Lord Byron
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Marchand's biography of George Gordon offers a full-bodied and accurate literary portrait of one of late eighteenth and early nineteenth century England's most elusive and legendary figures, Lord Bryon (1788-1824), the poet. In attempting to synthesize a life grown large by legend, Marchand in his "Preface" quotes Bryon's quip "I am such a strange mTlangT of good and evil that it would be difficult to describe me" (p. vii). Taunted by this challenge, Marchand establishes for himself the task of assessing Bryon's psyche, revealing him to be not necessarily more inconsistent than most individuals, but rather more honest in acknowledging his inconsistencies (p. ix). Marchand's appreciation of Bryon's talent as well as his largesse enables him to ground his assessment of the poet's life and literary achievements in a balanced objectivity which avoids being overly reverential or derisive. Armed with new critical sources and confident that twentieth century readers will be less censorious than Bryon's contemporaries, Marchand's rigorous scholarship unveils a very human and affable Lord whose precarious upbringing, tumultuous lifestyle, and almost unrelenting dedication to the poetic muse carved a spot for him in both the annals of British history and world literature. Marchand's biography offers fascinating glimpses into Lord Bryon as: the nail-biting (p. 60), clubfooted bairn; the irascible friend and l
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and theorizes that Mrs. Bryon's patterned response to Captain Bryon marked by "extremes of uncontrollable anger and demonstrative affection" were repeated with her son to his detriment (p. 29). Although often not on speaking terms with his mother throughout her life, Bryon was deeply distressed by her death. Called home by her death, Bryon sat in the dark moaning beside her coffin. Told by a servant that this form of grief might be debilitating, the lord replied "Oh, Mrs. By, I had but one friend in the world, and she is gone" (p. 285). Before she had even been buried, one of his closest Cambridge associates died in a freakish drowning accident (p. 285). Death began to surround Lord Bryon and equally it fills many lines in his volumes of poetry.
Although Marchand carefully documents in detail the historical details of Bryon's biography, the book's finesse is most remarkable in his handling of the poet's literary development. After years of research in Britain, Portugal, Albania, and Greece, Marchand surmises that most of Bryon's poetic episodes are derived from his life experiences. Don Juan's travel experiences mirror Bryon's own excursions. Bryon's abiding love for the treasures of Greek culture led him to defame Lord
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Approximate Word count = 2562
Approximate Pages = 10 (250 words per page)
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