The first major reference we get to the narrator’s personality is in stanza 212, where we see that, in his opinion, the thing that makes life worthwhile to live is beauty and the platonic. From this we can learn that he does have a serious side to him, and that he is a romantic. A romantic is someone who is more concerned with feelings and emotions than with the form that something has, and he thinks that the mind is more important than what is outside it. Another example of the narrator’s romantic view-point is in stanza 209, where he says that the important things in life are built from the inside outwards: i.e. you have to start with love, and build a relationship from that – and not just to see a pretty face behind a masque at a dance. The narrator is also an aesthete, as is demonstrated in stanza 211, ‘This sort of adoration of the real/Is but a heightening of the beau ideal.’ He says in this stanza that when men criticise something beautiful they are actually admiring it. He is thus making the point that beauty is very important in life, more so than men think; this last point about his personality also strengthens my view that he is a romantic, as aestheticism is sometimes a feature of the Romantic Movement.
In addition to his romanticism, the narrator also has a sympathetic view to the human condition. At the end of stanza 208, he calls humans, ‘us poor human creatures’, in reference to our inability to stand up to our emotions. This philosophical approach to life is reflected in stanzas 210 and 211, when he holds a conversation with Philosophy itself. From the final stanzas of canto II we learn that he is a philosophical man, with many strong, personal convictions about life and human failings. We are shown this by his almost schizophrenic episode in stanza 210, when he conducts a discussion with Philosophy. In this passage, Byron, through the narrator, sums up one of mankind’s biggest problem – the conflict between the mind (Philosophy) and human emotions (the narrator’s desires). We see that the narrator is a normal person, who is tempted just like everyone else; even if this time, he is rather more successful at resisting temptation than he would have us believe in other parts of the poem.
He also strongly believes that the heart is an extremely important part of the human consciousness. In stanza 214, he says that the human heart not only can make people happy, but also make them miserable - ‘the English climate of our years.’ This also could imply that human nature is extremely changeable, like English weather. This theme is not just present in other parts of the first two cantos as well, but also in stanza 209 of this canto. We are told that the narrator loathes ‘the mortal made/Of such quicksilver clay that in his breast/No permanent foundation can be laid.’ We do not know if he is being serious here or not, as he could be saying that he accepts mortal man for what he is, unlike society. Quicksilver is mercury, a liquid metal, which is uncontrollable, and unpredictable in its behaviour – which he likens to human emotions. This stanza highlights another of Byron’s themes: the hypocrisy of society. The opening phrase of this stanza, ‘I hate inconstancy’, could be Byron attacking society for ignoring that fact that man can fall in love many times, while he is only ‘supposed’ to fall in love once, and allowances are only made for him to love one person. The narrator thus appears to be someone who values truth, and abhors hypocrisy.
He feels that first love is by far the most important, and the longest-lasting form of love. This is evident in the two questions posed by the narrator in stanza 208, ‘But Juan, had he quite forgotten Julia? / And should he have forgotten her so soon?’ However, he also has a sense of humour about these things; as he then goes on to suggest that it was all because of the moon. You could also say that the narrator is a humble man, supported by evidence from the last lines of the canto: ‘Leaving Don Juan and Haidée to plead/ For them and theirs with all who deign to read.’ This suggests that he is unassuming, but it could equally be an example of false modesty. From these stanzas alone it isn’t really possible to determine this, but with knowledge from the rest of the poem, the second option looks more likely.
As the poem progresses, the narrator starts to commandeer the poem, and at times Juan is left out for many stanzas, as the narrator’s digressions get longer and longer. This reflects the growing importance of the narrator as a character in the poem.
≈ 1000 words
