Lord Byron, you naughty man, is really quite something. He has the charisma and the wits to develop something like Don Juan and make it compelling. Yes there are many issues with race, gender, and class that appear within the text. Describing someone as better (physically and morally) because they have been spared from the dark attributes of the Jew and Muslim, is probably not in the best taste. And describing women in the way he does, overly sexualizing them, is also maybe not in the best taste.
However, what is rewarding from Lord Byron’s work is his keen ability to point out and satirize ironies, hypocrisies, and the gossip that is apart of his world. He has very little shame in being able to speak his mind and making sure everyone knows exactly what he thinks about them. It makes me wonder about the initial reception of this piece from his peers, like Wordsworth and Coleridge. Did they find it offensive? Or was it as funny to them, as I find it today? Also what did his wife think, I don’t see her thinking too fondly of her portrayal?
