelity, Don Alonso bursts into the bedroom, followed by his bodyguards who find no-one and nothing suspicious – for Juan is hiding in the bed. Later, returning alone to his bedroom, he discovers Juan’s shoes in her room. During the ensuing fight, Juan manages to break away and escapes. Don Alfonso punishes his faithless wife by sending her to a nunnery. In a poignant letter to Juan, Donna Julia writes:
Man’s love is of man’s life a thing apart,
’Tis woman’s whole existence; man may range
The court, camp, church, the vessel, and the mart.
To avoid further scandal and the consequent bad reputation that her son has brought upon himself, Donna Inez sends her son away to travel Europe, in the hope that he will develop a better sense of morality. Juan sets sail from Cadiz, accompanied by Pedrillo, his tutor, and servants. The ship is caught in a violent storm and sinks. Juan, his entourage and some sailors escape in a long boat.
Then rose from sea to sky the wild farewell –
Then shriek’d the timid, and stood still the brave,
Then some leap’d overboard with dreadful yell,
As eager to anticipate their grave:
Byron used his grandfather’s Journal – The Narrative of the Honourable John Byron (1768) – and the shipwreck of the HMS Wager off the coast of Chile to re-enact the scene. The shipwreck explores the fragility of human morals when faced with the indifferent power of nature.
Adrift in the Aegean Sea, they soon exhaust the food supplies and eat their leather shoes and clothes, and then they eat Juan’s dog. The survivors face extreme desperation and resort to cannibalism, eventually consuming Pedrillo. Juan is the sole survivor and washes up on a Greek island.
Two women – Haidee and her maid Zoe – discover the shipwrecked Juan and care for him in a cave at the beach. Haidee and Juan fall in love despite neither speaking the language of the other. Her father, Lambro, is a pirate and a slaver. She is aware that if he knew about Juan, he would have him enslaved and sent to Constantinople. She keeps Juan in a cave as she nurses him back to health.
When her father goes on a voyage, Haidee brings Juan out on walks and the pair get ceremoniously ‘wed’ under the stars.
Canto III & IV: A Cyclades Island – Greece (1821)
Juan and Haidee are living as ‘man and wife’ in her father’s palace, believing her father has died at sea. They host an extravagant feast where a poet sings a passionate lyric about Greek independence, reflecting Byron’s own political commitment to the cause.
The mountains look on Marathon –
And Marathon looks on the sea:
And musing there an hour alone,
I dream’d that Greece might still be free.
The atmosphere is shattered when her father, who is very much alive, secretly returns and discovers the young lovers. Lambro and his pirate associates attack Juan who, despite Haidee’s pleas, is severely wounded and dragged away to be sold into slavery. Haidee is traumatised by the violence and despairs at losing her lover. She suffers a ‘burst vein’ (brain haemorrhage) and falls into a coma and dies, pregnant with Juan’s child.
Whom the gods love die young was said of yore.
And many deaths do they escape by this.
Canto V & VI: Constantinople (Istanbul) – Turkey (1821 and 1823)
Juan wakes up in chains on a ship bound for Constantinople where he is paired with an Englishman named John Johnson. In the slave market, Juan and Johnson are purchased by Baba – a black eunuch from the harem, acting on the secret orders of the Sultana Gulbeyaz. She had spotted the handsome Juan while being carried through the city in her litter and immediately developed a ‘crush’ on him.
Sultana of Constantinople
Taking them to an inner chamber of the sultan’s palace, Baba insists Juan dress in women’s clothing – threatening castration if he resists the demand. Finally, ‘Juanna’ is taken into an imperial hall to meet the Sultana Gulbeyaz – a beautiful twenty-six-year-old lady who is the favourite wife of the sultan.
Sultana Gulbeyaz wants Don Juan to ‘love’ her and throws herself upon his breast. With Haidee still in his thoughts, Juan spurns her sexual advances, saying:
The prisoned eagle will not pair, nor I
Serve a sultana’s sensual phantasy.
Enraged by the rejection, Gulbeyaz thinks of having Juan beheaded – but instead, she bursts into tears. Just as the situation reaches a boiling point, the Sultan arrives at the palace, preceded by an entourage of courtiers, concubines and eunuchs. He immediately notices the presence of ‘Juanna’ and is impressed by her appearance.
The seraglio
Whilst continuing the ‘harem adventure’ the tone shifts toward light-hearted comedy and ribald suspense. The canto explores the secret world of feminine camaraderie and sleep.
Death, so call’d, is a thing which makes men weep,
And yet a third of life is pass’d in sleep.
A sleep without dreams, after a rough day.
Of toil, is what we covet most; and yet …
The sultan and sultana retire for the evening, and Don Juan, still disguised as the slave girl ‘Juanna’, is sent to sleep in the crowded harem where the odalisques reside. He is told there is no spare bed, and he must share a couch with Dudu – a beautiful and seemingly innocent seventeen-year-old. She gives Juanna a chaste kiss and undresses.
In the middle of the night, the entire harem is awoken by a piercing scream and Dudu awakens agitated – whilst the snoring Juanna continues to sleep. When the ‘Mother of the Maids’ rushes to investigate, Dudu recounts a sexually suggestive dream about wandering in a wood and finding a golden apple; of almost biting the forbidden fruit, when a bee flies out and stings her to the heart. (The ‘bee-sting’ is widely interpreted as a thinly veiled metaphor for a sexual encounter.)
When the Sultana Gulbeyaz awakens, she asks Baba to tell her how Juan / Juanna passed the night at the harem. Suspicious, the sultana becomes jealous and then enraged – suspecting the truth. Gulbeyaz orders Baba to have both Juan and Dudu sewed into sacks and thrown into the Bosphorus (a traditional Ottoman execution for unfaithful harem women).
Canto VII & VIII: Bessarabia – Ukraine (1823)
Juan and his companion John Johnson escape the harem and flee the palace. They reach the Danube River during the Russian Siege of Izmail (a Turkish fort at the mouth of the river, on the Black Sea). The Imperial Russian field marshal, Alexander Suvorov is preparing the final assault. While the battle rages, Prince Grigory Potemkin, the Russian commander in chief, orders Suvorov to ‘take Ismail at whatever price’ for the greater glory of Catherine II – the Christian great empress of Russia.
John Johnson presents himself to Suvorov (with whom he fought in battle at Widden, in Bulgaria) and introduces his friend Don Juan – saying that both men are ready to join the Christian fight against the pagan Turks.
Byron’s deconstruction savages the Russian Suvorov as a “Hero, buffoon, half-demon, and half-dirt” and a “harlequin in uniform”. He mocks Empress Catherine for sending thousands to die while she remains safe in her palace in St. Petersburgh.
The army, like a lion from his den,
March’d forth with nerve and sinews bent to slay,
A human Hydra, issuing from its fen
To breathe destruction on its winding way,
As brave soldiers in the Imperial Russian army, Don Juan and John Johnson prove fearless in the savagery and carnage of the Russian siege. To conquer the fort of Izmail, the Russians kill nearly 40,000 Turks, including women and children. Juan rescues a ten-year-old Muslim girl from two Cossacks intent on killing her. From the aftermath of the Siege of Izmail, Don Juan emerges a hero, and is sent to St. Petersburgh, accompanied by the orphan girl, whom he vows to protect as a daughter.
Canto IX: St. Petersburg – Russia (1823)
Sent as a messenger to the Imperial Russian Court, Don Juan arrives covered in the ‘glory’ and ‘dust’ of battle. A dashing, handsome young man, dressed in a glittering military uniform, he immediately captivates Catherine the Great, and becomes one of her favourites. The Empress is a woman of forty-eight years and is portrayed as a powerful, intellectual figure – “a grand imperialist” and a “majestic creature”.
Juan is quickly promoted to the rank of General, given a palace, and draped in diamonds. The narrator implies that the affection between the Empress and young Juan is rooted more in ego and lust than in genuine emotion:
Love is vanity,
Selfish in its beginning as its end
Except where ‘tis a mere insanity.
Amidst the decadence, Juan remains guardian to the orphan girl – concerning himself with her health, education and welfare.
During this period, Byron was clearly reflecting upon his own thoughts regarding his future life and his growing desire to “lay down his pen – and mount the warrior’s plume”.
And I will war, at least in words (and should
My chance so happen – deeds), with all who war
With Thought; - and of Thought’s foes by far most rude,
Tyrants and sycophants have been and are.
By this time, Newstead Abbey had been sold and Byron felt that the Greek War of Independence would be a worthy use of his inheritance. He estimated that he had £20,000 (approaching £2.5 million) available to commit to the Greek Cause.
“With a certain sum in advance and no particular occupation, how could I better employ my time and money.”
Canto X: In Transit – Poland, The Rhine, Holland (1823)
Byron famously begins the Canto with a meditation on Sir Isaac Newton and the falling apple, linking the discovery of gravitation to the fall of Adam and his own ‘fallen’ hero.
Life at court has taken its toll on Juan’s health. He falls ill in the cold clime of the Russian weather and the “glare and gloss” of court life. To save him, Empress Catherine sends Juan on a diplomatic mission to the warmer, temperate clime of England, providing him with a massive fortune in ‘rubies, diamonds, cash and credit’ to ensure his success. Byron officially names the young orphaned Muslim girl as ‘Leila’. She travels with Juan across Europe, refusing to convert to Christianity despite efforts to persuade her.
Byron uses this stretch of the journey to contrast the romantic, historical landscapes of Europe with the ‘smoke’ and ‘brick’ of London that Juan is about to encounter – a description that highlights the industrial pollution of the time.
A mighty mass of brick, and smoke, and shipping,
The ocean’s queen, and yet her servants’ slave:
Which proudly on her own vile mud is tipping
Her monstrous hoard of ruin to the wave;
The romantic beauty of the ‘Isles of Greece’ is gone, replaced by a “dirty and dusky twilight (like a spoon – In a large cup of chocolate”.
Canto XI: City of London – England (1823)
Byron begins his take-down of British High Society as Juan finally arrives at the ‘White Cliffs of Dover’. His arrival in England serves as Byron’s long-awaited ‘homecoming’, allowing him to aim his satirical cannons at his own country from the perspective of an outsider.
Shooter’s Hill
Approaching the capital, Don Juan muses upon the democratic greatness of Britain as defender of the freedom of ordinary men – until interrupted by a menacing cockney footpad – a robber demanding his money or his life. In self-defence, he pulls out a pistol and shoots the thief.
As a man possessed of a strong conscience, he regrets his violent haste and tends the wound of the dying man. Juan’s medical effort fails and the robber utters his last words and dies on the London street.
English Court
Courtiers are in wonder of Juan’s handsome visage, in admiration of his dress and charmed by his mien and personality – which provokes the jealousy of some of the elder peers. Because he is a Russian envoy with a mysterious past and ‘exotic’ manners, people flock to him. He is pursued by “sixteen different mothers” looking to marry off their daughters.
Canto XII: City of London (1823)
This canto is famous for its cynical deep dive into two things Byron claimed ran the British Empire – money and matchmaking.
The Value of Gold
Meditating on the power of money, Byron argues that the true masters of the world aren’t kings or generals, but bankers – referencing Rothschild and Barings, who financed the post-Napoleonic era. He delivers a famous attack on the British banking system claiming that “gold rules all the world, exempt from fault”. Byron mocks how every major political move is dictated by bankers – “Every loan is not a merely speculative hit – But seats a nation or upsets a throne.”
The Marriage Mart
Byron mocks the marriage market where daughters are displayed like “china without flaw” and “vestals” are brought to the market to be auctioned off to the highest bidder. He describes the young women and the society around them as ‘human cattle’ stripping away the romantic veneer of courtship to reveal its underlying financial motives.
Juan is no longer the wide-eyed boy from Canto I. He has become a sophisticated diplomat, moving through “the drawing-rooms of the great” with a cold polished exterior. He is treated as a celebrity ‘lion’ by the London elite. The London ballroom is compared to a battlefield where young women are deployed like troops to capture a wealthy husband. During the London Season, virginal English girls are taught to look ‘modest’ while their families check Juan’s bank account.
Don Juan’s priority is to safeguard his adopted daughter by seeking, finding and employing a suitable guardian for her. He rejects ‘grand’ ladies and chooses Lady Pinchbeck to look after her – a woman of good character who is “old and wise” enough to see through society’s nonsense. The move is intended to protect the child from the harshness of the world and ensure she receives a ‘proper’ upbringing, shielding her from the “marriage mart” of the aristocracy.
Canto XIII: Norman Abbey (1823)
The High Life satire continues as the setting shifts from the noise of London to the sprawling country estate of Norman Abbey (a thin veil for Byron’s own Newstead Abbey). Byron provides a lush, melancholic description of Gothic ruins and its ‘monastic’ history. He mocks the British tradition of the ‘Country House Party’ describing the guest list as a collection of politicians, poets and aristocrats “bored to death” by one another.
Don Juan travels to the Abbey as a guest of Lord Henry and Lady Adeline Amundeville. Lady Adeline is the sophisticated and powerful, ‘perfect’, ‘polished’ hostess of the English country house. She is depicted as a formidable, multifaceted woman of high society and someone who possesses the strength and independence of an ‘Amazon’ with the ability to outdo men in governing others and the state. A warrior of social propriety, capable of maintaining a perfect ‘mask’ while navigating the complexities of high society – she is deemed a “modern Amazon” and “the First of her sex.”
She was a modern Amazon and further yet
(I am not sure of the exact expression)
In her own way; for although she could set
Her face to any anything, the least transgression
In others would her own past life upset:
She was a model of the pure profession
Of “proper” women, who are so much better
In all things than the women of the letter.
Byron is being deeply ironic here, suggesting that while Adeline is a ‘model’ of propriety and strength, she is also focused on social appearances and the ‘transgressions’ of others.
At this early stage, her interest in Juan is purely that of a high-society leader observing a new, exotic guest…
Canto XIV: Country Life (1823)
The emotional shift begins here as Lady Adeline starts ‘tutoring’ Don Juan. She begins to take a deep interest in him under the guise of social guardianship and fears that Juan is in danger of being seduced by the ‘voluptuous’ Duchess of Fitz-Fulke.
During a fox hunt, despite being a foreigner and somewhat unfamiliar with English customs, Don Juan acquits himself exceptionally well – handling his horse and the ‘tally-ho’ with the same ease he brought to battle and romance. He is proving to be a handsome, dashing and witty man who is very attractive to the lady guests at the country house. The Duchess of Fitz-Fulke has set her eye upon him and begins her flirtatious routine. After the hunt, at the dinner table, Lady Adeline watches the Duchess ‘ogling’ Juan. She feels a ‘chill’ of jealousy (though she tells herself it is a ‘moral’ concern) and decides the Duchess is a dangerous influence.
To ‘save’ him, Lady Adeline adopts a policy of systemic tutoring and matchmaking. Under the guise of ‘protecting’ his morals, she seeks to guide his manners and social connections – and tries to keep him away from the Duchess. Her feelings for Juan are a complex, bubbling mix of intellectual fascination, protective maternalism, and unacknowledged attraction. Worried about his reputation, she decides the solution is to get him married (excepting the Duchess of Fitz-Fulke whom she considers a threat).
And then she thought of marrying him with ease
To some young heiress with a hundred tons
Of gold, or at least a ‘genteel’ knees;
Lady Adeline begins to mentally ‘review’ the eligible heiresses though she finds reasons to reject most of them – one is ‘too tall’, another ‘too short’ and a third ‘too spiritual.’ The narrator observes that while Adeline claims to be acting out of ‘pure’ friendship, her obsession with finding Juan a wife is a way to manage her own growing, unacknowledged jealousy. Crucially, she deliberately banishes Aurora Raby from her thoughts – subconsciously fearing that Juan will actually like her – which of course he does!
The canto ends with a focus on the mystery of Lady Adeline Amundeville – Is she a paragon of virtue? Is she unconsciously falling for him? or Is it just a masterpiece of social acting?
’Tis strange – but true; for truth is always strange;
Stranger than fiction; if it could be told
How much would novels gain by the exchange!
Canto XV (1823)
Lady Adeline is at risk of losing her honour because of her apparent interest in Don Juan and creates a list of eligible women. Alone together in a private room at Norman Abbey, a ‘matchmaking conference’ takes place. Adeline advises marriage and pushes Juan to choose a bride from her list. Because they are alone, Juan can be more daring and flirtatious. He playfully hints at his true preferences:
He answered with a smile, ‘I’ve heard you say
That I should marry’ – ‘Yes’ – ‘But tell me, she
Who’s to be mine, is she to be a Miss?
Juan tells her that he has a ‘tendency’ to be attracted to women who are already married. This serves as a subtle, dangerous flirtation with Adeline herself. Their private talk is interrupted when the dinner bell rings, forcing them to leave the room and join the other guests in the dining hall.
As Juan and Adeline emerge from their tête-à -tête, the Duchess notices a subtle change in their demeanour. While the rest of the guests are occupied with the elaborate feast, she watches the pair closely. The tension is amplified by the seating arrangement. Don Juan ends up seated between the assertive Lady Adeline and the silent Aurora Raby – the rich, pure, orphan heiress that Lady Adeline was hoping to avoid.
Thus Byron sets up a complex moral trap for Juan involving three very different women:
- Lady Adeline Amundeville: the perfect hostess – looking to find Don Juan a suitable wife (allegedly!)
- Duchess of Fitz-Fulke: a blatant ‘man-hunter’ – who represents the carnal temptation Juan is now susceptible to
- Aurora Raby: a sixteen-year-old Catholic girl who reminds Juan of his lost innocence and his first love – intended to be his last chance at redemption
Aurora is soulful, silent and calm with an air of indifference that ‘piques’ Juan. Unlike the other women who flock to him, she appears to be completely unimpressed by his presence. He is trapped and unsure how to proceed. Her silence and “seraphic” gravity contrasts sharply with the “voluptuous” Duchess of Fitz-Fulke and the “champagne” energy of Lady Adeline. The focus of his attention moves toward the ‘mournful’ but ‘radiant’ presence of Aurora. He is intrigued by her ‘cool reserve’ and purity, which reminds him of Haidee. Her lack of immediate interest in him further piques his curiosity.
As the guests move to the drawing-room for music and cards, the atmosphere shifts from social satire to something altogether more gothic. In the final stanza, Lady Adeline sits at the harp. To entertain her guests, she sings a ‘supernatural’ ballad about the Black Friar – a ghost said to haunt the halls of Norman Abbey (and Newstead Abbey). The ballad warns that the Friar appears during major life events at the Abbey:
- When a birth or death is near in the family
- When the master of the house is about to wed
And overall – he watches over the Abbey’s “sins” or “sorrows”.
When an heir is born, he is heard to mourn,
And when aught is to befall
That ancient line, in the pale moonshine
He walks from hall to hall
Canto XVI (1824)
Beware! beware! of the Black Friar,
Who sitteth by Norman stone,
For he mutters his prayer in the midnight air,
And his mass is said alone.
Within the long aisle, and the dark belfry,
He is heard to marble and wood,
And he swings the bell that doth knell the hour
For those who are out for blood.
Say nought to him as he walks the hall,
And Mary’s blessing seek;
There is fear in his eye and fier in his breath,
And a bloodless stain on his cheek
Beware! beware! of the Black Friar,
He is seen by the waning moon,
And the sound of his feet as they fall on the floor
Is the sound of a dying tune.
When retiring to his room, Juan walks the dark corridor and hears footfalls in the hallway. He sees a friar in cowl and beads – the hood hiding the face.
A sable frock and drooping hood –
As if he had come back from the dead;
No light was in his eye – no blood –
Juan is terrified and passes a sleepless night, wondering if the ‘Black Friar’ is a real spirit or a warning. The following morning, his pale face prompts Lady Adeline to ask if he is ill. Lord Henry speaks of his own encounter with the ghost of the Black Friar whilst on honeymoon with Lady Adeline. The ghost reappears the following night.
This time, Juan finds the courage and pursues the figure into a dark corridor. He corners the ghost, pushes it against a wall and reaches out to touch it. Instead of a cold mist, he feels a “sweet-scented” garment, “a hard, but glowing” form and “a beating heart”. Juan pulls back the hood to find the voluptuous Duchess of Fitz-Fulke in a disguise – hoping to sneak into Juan’s quarters at the Abbey.
But still the shade remain’d : the blue eyes glared,
And rather variably for stony death;
Yet one thing rather good the grave had spared,
The ghost had a remarkably sweet breath:
A straggling curl show’d he had been fair-hair’d;
A red lip, with two rows of pearls beneath …
The ghost, if ghost it were, seem’d a sweet soul
As ever lurk’d beneath a holy hood:
A dimpled chin, a neck of ivory, stole
Forth into something much like flesh and blood;
Back fell the sable frock and dreary cowl,
And they reveal’d – alas! that ere they should!
In full, voluptuous, but not o’ergrown bulk
The phantom of her frolic Grace – Fitz-Fulke’
THE END
The canto stops exactly now – at the moment of discovery, leaving the reader in suspense – to wonder what happened next …
Canto XVII (Unfinished)
Byron began Canto XVII in May 1823 but only completed 14 stanzas before departing for Greece. The narrative briefly returns to the Abbey the next morning. The Duchess Fitz-Fulke arrives at the breakfast table looking “pale and shivered” suggesting she had either stayed awake or had intense dreams. Don Juan is the very last to arrive. He is described as looking “wan and worn” with eyes that could hardly bear the light – as if he had ‘combated with more than one’ ghost during the night.
Byron explicitly refuses to say whether “virtue triumphed” or “vice” prevailed during the night, leaving the nature of their encounter a total mystery. The poem ends abruptly mid-thought, leaving Juan and his potential romances with Lady Adeline or Aurora Raby unresolved.
Because Byron left no specific instructions for the ending, the poem remains one of literature’s most famous ‘open’ works. He did however share several potential endings in his letters and conversations with friends.
“I mean to have made him … gradually gate and blasé (spoiled and world-weary), as he grew older, as is natural. But I had not quite fixed whether to make him end in Hell, or in an unhappy marriage, not knowing which would be the severest.”
Byron’s proposed endings for Don Juan included him:
- trapped into an unhappy marriage
- ending in Hell – undecided “whether to make him end in hell, or in an unhappy marriage”
- ending up dead during the French Revolution – where Juan could continue to transition into a man of action and “blunder into the guillotine”
- conducting the extended role of a “Cavalier Servente” in Italy or France
- continuing his Grand Tour of Europe – allowing Byron to continue satirising societies or events
Ultimately, Byron’s own death in Missolonghi mirrored the ‘heroic’ ending that he never gave to Don Juan. Byron died of a fever induced by the swampy heat of Missolonghi and unsuccessful bloodletting – an “unheroic” death for a “heroic” cause.
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