Lord George Gordon Byron
Andra Prems
11 B
George Gordon Byron
• 1788-1824
• George Gordon Byron
simply known as
Lord Byron
• Born on 22 January
1788
• Revolutionary British
poet
• Leading figure in
Romanticism
Early Life
• Son of Captain John Byron and Catherine
Gordon
• Born with a club-foot which caused him much
humiliation
• A fragile self-esteem
• Inherited his great-uncle’s title at the age of 10
• Spent childhood in Scotland
• Attended Harrow Public School and Cambridge
University
Lord Byron
• Had romances with several women, many
of them married
• Handsome, attractive to women
• Young man tried to imitate him
• Annabella Milbanke – Augusta Ada Byron
• Claire Clairmont – Clara Allegra Byron
• Many bisexual love affaires and debts
• Rumors of incest
• Annabella Milbanke
• Claire Clairmont
Politics
• Took his seat in the House of Lords in
1811
• Made his maiden speech on the 27th of
February 1812
• His liberal politics weren’t welcomed
• In his second speech expressed opposition
to the established religion
• Inspired to write political poems
Childe Harold’s Pilgrimage
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Byron’s first literary triumph
Published 1812-1818
Dedicated to Charlotte Harley
Consists of 4 cantos
The travels of a world-weary young man
Childe – a young man who was a candidate for
knighthood
• Colorful descriptions of exotic nature, a lyrical
exaltation of freedom, lonely hero
Don Juan
• Satiric poem based on the legend of Don Juan
• Portraying Juan not as a womanizer but as
someone easily seduced by women
• Byron’s masterpiece
• Social, political, literary, ideological levels
• Two first cantos were published anonymously
• He completed 16 cantos, leaving the 17th
unfinished
• Died of fever on April 19, 1824 at the age
of 36
• St. Paul’s and Westminster Abbey refused
him funeral services
• He was buried in the family tomb at
Hucknall Tockard
“Always laugh when you can. It
is cheap medicine.”
- Lord Byron
Thank you for your attention!