Idealized Heroines in Don Juan
Chatman 1
Krystal Chatman
May 02, 2012
English 202
Idealized Heroines In Don Juan, Lord Byron reverses the gender roles of males and females, portraying Juan not as a womanizer but as someone easily seduced by women. The women in Don Juan are seen as pretty, submissive women whom are sexually attractive even sexually responsive. The men in Don Juan appear to be charming and unaccountable for their irresponsible love affairs based on the rationale that falling in love and lust is their default. Thus the men in Don Juan have no need for brute force or seductive tactics to obtain the women they desire. In 1818 when Don Juan was written it was unheard of for women to be liberated and unconventional. Byron pushed the envelope by transforming the female characters in Don Juan from passive, submissive, gentle women to rebellious, explicit, sexually aggressive women. In” Don Juan”, Donna Inez, Donna Julia, and Haidee are examples of attractive, gentle, dutiful, self sacrificing women who are accepting of their fate to the point of victimization. In Cantos I of Don Juan, Donna Inez the rigidly virtuous woman is tortured and tormented by her obligation to surrender and remain in an unhappy existence. Donna Inez is a learned woman of the arts and has a keen memory. Although Donna Inez is an educated and sophisticated woman, her husband Don Jose’ has no interest in her or her accomplishments. Don Jose’ possesses a wondering eye to which Donna Inez takes notice. Their marriage became a stagnant burden on the both of them that,
Chatman 2
“For some time an unhappy sort of life, Wishing each other, not divorced, but dead; They lived respectably as man and wife”( Byron I.202-204. 1694). Don Jose’ takes Donna Inez for granted and is continuously getting into altercations which in turn instigate quarrels between him and Donna. “She kept a journal, where his faults were noted” (Byron. I. 217. 1694), Donna Inez tries to prove that her husband is mad, maintaining a
Krystal Chatman
May 02, 2012
English 202
Idealized Heroines In Don Juan, Lord Byron reverses the gender roles of males and females, portraying Juan not as a womanizer but as someone easily seduced by women. The women in Don Juan are seen as pretty, submissive women whom are sexually attractive even sexually responsive. The men in Don Juan appear to be charming and unaccountable for their irresponsible love affairs based on the rationale that falling in love and lust is their default. Thus the men in Don Juan have no need for brute force or seductive tactics to obtain the women they desire. In 1818 when Don Juan was written it was unheard of for women to be liberated and unconventional. Byron pushed the envelope by transforming the female characters in Don Juan from passive, submissive, gentle women to rebellious, explicit, sexually aggressive women. In” Don Juan”, Donna Inez, Donna Julia, and Haidee are examples of attractive, gentle, dutiful, self sacrificing women who are accepting of their fate to the point of victimization. In Cantos I of Don Juan, Donna Inez the rigidly virtuous woman is tortured and tormented by her obligation to surrender and remain in an unhappy existence. Donna Inez is a learned woman of the arts and has a keen memory. Although Donna Inez is an educated and sophisticated woman, her husband Don Jose’ has no interest in her or her accomplishments. Don Jose’ possesses a wondering eye to which Donna Inez takes notice. Their marriage became a stagnant burden on the both of them that,
Chatman 2
“For some time an unhappy sort of life, Wishing each other, not divorced, but dead; They lived respectably as man and wife”( Byron I.202-204. 1694). Don Jose’ takes Donna Inez for granted and is continuously getting into altercations which in turn instigate quarrels between him and Donna. “She kept a journal, where his faults were noted” (Byron. I. 217. 1694), Donna Inez tries to prove that her husband is mad, maintaining a
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