Byron and the Body

Bc. Markéta Dudová

Master's thesis

Abstract:

Práce zpochybňuje tradiční definici romantismu jako idealistického hnutí. Práce se zabývá studiem Byronova těla, jeho stravovacími zvyky a tělesným postižením, zejména v textech "Don Juan" a "The Deformed Transformed". Práce se vzdáva jakýchkoli definitiních prohlášení o autenticitě Byronova těla, která je předmětem mnoha diskuzí, místo toho využívá Byronovy provokativní a sebereflexivní poezie a ptá se po autenticitě Byronova čtenáře.

Abstract:

The thesis challenges the traditional definition of Romanticism as an idealist movement by discussing four factors in particular that have contributed to the revaluation of Romanticism, those of philosophical speculations on the mind and the body, the link between colonialism and disease, England's war with France, and the consolidation of a norm of proper embodiment. The second part of the thesis focuses on the body of Byron, on his eating habits and disability. The thesis discusses Byron's depiction of a dinner party in "Don Juan" through which Byron deconstructs the binary opposition between the winner and the loser. The thesis also deals with the topic of disability in the play "The Deformed Transformed". The third part inverts the traditional question of Byron's authenticity, and asks about and explores authenticity of his reader.

Keywords

George Gordon Byron, English literature, Romanticism, literature and the body

Language used: English

Date on which the thesis was submitted / produced: 30. 4. 2009

Thesis defence

• Date of defence: 18. 6. 2009
• Supervisor: doc. Michael Matthew Kaylor, PhD.

Masaryk University

Faculty of Arts

Master programme / field:
Humanities / English Language and Literature