The Romantic Era was a period in which poets and intellectuals questioned the emphasis on reason and science espoused by the Enlightenment and the Revolution scientist. Lord Byron, or George Gordon Byron, was one of the leading Romantic poets of the 19th century and was best known for his epic poem Don Juan. Byron's poem follows the life of a young man, Don Juan, as he is exiled from his home and travels across the Mediterranean. Don Juan is a satire whose aim is to criticize the societal norms and conventions of the 19th century. At one point in Juan's journey, his ship sinks in the middle of the Mediterranean. Stranded in the middle of the ocean with no hope of rescue and with ensuing ravenous hunger, a number of men aboard Juan's ship resort to cannibalism. Those who participate in the consumption of the chosen man, the priest Pedrillo, eventually go mad and die. Juan is the only survivor of the shipwreck and the only man not to succumb to cannibalism. This cannibalistic episode calls into question pre-romantic concepts of nature, spirituality and individuality. When life and death are at stake, reason, religion, science and God no longer matter. This cannibalistic episode is just one of many instances in which Byron seeks to challenge societal norms throughout the epic. These episodes, coupled with Juan's in-depth characterization, powerfully satirize and censor society's control over the individual. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on “Why Violent Video Games Should Not Be Banned”? Get an original essay Revolutionary thinkers like Byron summarized and complicated nature beyond the limits of science and reason. Nature is not described in scientific terms, but Byron describes it metaphorically and symbolically. Byron wrote when describing the ocean: "And the sea yawned around it like hell, And it sucked with it the whirling wave / Like one who wrestles with his enemy / and strives to strangle him before to die” (Wordsworth, 231). Here the ocean is depicted as a man struggling to defeat an enemy, in this way nature is presented as a force to be reckoned with and not just a scientific reality. Byron therefore presents nature as the dominant force in the episode, alluding to the fact that it will be the source of much of the action that follows. Nature produced both the storm that sank the ship and the hunger that caused men to kill and eat another human being. As Byron writes, "It was nature [that] gnawed them to this resolution / By which none was permitted to be neutral / And the lot fell on Juan's unlucky guardian" (Wordsworth, 232) . Byron states that it was nature that annoyed sailors to such an extent that it allowed them to consider cannibalism. While polite society and religion would consider cannibalism unthinkable and unforgivable, nature dominates with its relentless hunger. Byron clearly constructs a vision of nature that goes beyond theory, equations and reason. The nature at work here is mysterious, elusive and omniscient; it cannot be reduced to a single interpretation and it cannot be tamed by society. Nature dictates that sailors would do anything in their power to survive, which included killing and eating another human being. Byron constructs a world in which nature, not God or humanity, reigns. It is a world in which nature should take the place of religion. Byron sought to move away not only from a rational interpretation of nature, but also from an adherence to organized religion and itsinstitutions. Before Pedrillo was killed and eaten, Byron wrote: "He [Pedrillo] died as born, a Catholic in faith, / Like most in the creed in which they are brought up, / And first he kissed a little crucifix , / And then he held out his jugular and his wrist” (Wordsworth, 232). Byron emphasizes Pedrillo's religiosity; he was born a Catholic and clung to his religion until his last breath. It is no coincidence that Byron chose to assassinate the only religious figure on board. Pedrillo's position as a priest should have prohibited the men from choosing him as a victim, but this is not the case because they no longer care about religion and its precepts. At this moment, these men are defeated by nature and are slaves to her will. Even though society maintains a clear distinction between what is sacred and what is animal, this distinction carries no weight in the struggle for survival. The blurring of these boundaries calls into question organized religion and its control over culture and society. Byron asserts that human beings must shape nature to survive, because nature, not God, controls the universe. Similar to the shift of attention from God to nature, Byron's Don Juan also introduces a shift of attention from the soul to the self. While it is captivating to read about a sea voyage gone wrong, the play's real task is to draw attention to the characters' inner dialogue. Byron ends this section of Don Juan by saying: "If enemies are food in hell, at sea / Surely it is right to dine with our friends, / When the short allowance of shipwreck becomes too rare, / Without being much more horrible as Dante” (Wordsworth, 234). By referencing Dante's Inferno, which details an allegorical journey through hell and deals with the afterlife and the existence of God, Byron questions the relevance and existence of God on earth . It makes a clear statement that God and religion could not prevent the cannibalism that took place here and that the actions that take place are the consequences of individuals and their needs. The poem deals with Juan's particular reactions to cannibalism and his actions in response. As the ship sinks, Juan tries to save everyone he holds dear. He helps Pedrillo onto the lifeboat, saves his dog, and tries in vain to save his servant Pedro, before even bothering to save himself. Before Pedrillo's gruesome end, Byron wrote: "It was not to be expected that he should, / Even in the extreme of their disaster, / Dine with them at his pastor and master" (Wordsworth, 233 ). Juan failed to save Pedrillo, but the least he could do was refrain from eating his own priest. Juan is the only character who has enough moral sense to not only stop him from eating another human being, but also to get him to try to save others. Juan adheres to polite society's conception of what is morally acceptable, and yet he is considered an outcast. At a very young age, Juan was kicked out of his home because of the illicit sexual relations he had with a married woman. Polite society has shunned Juan for his infractions, and yet, when it matters most, he is brave, generous, loyal, and moral. Byron therefore exposes the hypocrisy of society's control over the individual. Byron criticizes society with humor and irony. In the middle of the second canto which tells the story of the shipwreck, Byron writes: "It is said that people living on annuities / Live longer than others - God knows why, / Unless they torment the grantors - and yet it is so true. it is / That some, I really believe, never die! /” (Wordsworth, 229). In the middle of the poem describing a, 2005, 228-234.