BYRON’S DON JUAN AS ADDICTION TO MOTHERHOOD
BYRON’S DON JUAN AS ADDICTION TO MOTHERHOOD

Summary/Abstract: "When penetrating into Don Juan’s world, a real understanding of the phenomenon nicknamed Donny Johnny by Byron himself, begins at the source, in the middle of the child’s universe. The perpetual crisis of identity and the pattern of deviant behaviour have deep roots in the origins and traumatized childhood of the character, recalling Byron’s own process of formation. In fact, it is the poet who becomes the first psychoanalyst of his Juan, a strategy adopted most naturally without affecting any of his poetic intentions. The whole personality rebuilding route is one of the keys to unlock the perplexing thinking of the adult, as well as a bridge towards an expected profile of Donjuanism or dandyism, had Johnny followed one of these two directions in the real sense. Instead, he remains the inert baby characterized by an incredible passivity that would mark him out as a dull presence if the tumultuous events around had not saved him from mediocrity. "[...]

• Details
• Contents