Don Juan · Chapter
Preface to Cantos VI, VII, and VIII explained
Byron defends his depiction of the Siege of Ismail, noting that some incidents attributed to Don Juan actually occurred, such as saving an infant (based on the Duc de Richelieu).
What happens
Byron defends his depiction of the Siege of Ismail, noting that some incidents attributed to Don Juan actually occurred, such as saving an infant (based on the Duc de Richelieu). He attacks the late Marquis of Londonderry (Castlereagh) as a despotic, weak minister, criticizing the public's hypocritical mourning and the cant of the era. He also addresses accusations of blasphemy, citing Voltaire and arguing that persecution does not refute ideas, and condemns the hypocrisy of English society.
Themes in this chapter
Hypocrisy and Cant
Byron excoriates the 'cant' of the era, particularly the hypocritical mourning for Castlereagh and the double-dealing of English society, quoting Voltaire on the displacement of virtue by measured language.
Satire of Society
The preface satirizes the political and social elite, including Parliament's acceptance of a minister who 'could not speak English' and the 'degraded and hypocritical mass' of the English generation.
War and Violence
The Siege of Ismail is the central historical event discussed, with Byron noting the real incidents of violence and heroism that inform the poem.
Characters to notice
- Don Juan
Mentioned as the protagonist to whom some real incidents (like saving an infant) are attributed in the poem.
- Duke of Wellington
Indirectly referenced in the context of 'overpensioned homicides' and the 'impious alliance' (Holy Alliance), though not named directly.
Key passages
“The details of the siege of Ismail in two of the following cantos (i.e. the seventh and eighth) are taken from a French Work, entitled Histoire de la Nouvelle Russie.”
The descriptions of the Siege of Ismail in Cantos VII and VIII are based on a French book called 'Histoire de la Nouvelle Russie'.
Byron cites his source for the historical accuracy of the siege.
“Some of the incidents attributed to Don Juan really occurred, particularly the circumstance of his saving the infant, which was the actual case of the late Duc de Richelieu, then a young volunteer in the Russian service, and afterward the founder and benefactor of Odessa, where his name and memory can never cease to be regarded with reverence.”
Some events in the poem actually happened, like Don Juan saving a child, which was based on the real act of the Duc de Richelieu, a young Russian volunteer who later founded Odessa.
Byron grounds his fiction in real historical events.
“As a minister, I, for one of millions, looked upon him as the most despotic in intention, and the weakest in intellect, that ever tyrannised over a country.”
As a politician, I and millions of others saw him as the most tyrannical and foolish minister ever to rule a country.
Byron's harsh critique of Castlereagh's ministry.
“La pudeur s’est enfuite des coeurs, et s’est refugiée sur les lèvres.”
Modesty has fled from hearts and taken refuge on lips.
Voltaire's quote used by Byron to illustrate the hypocrisy of outward propriety masking inner depravity.
“Plus les moeurs sont dépravés, plus les expressions deviennent mesurées; on croit regagner en langage ce qu’on a perdu en vertu.”
The more corrupt morals become, the more measured expressions become; people think they regain in language what they have lost in virtue.
Voltaire's observation on the inverse relationship between moral decay and linguistic restraint.