Lord Byron's religious philosophy; with emphasis on Manfred and Cain Item Type text; Thesis-Reproduction (electronic) Authors Marcus, Joseph Fred, 1929- Publisher The University of Arizona. Rights Copyright © is held by the author. Digital access to this material is made possible by the University Libraries, University of Arizona. Further transmission, reproduction or presentation (such as public display or performance) of protected items is prohibited except with permission of the author. Download date 11/10/2021 09:19:51 Link to Item http://hdl.handle.net/10150/319042 LORD BYRON*S RELIGIOUS PHILOSOPHY: WITH EMPHASIS ON MANFRED AND CAIN by Joseph F. Marcus A Thesis submitted to the faculty of the Department of English in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of MASTER OF ARTS in the Graduate College, University of Arizona 1954 Approved: L j—GL 9 MW Director of Thesis V D&te * '. ' 3%' v. TABLE OP OOMTENTa Chapter - , . ; . - v " . -- . lif TRODU OTI ON o O O O O O O O 43 O O O O O O O 0 o o o ‘ o 1 CHAPTER I Ca'ueeB of Byron^s Belief and Skept 1 el sm o 5 P art , X’ O O O O O k O 0 O O O O O O O O O O O o- 5 Part XX O 0.0 O O O 0 O 000 OT O o O 6 0 O O O 2 0 OHABTER IX . The Nature of ByronAa Religious Phxlo sophy o © © © o © o o. © © © o 52 P ar G X O O O ' o O © O O O .0 6 0 0 O o 6 0 O 6 0 ’ 52 Bart XX © o © © © o © o © © © © o o © © © © © © 52 Bart XXX © o © © © o © o © © © © © © © © © . © © © ^ 0 P art X*V Q O O O 6 O. o ;; O ' O O O © O O ,0. 0 O © O O • 8 j A Bart V o o .0 o 0 o o' o 0 © © 00 00 00 00 o 22 CHAPTER XIX Byron*8 Catholicism <, * o/© * © © © * © gg B art X o o o o o o O 0 0 © e o © o o o o oo.o- 22 Baft XX - o 0 o o o o o o o o o o 6 o o o o o © O H 3 GOHCLUBXON o © o o © © © © o © <? © © © o © © © © & © © 112 'BIBLIOGRAPHY © © © © © ©. © \ , :© © \©:: © © * © © © © © © 128 This thesis has been submitted in partial fulfillment of requirements for an advanced degree at the University of Arizona and is deposited in the Library to be made available to borrowers under rules of the Library. Brief quotations from this thesis are allowable without special permission, provided that accurate acknowledgment of source is made. Requests for permission for extended quotation from or re­ production of this manuscript in whole or in part may be granted by the head of the major department or the dean of the Graduate College when in their Judgment the proposed use of the material is in the interests of scholarship. In all other instances, however, permission must be ob­ tained from the author. SIGNED: / v . ■ : IIxTTRODUOTION : ■ ' ' " /. /- Vv The st-ude^it of Romantic poetry$, and especially the student of Byronj, will find that a study of Lord Byron’s religion is a rich and rewarding;experience0. More than a cursory knowledge of this aspect of his life is;almost in- .dispensable for a mo re thorough understanding of the poetg' : . since it throws much light not only on his works in general;,' but on his personality in particular. For Byron8s reli- : ■ ■ gious viewsg attitudesg and.sentiments are an.astonishingly : accurate f eflectibn of the man. him self a The facets of hi s • character which were:important in determining the substance of his religious philosophy are many and varied; and often quite oontradiotory o 1 will not dwellL on them here; but1 merely direct the reader’s attention to themo -Suffice it to say that some of the.more important characteristics were his duality of personality9 . neurotic anxietiess sentiments cyni­ cism; and independence of willo His early religious train­ ing and the later environmental conditions were also very importanto 1 ' / ' ; ' ; Chapter/One of this the si s 1 s cono erned mainly with the psychological problems - and early Protestant (i<>e=> Galvin- istic) backgroundo His philosophic temperament; however, : isv not siightedo. ;Ghapter Two is concerned with the various aspects-of : his:’;reiigious‘ views per seo Both the psychological 1 ■and philosophic attitudes of the poet are discussedo The em­ phasis heres however9 is on his philosophyq ■ Chapter Three takes Up the problem of Byron8s dual attitude toward Oatholicism, and again the two approaches predominatec I have saved the dis­ cussion of his views on the Anglican Ghurch for the conclusion of this paper9 since scarcity of material indicated its best insertion therea The emphasis on-Manfred and Gain is made especially in the second chapters They are discussed in the first chapter . as well9 however, but Manfred alone is dwelt upon in the third chapter, since Gain throws no light on the subject of his Gatholdclsmq • Wherever these two poetic dramas add to our under­ standing of his religious philosophy, I have referred to them at the length I felt they deservedo Other works,-of cours®, have not been slightede : - ' ' i' ■ : ' i ' h Because of Byron8 s prominence in his own day, contemporary material is voluminous= A controversial poet then and now, he has been the subject of many books and articles o In the use of evidence, reliability of source is always the main consider- ationo Moore and Farry are highly regarded» Lady Blessing- ton, too, has contributed much worthwhile information0 1 would also urge the student not to ignore Mrs0 Shelley ils lettefs and journals® Leigh Hunt and Countess Guieeiolis / . hpweverp are less reliable, the former because of his ob~ . vious prejudice, the latter because of her equally obvious biaso Among modern writers, Stopford Brooke, Edward Wayne Mar j arumg arid Ethel poll3u m Mayne are especially to be recommendedo Mrs, Mayne‘a-Important biography of Lady. ? Byron haB-rriti'liz;ed;;::eome- significant new material on the - poets drawn, mostly from Amabella' s papers g and much light is shed on'his personality o Iri order to keep this thesis within reasonable lengths : I hay© had to condense a- good deal$ but none of the essentials have been Id si in the process.o Extensive use o f footnotes .'(especially in the first chapter) and of evidence has helped a good deal iri the problem of being as olmclusive yet brief "as possible in the body of the paper0 ; ';;V - ; As for bibliograph!es 9 1 have utilized material from a wealth 0f writerss ;ranging ; from important primary,arid second™ ary sources to less knowrig and indeedg some unchronicled writerso An anonymous correspondent In Blackwood8 s Edin­ burgh Magazlnes for instance, has contributed some sigriifi^ cant information on Byroh'g but to my recollection, Leigh Hunt was •the orily person to refer to any of this materials Moore8 s. rioted for his Life of Byron include some personal reflections on the poet not utilized in his monumental biographyg: andg to my knowledge, unmentioned by later eriticso The student of Byron should examine Dr= Ohew8 s invaluable bibliography appended to his Byron in • England : His Fame and ; After-Pameo He will finds there = an all but exhaustive list : of important books and articles9 contemporary , and later® In­ cluded in this list are the anonymous article from Blackwoodra and Hoore Ss notes for the Life mentioned above« The former*/ howeverg has been misleadingly paginated in Chew1 a bihlio-* graphjo But in other respects5 Chew is meticulously ac~ curate0 JOSEPH Fo MARCUS' June 169 1954 OECftgR 01E Oauses of Byron11 s' Belief and Skeptieism ' ■ , •v. ■: . Part One ■ ' - To tke world in generals:Lord Byron was the perfect skeptico Indeed he often referred, to himself as. such.^5 and oertainly he succeeded In giving others that impression® Bht careful investigation indicates not only that Byron was basically a believer but that/ if fears and conflicts (which I shall . discuss later in this ; chapter ) had not beset himg he would have been a most zealously' religious man@ Isaac Hathan was quite- justified in his statement that i$no sub« : . ■ ject has been more frequently canvassed/end more - entirely. - misunderstood than the religious sentiments of Lord Bef-: And though the poet himself contributed much to this mis/- understandings, it is doubtful whether he fully .understoqd the nature of his own problemo That he was aware/ however^ that his diffieulty was psychological as well as_philosophi- cal'is attested by a number of statements Such as the one .”1 Byron told Colonel Leicester Stanhope$ “I am a perfect sceptic.o' I- have no fixed. opinions °a that is my . characterssi. (Richard Bdgcumbe, Byronf The Last Phase [Hew York, 190%/: . pi 210-0)' ,;AS;' we - shall see* it -was indeed his character to .have 88no fixed opinionson . ' v ' 2 Isaac hathann Fugitive Pieces and'RemInisoences of Lord Byron (London, 18291, p®. 5-0. • - . : . < 5 ' ' . ' 6 he made to dountess Q-uicclolio “After all9tt he told her9 "I believe my doubts to be but the effects of some mental lllnesso"^ Byron’s mind was constantly waverings for every reli­ gious "yea" there was a "nayo68 But he was persistent in his belief in Godo At no time did he ever doubt the existence of a First Cause, and the poet often emphasized this facto "I am no Bigot to Infidelity,81 he wrote in 1813s "and did not expect that, because I doubted the Immortality of maaa> I should be charged with denying the existence of a God0 His earliest poems show an attitude of awe toward the Deity9 and this attitude seldom radically changeds: even thoughg ' under Shelley ” a influence he arraignedg in Gain and in some passages of Heaven and Barth0 the man-made (i0e® Calvinist!e) concept of God6 It is true, however, that his Indictment was not entirely directed against man’s Interpretation of God, but against the Lord Himself9 becauses as I shall show in this and the next chapter, he could not fully convince ‘him­ self that Jehovah was not created in man6 s image, and Since he did fear, at times, that God and Jehovah were indeed the same9 his arraignment was surely a proud and daring defiance, a courageous criticism of God the Omnipotento In ;3CQuntess Gulceioli, My Recollections of Lord Byron* tranSo Hubert Ec Ho Jerningham (London, 1869TT vol* I, po 149o.