Byron & Shakespeare - Wils Kni

by George Wilson Knight

In this volume, G. Wilson Knight deals with the superabundance of analogies between Byron and Shakespeare through analysis and literarty criticism of poetry, sonnets and essays.

Hardcover

First published December 6, 2002

Reviews

[Jordan · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book concludes a sort of trilogy along with LORD BYRON: CHRISTIAN VIRTUES and LORD BYRON'S MARRIAGE about Byron. Not exactly biographies, Knight delves into the letters and works of the poet to get at what he feels is a rare, Nietzschean individual. The editions of the books I read make it quite clear that (i) Byron was more esteemed in England in the mid-twentieth century than he appears to be today and (ii) controversies around aspects of his character were hotly debated. As the debate concerns incest and homosexuality, one can understand Knight's quasi-circumlocutious style. It's kinda amusing, actually, since it's pretty clear that Knight feels he's being quite direct in his language, but by the standards of 2024 he's still opaque about things.

In the end, all three books were worth reading. Certainly there's overlap among them, but the portrait one gets of Byron as a superman is quite convincing.