Summary of Lord Byron's Don Juan
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Byron's epic poem Don Juan was never completed upon his death. Byron wrote seventeen cantos of Don Juan before he died.
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[edit] Canto I
Don Juan lives in Sevilla with his father Jóse, who is married to Juan's mother Donna Inez. Donna Inez is very pretentious, in that she acts the part of a scholar. Jóse and Donna Inez have a very unhappy marriage. Jóse has an affair, which causes Inez to attempt to gain a divorce but he dies before this can go ahead. After Jóse's death, Inez gives Juan a classical education intended to shield him from inappropriate materials. Then, Inez has an affair with a man called Don Alfonso, 50, who is married to a Julia, 23. Julia falls in love with Juan, who is 16. Byron remarks that "such things are more common in sun-drenched climes". Don Alfonso suspecting that his wife may be having an affair, bursts into their bedroom one night to find Julia in bed with Antonia, her maid. He is unable to find a male in the room, causing Julia to give an extended speech of mock indignation. Don Juan is able to remove himself from the bed he has been hiding in all along, and retreat to a closet. However, Alfonso returns to find male shoes in the room. Alfonso files for divorce after finding out about the affair, and Julia is sent to a nunnery. Donna Inez makes plans for her son to sail the world. In Canto two he will set sail on a journey to Cadiz. Don Juan carries a letter off from Julia when he leaves.
[edit] Canto II
Canto II describes how Juan goes on a voyage from Cadiz with servants and his tutor Pedrillo. Juan is still in love with Julia and after a period of seasickness a storm sinks the ship. The crew climb into a long boat but soon run out of food. The crew decide to draw lots in order to choose who will be eaten. Juan's tutor Pedrillo is chosen after Juan's dog has also been eaten. However those that eat Pedrillo go mad and die. Juan is the sole survivor of the journey, he eventually makes it onto land at Cyclades in the Aegean. Haidée and her maid, Zoe discover Juan and care for him in a cave by the beach. Haidée and Juan fall in love despite the fact that neither can understand each others language. Haidée's father Lambro is a "fisherman" and pirate who makes money from capturing slaves.
[edit] Canto III
Canto III is essentially a canto long digression from the main story in which Byron insults his comtemparies William Wordsworth, Robert Southey and Samuel Taylor Coleridge. This canto also contains a section called the Isles of Greece - a section numbered differently to the rest of the canto with a different verse which explores Byron's views on Greece's status as a "slave" to the Ottoman Empire.
