The Self-Deception of Julia in Byron's Don Juan
Graduation Date
Spring 1964
Document Type
Master's Thesis
Document Form
Degree Name
Master of Arts
Degree Granting Institution
Catholic University of America
Program Name
Humanities
Abstract
Indeed, almost every character of Don Juan represents some form of self- deception. Julia and Inez are victims of deceit through perverted sexual love; Lambro and Suwarrow are examples of deception through a perverted love of country Adeline and Henry are symbols of the hypocrisy of a perverted society. Of all these characters, however, the self-deception of Julia receives the most comprehensive and exhaustive treatment. The controlling purpose of this paper, therefore, is to analyze the self-deception of Julia as a reflection of Byron's central thesis of deceit. I shall first study the psychology of Julia's rationalization and its relationship to the structure of the poem; I shall then analyze the satiric techniques of Julia's self-deception.