Hypocrisy in Don Juan

There is no doubt that Don Juan is the best literary work of Lord Byron. Though it appears like a romantic poem, the readers would be able to understand that Byron is making fun of society and its hypocrisy. The background of Don Juan was set in Spain. The hero of the poem ‘Don Juan’ belongs to an elite class. However, the society depicted in the poem was very common to that of England. Through wit and humor, Byron exposed the hypocrisy of the English high society. 

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First, we have to know what is hypocrisy. Hypocrisy means when people believe something but do not act according to his belief. For example, if a person always says that one must speak the truth, but he himself lies all the time. Such hypocrisy is not only seen in individual life but in society as well. In a society, there are many rules and regulations and they are glorified saying that these rules are formed for the greater good of the people who live in that society. However, people do not follow these rules all the time. Often, they act against these rules and regulations. Thus, hypocrisy is a shameful act. When it becomes harder to follow any rules for people then hypocrisy becomes a tendency. In the case of Don Juan, we can see that the same thing has happened. In the society of Don Juan, different rules are ascribed, but people do not follow these rules. They say that these rules and regulations are good for them but in reality, they act totally opposite.

Byron mainly tried to show the hypocrisy related to morality. In Don Juan’s society, we can see that everyone values morality highly, but they are not moral. It means that they talk much about moral values like truthfulness, honesty and fidelity, but when it comes to tell the truth or remain faithful, they do the opposite. Don Juan’s mother, Donna Inez, tried a lot to teach Don Juan about morality, but she herself did not believe in morality. Byron tried to show that morality means not only utter some good words but also following them in your own life.

Byron also shows hypocrisy in love and marriage. First of all, Don Juan’s parents never loved each other. As a result, they never led a happy married life. Don Juan was not much happy in his personal life as well. After his father’s death, he was under the strict rules of his mother. So, the consequence was not good. There is no doubt that family is very important. Byron tried to say that too much strictness in a family never brings any good for us.

There was strictness in education. Donna Inez knows different languages, but she cannot speak her mother tongue, Spanish. In front of people, she tried to show that Hebrew and English are common languages. It means that she did not give importance to her mother tongue and did not have any respect for it. On the other hand, we can see that she was too much strict with Don Juan, and from his syllabus, she removed all those subjects, which related to love and affair. As a result, Don Juan was more attracted by these facts. Donna Julia’s company became more attractive for him.

Lord Byron talked about hypocrisy again and again in Don Juan because he wanted to convey the message that if there is too much strictness in a society then it would become a barrier to personal development. There was too much strictness in love, affair and education in the society of Don Juan and as a result, people became hypocritic. Byron not only revealed hypocrisy but also tried to find out the reason for hypocrisy. Maybe we can agree with him or maybe not, but it is true that if there is too much strictness in a society then maybe people would say something, but in reality, they would do the opposite. If they cannot do it openly then they would do many things secretly. In Don Juan, we can see the same picture in everyone. Maybe they speak openly about good things, but secretly they are not doing any good works.

Through Don Juan, Byron criticized his contemporary poets. He mainly criticized Wordsworth and Coleridge. He did not say that they are hypocrites, but he did not say anything good about the followers of Wordsworth’s ideals. In his personal life, Byron faced a lot of problems with society. Many people of his contemporaries did not like him, and he was compelled to leave his own country. In Don Juan, he showed the hypocrisy of his society and tried to take revenge through this poem.