Lord Byron's tragicomic muse: exploring the theme of stigmatization in Manfred, Cain and Heaven and Earth

Abstract

Tato diplomova prace se zabjva tematem stigmatizace v Byronove dUe, se zvlastnim zamerenim na poeticka dramata Manfred, Kain a Heaven and Earthl. V prvni casti uvodu je rozebiran pojem "Byron" jako basnikova maska, kterou si z casti sam stvofil a z casti ji byl (okolnostmi, spolecnosti, litenirni kritikou) nucen nosit. V tomto bode se temata byronovskeho myru a stigmatizace protinaji. V druhe casti uvodu je pak strucne predstaven prehled litenirni kritiky t9kajici se vYse zminenych dramat od doby Byronovy po soucasnost. Nasledujici kratka kapitola objasiiuje :rUzne aspekty tematu stigmatizace v sirsim kontextu Byronova dila a pokousi se 0 strukturovany pohled na tuto problematiku. Ve zkratce se zaprve jedmi 0 "stigma" pronasledovani, ktere se casto snoubi s pocitem viny a spatneho svedomi, dale pak 0 "stigma" nedokonalosti lidstvi, ktere Byron opakovane zobrazuje v metafore vyhnani z raje. Upadek lidstva zracici se v krvavem kolotoci dejin je odrazem katastrofickych teorii francouzskeho geologa Cuviera. Cuvierovy vize cyklicke destrukce a zrodu zeme i vesmiru byly Byronovi velkou inspiraci - v basnikove dUe se tento vliv projevuje zejmena v silnem tematu bezcilnosti a absurdity lidskeho byti, tak nicotneho v mentku makrokosmu, a existence vilbec. Je kladen dfuaz na dulezitost ironie a humoru, bez kterych je...

The general public image of Lord Byron (in)famously amounts to a set of gilded platitudes - the Romantic sex-symbol, the lover of women, men, wine and freedom, the revolutionary suffering the premature death of a true hero - all adding up to constitute the notorious notion of a celebrity, anchored in the melodrama of an exotic life with a tragic end. In short, ever since the phenomenal success of the first two cantos of Childe Harold's Pilgrimage in 1812, the poet has been distilled into a rather appetizing cocktail of hyperbole, originating in the theretofore unprecedented cult of personality epitomized by sheer stylishness and daunting eroticism. Thus in the long run, as far as the laity is concerned, we inevitably see Lord Byron join the catalogue of ill-famed idols featuring the disparate likes of John Wilmot or James Dean. Moreover, the scandalous momentum of the poet's life has continuously been pushing the oeuvre into a shameful shade, the consequence of which being that Byron's work is largely perceived as merely echoing, in fateful chimes, the biographical bane of incest, debauchery, intolerable cruelty in matrimony etcetera - the allegedly numerous moral trespasses eventually resulting in a dramatic fall from grace and exile. Stereotypes conjured out ofthe bog of Byron's life stifle the voices of...