The Role of the Narrator in Byron's Don Juan
The narrator of Don Juan takes the traditional role of omniscient narrator. He states the facts but also adds in his personal thoughts on the characters. From the beginning he lets the reader know that he is in search of a hero. He cannot find a hero in his contemporary time, therefore he will return to the hero who has stayed a hero through time. The hero is "my friend Don Juan" (5.8). There is no doubt that the narrator feels a close relationship with the hero and the hero will be treated as casually as friend.
He relates that the usual course for a poem is to start in the middle, "that is the usual method, but not mine" (7.1). He will start at the beginning and give opinionated views of Juan's parents. Immediately the narrator establishes control, and therefore sets the tone of the poem. He lets the reader know that Juan's parental skills are lacking (according to him) and if he was Juan's parent he would do things differently. Of young Juan's mischievousness, if "they been but both in their senses, they'd have the young master To school, or had him soundly whipp'd at home, To teach him manners for the time to come" (25.5-8) Certainly this establishes his authority. As the reader, we want to believe him. Obviously (to the reader) Juan's parents are negligent in their duties and the reader sees herself agreeing that she too would do the same. He guides us to be prejudiced to Juan's parents and this trust develops between narrator and reader that carries throughout the poem. Of course the narrator like any instigator will deny their input. A particularly amusing part of the poem is where the narrator in self-parody tells us "For my part I say nothing--nothing--but This I will...
... middle of paper ...
...rity over the hero. The narrator alone has the power to keep Don Juan alive. In addition, the narrator is really the personality of the poem. We are told Don Juan's actions, but is the narrator that flavors it. It is interesting that Lord Byron decided to include the narrator so prominently; but definitely to the poem's advantage.
Works Cited
Bostetter, Edward E., Twentieth Century Interpretations of Don Juan. Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice-Hall, 1969.
Boyd, Elizabeth French, Byron's Don Juan: A Critical Study. NY: Humanities Press, 1958.
Byron (George Gordon, Lord Byron), Don Juan, ed. Leslie A. Marchand. Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 1958.
McGann, Jerome J., Don Juan in Context. Chicago: U of Chicago Press, 1976.
Steffan, Truman Guy, & Willis W. Pratt, eds., Byron's Don Juan: A Variorum Edition. 2nd ed.. 4 vols.. Austin: U of Texas Press, 1971.
"Morton, Thomas - Introduction." Literary Criticism (1400-1800). Ed. Thomas J. Schoenberg. Vol. 72. Gale Cengage, 2002. eNotes.com. 2006. 21 Feb, 2011
The poem begins by introducing the main figure in the poem, a naturally talented baseball player named Hector Moreno. To the narrator, the game of baseball is more than just a simple game, “it [is] a figure – Hector Moreno” (6). Describing Hector Moreno initially as a figure closely associated with the game of baseball shows just how revered a person Hector is in the narrator’s mind. This image of Hector Moreno is quite concrete, but as the poem continues, the narrator expresses to the reader that his father died sometime during his childhood, as “his [father’s] face no longer [hangs] over the table” (18). Suddenly the image of Hector Moreno is not as concrete as it first appears, especially through the lines leading up to Moreno’s first appearance on the baseball field “in the lengthening shade” (4-5). The shadow of the narrator’s father over the dinner table when he was a boy has now taken the form of Moreno’s figure in the shade over the baseball field since the narrator’s father has died. This initial me...
The novel has confused many critics and readers because it reads like poetry, yet in actuality it is a narrative. Cisneros admits that many of the vignettes are "lazy poems." This means that they could be poems if she had taken the time to finish them (Olivares 145). At many times throughout the novel the words rhyme and can almost be put to a catchy tune. For example, the chapter "Geraldo No Last Name" reads like a poem with end rhyme and a structured pattern. "Pretty too, and young. Said he worked in a restaurant, but she can't remember which one" (Cisneros 65).
... is shown moreover through these pauses. We also see that he places question marks at the end of sentences, which is another way he is showing us the uncertainty in the voice of society. Through his punctuation and word placement, we clearly see the voice of society in his poem, but in a way that tells us not to conform to it.
In the story of Don Quixote, a middle aged “gaunt” man sets off to become a knight-errant. Within the beginning chapters of the story, Quixote goes on a journey to prove himself as a knight. The narrator speaks sarcastically about Quixote’s and his adventures. On account of the voice of the narrator, perception is crucial relative to forming an opinion about Don Quixote and his journey of becoming a knight-errant. The constant opposition of the narrator in relation to Quixote’s goals and actions create a feeling of tension within the audience as the reader becomes perplexed in trying to figure out if Quixote’s journey can really be considered a knight’s errant. Still, despite the narrator’s sarcastic tone and Don’s idiotic actions, Don
Each administration has developed efforts to use force in defending their nation. The outcome of the victory is varied. The job can be achieved through appropriate preparation. The coalition service in the premature phases of military operation was to disarm Iraq. The appropriate echelon of investigation fulfilled of the political spectrum is the state level analysis. The satisfactory motives for understanding why this approach was considered are listed below. The imminent approach was to provide detailed facts about the state level analysis, individual analysis, and system level analysis. All of these perspectives were deliberated through one’s interpretation of their profession.
Sørli, Mirjam, Nils Gleditsch, and Håvard Strand. "Why Is There so Much Conflict in the Middle East? ." The Journal of Conflict Resolution 49.1 (2005): 141-165. JSTOR. Web. 8 June 2011.
Kamrava, Mehran. "The Arab-Israeli Wars." The Modern Middle East: A Political History since the First World War. 2nd ed. Berkeley, CA: University of California, 2010. 109-39. Print.
Steffan, Truman Guy, & Willis W. Pratt, eds., Byron's Don Juan: A Variorum Edition. 2nd ed.. 4 vols.. Austin: U of Texas Press, 1971.
The above issues were considered as I discussed various countries within the third world and their civil wars and conflicts. There will never be a set of rules to help us understand the triggers or factors involved in this interstate violence, because much of it has been going on for years and citizens involved in these battles view them as a way of life.
In Don Juan, George Gordon, Lord Byron, diverges from his name-sake characterization with an un-Byronic hero, Don Juan. The poem has been viewed as nihilistic and immoral. Actually there is plenty present in the first canto to show morality and hope for humanity. The poem should be viewed as the author intended: "a satire on abuses of the present state of Society, an not an eulogy on vice..." (Bostetter 9). Don Juan is a satire and therefore the morals present are shown in an ironic way. If fact, he wrote in such an obvious ironic fashion that it is hard to imagine the message was lost on many. His ironic theme is based on what people think and what they actually do. In effect it is the masks people wear in public view and carelessly toss away in private. Hence he shows the immorality in society through their hypocrisy.
Protagonist versus antagonist, the good versus the bad. In almost every story, the story goes around the protagonist who is seen as the hero while, the antagonist creates the conflict for the protagonist. Aurelio Escovar, the protagonist of the story One of these Days by Garcia Marquez is a poor town dentist who is one of the victims of the town’s political corruption. He has no power, no wealth, and his office is poorly conditioned and dirty. Opposing the dentist is the town’s mayor who abuses his power. From the start of his introduction, he is already showing off his power over the dentist by demanding the dentist to treat him in which his son tells him, “He says if you don’t take out his tooth, he’ll shoot you.” In response, the dentist
Ethnic conflicts are well rooted in the world's history and perhaps inherent in human nature. This type of conflict is difficult to resolve as is evident in the situation in the Middle East. The ethnic conflict theory explains that it is not territory, politics, or economics that prevents the achievement of peace between the Israeli and Palestinian peoples, instead, it is a deep-seated hatred of one another that neither group can overcome. The Camp David Summit in July 2000, the most recent attempt at fostering a lasting peace is a clear example of how ethnocentrism can prevents success.
Reading comes alive as the reader falls into the author’s voice and connects to the protagonist. When individuals read they involuntarily relate themselves to the protagonist. Therefore, a slightly different meanings of the story is created based on the individual’s personal experiences and beliefs. For instance, a novel could be considered a humorous parody of chivalric romance, but another individual could view the work as containing a serious philosophical message. This is a common scenario for Miguel de Cervantes’ Don Quixote in which individuals can conclude many different meaning, and character analysis. Miguel de Cervantes constructed a complex character, who over time has been regarded as a madman, dreamer, or a man in the midst of
Moody, William Vaughn.,and Robert Morss Lovett. A History of English Literature.8th ed. NewYork: Charles Scribner's Sons, 1964.