A comparative analysis of the treatment of love in Charlotte Dacre's romantic poem "Il Trionfo del Amor" and an extract from Alfred Lord Byron's romantic poem "Don Juan" (canto I, stanzas 90-117).
Abstract This paper examines how the use of the concept of love in both poems is similar in that both poems distinguish between spiritual and physical attraction while calling both 'love'. It also discusses how both poets seem to ultimately (though Dacre- explicitly and Byron - most probably unintentionally) agree that males are more inclined - by nature - to physical relations and women - to the transcendent kind of love. In other words, the separation of love and sex, commonly considered as late twentieth century obsession, originated in the Romantic era.
From the Paper "In contrast, Charlotte Dacre's poem is only sixteen-lines long, arranged in four quatrains rhymed in a much less flamboyant abab scheme. The poem seems to be a letter/note from the author to her aspirant but uses a slightly more ornate language than Byron's. Dacre drops no name and belittles no one. No one in particular, that is: the very choice of Spanish for the title - Il Trionfo del Amor - is a very subtle way of telling all her male contemporary colleagues and readers alike, that she, too, is well learned and well read... Likewise, when she makes a direct reference to broader erudition, it is put in parenthesis and bites at the learned males and their perception of learned women. Indeed, "(So charms the witchery)", for being put in parenthesis and for insinuating she is familiar with witchery, could be read as teasing the contemporary (male) perception that "women's writing is an affront to God-given, 'natural' gender roles" (Gilroy, in Bygrave, p.183)."
Tags: amor, byron, charlotte, dacre, del, il, juan, poetry, romantic, trionfo
Abstract This paper studies the life and the works of George Gordon Byron, better known as Lord Byron, the most celebrated and vilified romantic poet during his lifetime. The author discusses the style, context, and morale of the works of Lord Byron, particularly noting his beliefs and perceptions of politics within the British government in his 1822 masterpiece, "Sardanapalus". The paper also analyzes Lord Byron's most creative literary stigma, "Don Juan", in which Byron wittingly commented on a plethora of concerns, including liberty, tyranny, war, love, sexuality, and hypocrisy; all of which, Byron insinuates, can be found within the walls of English high society.
From the Paper "Between the years of 1819 and 1823, Byron wrote his most famous piece, Don Juan, using the elements of comedy and satire that Beatty dignified as Byron's creative literary stigma. Through the use of various narrative perspectives, Byron wittingly commented on a plethora of concerns, including liberty, tyranny, war, love, sexuality, and hypocrisy; all of which, Byron insinuates, can be found within the walls of English high society. His use of irony and his brutally concise portrayal of human weaknesses precipitated widespread condemnation from his contemporaries, who subjected Don Juan and its author to an endless campaign of personal slander and critical abuse."
Abstract The paper proposes that in order to understand and explain the link between the concept of the hero in Byron's work and human sympathy, one has to firstly examine the complex relationship between Byron's romantic ideals and the reality of the world in which he found himself. The paper further analyzes how the hero in Byron's work is the one who opposes the restraints and restrictions of society and even rejects his own conventional humanity in the search for something greater and better. The paper concludes that Byron's vision implies a deep sympathy and concern for the human condition.
From the Paper "In other words, the hero in Byron's work is the one who opposes the restraints and restrictions of society and even rejects his own conventional humanity in the search for something greater and better. At the same time we also sympathize with the suffering and tragedy of the hero figure struggling to attain meaning in a world in which he is an alienated figure. It is this alienation from society in Bryon that elicits the sympathetic response in our understanding of the hero."
Abstract This paper analyzes Lord Byron's poem "She Walk's in Beauty", which combines images of darkness and light to create a unique internal and external aura. The paper maintains that this aura surrounds the beautiful woman who he describes in his poem. Each one of Byron's three stanzas describes a natural, a physical and a spiritual aura which surround the woman. Byron uses images from the natural, physical and spiritual world to describe the emotions he has towards this particular woman, represented in images of both light and darkness. The paper concludes that, through his poem, Byron has combined the beauty of the natural world, the physical body and the spiritual being to create a timeless expression of love and admiration.
From the Paper "Byron's first stanza concentrates on the natural beauty of the woman who he encounters. "She walks in beauty, like the night/ Of cloudless climes and starry skies" (Ln.1-2) .Byron has immediately introduced us to a woman whose beauty is that equal to the beauty of nature. Her beauty is represented by the darkness of night. The image of night creates an aura that surrounds her. Byron is describing how beautiful he feels the night is and that this woman represents that beauty of night within her own aura. Nature is both day and night, both dark and light. In the first stanza the images of day light and dark night both represent the woman. The lines "All that's best of dark and bright Meet in her aspect and her eyes," (Ln. 3-4) represent the combination of day and night within the woman. She is a combination of the best of the day and the best of the night. Her combination of dark and bright creates, "that tender night Which heaven to gaudy day denies" (Ln.5-6). She is not the overpowering "gaudy," brightness of day. She's the perfect combination of light and dark. Not even heaven bestows this beautiful light on the day. She is a pure, natural and heavenly creature on earth."
Abstract This biographical study examines the critical contributions to computer science by Ada Augusta Byron King, Countess of Lovelace (1815-1852). In addition to describing and analyzing Bryon's technical achievements, the study examines various personality traits and important facts from her life that demonstrate both the technical and human side of this fascinating individual, and that led to her unique contributions to the development of computers. The study also discusses the historical context in which Byron worked to show how the prevailing technological, social, and political environments negatively affected her abilities, as a woman during the Victorian era, to advance her scientific work. The study demonstrates that Augusta Ada Byron was both one of the most acute minds and most picturesque characters in computer history.
From the Paper "A major turning point in Augusta Ada Byron's intellectual development occurred in 1833, when at the age of 18 years she met the famous scientist Charles Babbage at a social gathering (Freeman, 1996; Tee, 1979). Babbage was already widely known at the time as the inventor of the so-called "Difference Engine," a machine that applied the method of finite differences to perform mathematical computations (Freeman, 1996). The machine had to capacity to store numbers and perform additions, thereby enabling tables generated by polynomials to be computed by a uniform process (Freeman, 1996). Impressed with the young Ada, Babbage invited her to visit the studio where he kept his engine and was delighted when she showed up two weeks later, along with her domineering and meddlesome mother (Freeman, 1996; Tee, 1979). Ada was captivated by the Difference Engine and began regular correspondence with Babbage in an effort to learn all that she could about the invention and about Babbage's other ideas (Freeman, 1996)."
Abstract This paper discusses how of all the English poets that comprise the Romantic period, Lord Byron (1788-1824), John Keats (1795-1821) and Samuel Taylor Coleridge (1772-1834) stand as the quintessential masters of Romantic poetry. It examines how their contributions to the aesthetics of versification are highly representative of the Romantic period by reviewing Byron's "She Walks in Beauty," Keats' major odes ("Ode to a Nightingale", "Ode on a Grecian Urn" and "Ode to Melancholy") and Coleridge's "Rime of the Ancient Mariner."
From the Paper "The great symbolic voice of the true Romantic poet can best be heard in John Keats' romantic odes. In "Ode to a Nightingale," Keats relates that his "heart aches, and a drowsy numbness pains/My sense, as though of hemlock I had drunk" (1st stanza, lines 1-2), which shows that Keats longs for happiness and wishes to be free like the nightingale, a symbol of great importance to the Romantic poets, for it represents freedom of expression and flights of fancy into the sublime. Thus, this image conjures up the idea that the poet has drunk poison (hemlock) which illustrates his deep longings for a spirit free of pain and misery, a reflection of the often poverty-stricken lives led by a good number of Romantic poets."
Abstract This paper reviews the life and poetry of Lord Byron. Specifically, the paper analyzes the relationship between Byron's literary heroes and his own personality. In his life, as in his work, he carefully constructed his physical and social image as a decadent, handsome poet who chafed against moral and political strictures of his time. This image lasted long after his death. The paper offers examples from his work, including the characters of "Don Juan", the hero in "Manfred". The writer also suggests that many other writers have utilized his ideas and created similar type characters, such as the main male persona in the modern movie "Heathers".
From the Paper "Many years after the poet's demise, the poet was said to have inspired and certainly contributed to the popularity of Mr. Rochester of Charlotte Bronte's Jane Eyre and Heathcliff of Emily Bronte's Wuthering Heights in fiction. The ideal of the Byronic hero took on a cultural life of its own, independent of the life of the poet and his poetry. Lord Byron's constructed image lives on in literature, film, and fiction today. The Byronic hero is usually portrayed as a man who is tormented by society's hypocrisies and social mores, and engages in practices that flout these norms."
Abstract This paper explains that Christopher Byron, in his unauthorized biography of Martha Stewart, ?Martha Inc.?, describes how the girl from a blue-collar, dysfunctional family from New Jersey worked her way to star status by recognizing opportunities and knowing how to capitalize on them. The author points out that, with a mindset of unabashed determination, the book shows another essential quality that a manager must develop in order to have a successful career: working hard; Martha Stewart would not have built her empire without working hard. The paper relates that Byron's book shows the effects of Martha Stewart's egotism and her desire for success at any cost; Along the way, she cheated her friends, lost her husband, and became known for her unscrupulous business practices.
From the Paper "These management styles have put her at the top, but the final page has not been written. After Byron's book went to press, Martha Stewart found herself in the middle of an insider trading scandal. The press reports seem to back up the other stories in the book. She has passed blame to her broker; then to the broker's assistant. Her former business associates have not come forward to give accounts of Martha Stewart's integrity. Her management style and her treatment of friends and family have left her alone to fight the charges filed against her. If there is any one thing to take away from the book, knowing what has happened since its publication, it is not to burn bridges and to treat subordinates, partners and coworkers with respect. Not doing so could undo years of hard work and certainly come back to haunt you."
Abstract The paper discusses how both Byron and Wordsworth are poets who exemplify the Romantic imagination in their art and in their personal responses to the philosophical and literary problems of their time. The paper explores how nature and civilization are the two opposing and pivotal points in the Romantic oeuvre, with both poets seeing nature as the antithesis of a decadent and "fallen" civilization. The paper concludes that, while Wordsworth sees nature and the imagination as a means to transcend the mundane world, Byron sees transcendence and "mystical vision" as yet another form of artistic escapism.
From the Paper "Much of Byron's attitude towards the decadence of civilization can be gleaned from Don Juan. The central theme of this work and others such as The Island, is nature versus civilization. Through the central characters of this work Byron shows "...the rottenness of the social system to which they belong. They will wreck Juan with their scheming, contriving, and cross interests, and then, herding together hypocritically, they will expel him with all the blame concentrated upon him. "(Boyd, 1945, p. 69)"
Abstract This paper discusses how Lord Byron's poem, "She Walks in Beauty" is written in the tradition of Romanticism. It also describes elements of English Romanticism and how they apply to the poem.
From the Paper "There are several elements which offer proof that Lord Byron's poem "She Walks In Beauty" is indeed English Romanticism a term which Wood describes as loosely applicable to a literary and artistic movement of ..."
Abstract This paper explains that John Polidori acknowledged that, for his book "The Vampyre", he drew on a number of themes and other elements in the formation of his own story of vampirism from Lord Byron's poem "Giaour". The author describes both works, which both involve a sort of outside observer, who becomes a biographer for the main character and gives the story a sense of authenticity. The paper concludes that the pattern set by Polidori for his protagonist Ruthven would become the norm for the vampire in fiction after this time, as witnessed with the future creation of the character Dracula.
From the Paper "Giaour is a stranger among people of a different culture, and Ruthven is also depicted as a stranger in the midst of London society. Polidori says that he is "remarkable for his singularities" and that he looks at the proceedings around him "as if he could not participate therein." This sense of being an outsider links the two characters from the first. Ruthven is invited everywhere because of his foreign-ness rather than in spite of it, and he is pursued by women like Lady Mercer because he is so prized and so different."
Abstract This paper examines Tom Stoppard's play "Arcadia", which is set in an English country manor house where two levels of action take place-- the action of the present day and the action set in 1809 around a young student of mathematics. In particular it analyzes the influence on the plot of the poet Lord Byron by drawing parallels between his life and the characters in the play. It looks at how Byron's influence is felt not only on the mathematical side of the play, but also in the continuing debate over the nature of landscape art and how the young girl Thomasina, is a living and dead parallel with Byron's own, real-life abandoned female child. When Byron fled his pregnant wife, the young girl he produced became a mathematical prodigy herself just like the protagonist in the play.
From the Paper "The intersection between the beautiful and the perfect in mathematics, between the theoretical and the personal, is perfectly embodied in the character of Lord Byron. Thomasina, the girl being tutored, is an exponent of the geometry of irregular forms, a precursor to the chaos theory being studied by the modern characters in the house. The introduction and variations of small elements and their potential to create great later changes is important in the scheme of the play."
Abstract This paper discusses how in contrast to the pleasant and romantic world depicted in "She Walks in Beauty", Byron illustrates a dark, cold, and hopeless world in "Darkness". It analyzes how "Darkness" is an elaborately detailed poem that remains a testament to Byron's flexibility as a poet. By considering the personal and external forces at work in Byron's life at the time, it attempts to understand how he could so masterfully create a world that was full of despair and so far removed from the world he illustrated in "She Walks Like Beauty".
From the Paper "In addition, Byron's poem "Darkness," written in 1816 after a volcanic eruption temporarily altered the world's weather patterns. "Byron seems not only a poet of his past and present, but of our terrifying future glimpsed by Thomasina as well" (Cox). This is verified in Robock's account of volcanic eruptions (Robock) In fact, Robock goes on to explain that he believes that the first fifteen lines of the poem deal specifically with the effects of what the eruption (or a similar one) would produce. In addition, Mary Shelley's novel, Frankenstein, speaks of the gloomy weather that persisted for days as well. (Shelly xxii). This is particularly fascinating as I consider what message Byron must have been trying to convey in ?Darkness.? It is also important to note that Byron was going through a separation with his wife at this time, which could partially explain Byron's desolate picture of the future. Due to growing rumors and constant hounding by the press, Byron fled England. (Martin 209)."
Abstract This essay discusses Lord Byron's poem "Manfred" in terms of Boethian Philosophy. It looks at the ways in which "Manfred" supports Lady Philosophae's claim that poetry is an inadequate consolation for despair. The paper also explores the ways in which Lord Byron may have structured his poem around Boethian concepts. Byron's poem seems to support Boethius' idea that poetry is a detour leading one astray from the path that leads to "ultimate good."
From the Paper "Manfred flees from Philosophy and Reason and moves closer to Passion and evil. His body lives, and his soul dies. "You know, then, that everything that is remains and subsists just so long as it is one, but perishes and dissolves immediately it ceases to be one" (CP 105). There is no true consolation to be arrived upon through Poetry or Philosophy. Catechism and equivocation will keep a mortal alive as long as he has the passion to rebel and the will to argue. There is no divine agent that can alone conquer the ominous fury of despair. In reality and imagination, there is no power that rules destiny and fate quite like apathy and ambivalence. Reaction makes slaves of kings. Resistance makes kings of slaves."
Abstract In 1814, Lord Byron, upon seeing his cousin Lady Anne Wilmot Horton in "a mourning dress of spangled black", was so moved that by the next day he had written ?She Walks in Beauty,? first published in Hebrew Melodies in 1815. Similarly, more than two centuries earlier, a young, radical poet from Canterbury named Christopher Marlowe published "The Tragical History of Doctor Faustus" which contains a poem inspired by ?The Face That Launched a Thousand Ships,? namely Helen of Troy. The paper shows that as "idealized" women, Byron's cousin Anne and Marlowe's Helen stand as symbols of love in the hearts of the two authors. It examines the way the image of beauty is expressed in both poems.
From the Paper "Marlowe also describes Helen's beauty as "fairer than the evening air" and "clad in the beauty of a thousand stars" which like Byron's cousin Lady Anne symbolizes her dual nature as one who reflects darkness and brightness. The poet also states that Helen's beauty is brighter ?than flaming Jupiter,? a reference to "the God of Heaven who loved Semele and consumed her with thunder and lightning" (Barnet 93). Since Helen is also ?more lovely than the monarch of the sky,? a possible metaphor for Phoebus, the sun god, the poet wishes to be in the "azure" arms of Arethusa, a nymph "greatly loved by Jupiter for her beauty as reflected in the blue waters of the Hellespont" ( Harmon 258). Finally, the poet declares that ?none but (Helen) shalt be my paramour!? or a greatly loved and adored woman who is far above all else on Earth and in the Heavens."
