Discuss Lord Byron’s epic poetry

Lord Byron belongs to the younger generation of Romantics. He embodies all the features of a romantic poet – he was an alienated outsider. He was the first English poet to influence Europe.
His poem Don Juan is an unfinished epic satire, which:

• – combines seriousness and humor (the tone of the poem is light-hearted and comic despite the serious subject)
• – semi-autobiographical
• – composed in ottava rima
• – the poem’s light tone suggests Byron doesn’t take the characters and events seriously; the language is colloquial and slangy
• – Don Juan is a replica of  Childe Harold, but he is more light-hearted, craving for experience and sensation; he is passive and mostly acted upon: he is a constant seeker of meaning
• – Don Juan represents physical desire divorced from any spiritual or even humane feelings
• – He undergoes a series of adventures but does not mature
• – A range of ideas; from the supposed glory of war and heroism to fidelity in love and oriental exoticism