# Canto X explained — Don Juan > Chapter companion for Don Juan by Lord Byron. ## What happens Don Juan, now favored by Catherine the Great, grows dissipated in the Russian court. He writes to Spain, and his mother Donna Inez responds with pragmatic advice. The chapter includes reflections on hypocrisy, mortality, and the passage of time. Juan is sent to England on a diplomatic mission, and the narrative describes his journey through Canterbury and toward London, with observations on English society and customs. ## Themes in this chapter ### Hypocrisy and Cant The narrator directly addresses Hypocrisy in a stanza, praising it with ironic fervor, and critiques the double standards of virtue in society. ### Mortality and Transience Reflections on Death as a reformer who levels all estates, and the fleeting nature of youth and beauty. ### Satire of Society Satirical observations on English customs, including the turnpike toll, the cost of travel, and the superficiality of social climbing. ## Character check-ins ### Don Juan Grows dissipated in the Russian court, favored by the Empress, and later sent to England. ### Donna Inez Responds to Juan's letter with advice on finances and religion, praising the Empress's maternal love. ### Catherine the Great The Empress whose favor is agreeable to Juan, though the duty waxes a little hard. ### Leila Travels with Juan to England; gazes at Canterbury Cathedral and questions why Infidels are allowed in 'God's House'. ## Key lines > Love, War, or Ambition, which reward Their luckier votaries, till old Age’s tedium Make some prefer the circulating medium. Love, war, or ambition reward their followers until the boredom of old age makes some prefer money. _Reflects on the motivations of youth and the eventual turn to materialism._ > And Death, the Sovereign’s Sovereign, though the great Gracchus of all mortality, who levels, With his Agrarian laws, the high estate Of him who feasts, and fights, and roars, and revels, To one small grass-grown patch... Death, the ruler above all rulers, like a reformer distributing land, brings the highest and lowest to the same small grave. _Highlights the theme of mortality and the equalizing power of death._ > Oh for a forty-parson power to chant Thy praise, Hypocrisy! I wish I had the voice of forty parsons to sing the praises of Hypocrisy. _Ironic exaltation of hypocrisy, a central theme in the chapter._ > What a delightful thing’s a turnpike road! So smooth, so level, such a mode of shaving The Earth... A turnpike road is a wonderful invention, so smooth and level that it seems to shave the earth. _Satirical praise of English infrastructure, followed by a complaint about the toll._ ## Links - HTML: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/don_juan_se/chapters/canto-x - Book: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/don_juan_se - All chapters: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/don_juan_se/chapters