Don Juan by Lord Byron
"Don Juan" is a satirical poem by Lord Byron that tells the story of its titular character, who is portrayed not as a notorious seducer, but as a young man who is more often the victim of romantic entanglements. The narrative begins with Don Juan's upbringing under the watchful eye of his mother, Donna Inez, who instills in him values she believes essential, though he seems to absorb little of this moral instruction. As a handsome youth, he becomes the object of affection for the married Donna Julia, leading to a clandestine affair that ends with her husband discovering them.
This incident prompts Don Juan's mother to send him on a European tour in hopes of reforming him. However, a shipwreck leads him to the island of Haidée, where he experiences a passionate romance with the daughter of a pirate, only to be captured again. His adventures take him from enslavement in a Turkish palace to military service under Catherine of Russia, where he becomes a favored and sought-after figure. As he navigates various romantic pursuits, including a humorous encounter with ghosts and the complexities of love and desire in society, Byron uses Don Juan’s experiences to explore themes of love, morality, and the nature of desire in a satirical light. The poem’s unconventional portrayal of heroism and romance invites readers to reassess societal norms and the nature of seduction.
Don Juan by Lord Byron
First published: 1819–1826
Type of work: Poetry
Type of plot: Satire
Time of plot: Late eighteenth century
Locale: Spain, Turkey, Russia, and England
Principal Characters
Don Juan , a young SpaniardDonna Inez , his motherDonna Julia , his first mistressHaidée , his second loveThe Sultana , who covets JuanCatherine , empress of RussiaLady Adeline Amundeville , Juan’s adviserDuchess of Fitz-Fulke , who pursues JuanAurora Raby , pursued by Juan
The Poem
When Don Juan is a small boy, his father dies, leaving the boy in the care of his mother, Donna Inez. Donna Inez is a righteous woman who made her husband’s life miserable. She has her son tutored in the arts of fencing, riding, and shooting, and she attempts to rear him in a moral manner. The young Don Juan reads widely in the sermons and lives of the saints, but he does not seem to absorb from his studies the qualities his mother thinks essential.
At sixteen, he is a handsome lad much admired by his mother’s friends. Donna Julia, in particular, often looks pensively at the youth. Donna Julia is just twenty-three and married to a man of fifty. Although she loves her husband, or so she tells herself, she thinks often of young Don Juan. One day, finding herself alone with him, she gives herself to the young man. The young lovers spend long hours together during the summer, and it is not until November that Don Alfonso, her husband, discovers their intrigue. When Don Alfonso finds Don Juan in his wife’s bedroom, he tries to throttle him. Don Juan overcomes Don Alfonso and flees, first to his mother’s home for clothes and money. Then Donna Inez sends him to Cadiz, there to begin a tour of Europe. The good lady prays that the trip will mend his morals.
Before his ship reaches Leghorn, a storm breaks it apart. Don Juan spends many days in a lifeboat without food or water. At last the boat is washed ashore, and Don Juan falls exhausted on the beach and sleeps. When he awakens, he sees bending over him a beautiful girl, who tells him that she is called Haidée and that she is the daughter of the ruler of the island, one of the Cyclades. Her father, Lambro, is a pirate, dealing in jewels and slaves. She knows her father will sell Don Juan to the first trader who comes by, so Haidée hides Don Juan in a cave and sends her maids to wait on him.
When Lambro leaves on another expedition, Haidée takes Don Juan from the cave and they roam together over the island. Haidée gives jewels, fine foods, and wines to Don Juan, for he is the first man she ever knew except for her father and for her servants. Although Don Juan still tries to think of Donna Julia, he cannot resist Haidée. A child of nature and passion, she gives herself to him with complete freedom. Don Juan and Haidée live an idyllic existence until Haidée’s father returns unexpectedly. Don Juan again fights gallantly, but at last he is overcome by the old man’s servants and put aboard a slave ship bound for a distant market. He never sees Haidée again, and he never knows that she dies without giving birth to his child.
The slave ship takes Don Juan to a Turkish market, where he and another prisoner are purchased by a black eunuch and taken to the palace of a sultan. There Don Juan is made to dress as a dancing maiden and present himself to the sultana, the fourth and favorite wife of the sultan. She passed by the slave market and saw Don Juan and wants him for a lover. In order to conceal his sex from the sultan, she forces the disguise on Don Juan. Even at the threat of death, however, Don Juan will not become her lover, for he still yearns for Haidée. His constancy might have wavered if the sultana was not an infidel, for she is young and beautiful.
Eventually Don Juan escapes from the palace and joins the army of Catherine of Russia. The Russians are at war with the sultan from whose palace Don Juan fled. Don Juan is such a valiant soldier that he is sent to St. Petersburg to carry the news of a Russian victory to Empress Catherine. Catherine also casts longing eyes on the handsome stranger, and her approval soon makes Don Juan the toast of her capital. In the midst of his luxury and good fortune, Don Juan grows ill. Hoping that a change of climate will help her favorite, Catherine resolves to send him on a mission to England. When he reaches London he is well received, for he is a polished young man, well versed in fashionable etiquette. His mornings are spent in business, but his afternoons and evenings are devoted to lavish entertainment. He conducts himself with such decorum, however, that he is much sought after by proper young ladies and much advised by older ones. Lady Adeline Amundeville makes him her protégé and advises him freely on affairs of the heart. Another, the duchess of Fitz-Fulke, advises him, too, but her suggestions are of a more personal nature and seem to demand a secluded spot where there is no danger from intruders. As a result of the duchess of Fitz-Fulke’s attentions to Don Juan, Lady Adeline begins to talk to him about selecting a bride from the chaste and suitable young ladies attentive to him.
Don Juan thinks of marriage, but his interest is stirred by a girl not on Lady Adeline’s list. Aurora Raby is a plain young lady, prim, dull, and seemingly unaware of Don Juan’s presence. Her lack of interest serves to spur him on to greater efforts, but a smile is his only reward from the cold maiden.
His attention is diverted from Aurora by the appearance of the ghost of the Black Friar, who once lived in the house of Lady Adeline, where Don Juan is a guest. The ghost is a legendary figure reported to appear before births, deaths, or marriages. To Don Juan, the ghost is an evil omen, and he cannot laugh off the tightness about his heart. Lady Adeline and her husband seem to consider the ghost a great joke. Aurora appears to be a little sympathetic with Don Juan, but the duchess of Fitz-Fulke merely laughs at his discomfiture.
The second time the ghost appears, Don Juan follows it out of the house and into the garden. It seems to float before him, always just out of his reach. Once he thinks he grasped it, but his fingers touch only a cold wall. Then he seizes it firmly and finds that the ghost has a sweet breath and full, red lips. When the monk’s cowl falls back, the duchess of Fitz-Fulke is revealed. On the morning after, Don Juan appears at breakfast wan and tired. Whether he overcame more than the ghost, no one will ever know. The duchess, too, comes down, seeming to have the air of one who was rebuked.
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