Set Love Free: Female Sexuality as Subversive Agency in Lord Byron’s Don Juan

 

　　The author, through her analysis of the rhetorical and formal characteristics of Byron’s Don Juan, is able to reveal the importance of Byron’s view of female sexuality and female emancipation. This is an aspect of the work that is often overlooked, and I believe that she is able to convincingly demonstrate its importance and even, in a sense, its centrality for the work’s overall vision. She supports her arguments with references to a range of contemporary thinkers, but continually anchors her conclusions in careful examinations of the various female figures in the poem and in Byron’s view of them, both explicit and more subtly implied. Her appreciation of the poem’s well-known digressive form also adds credence to her argument. Ultimately she is able to reveal a previously unsuspected dimension of this work, namely, Byron’s view of the importance of female sexuality and female emancipation. In doing so, she throws a new and interesting light on an otherwise familiar work which, I believe, will make it even more interesting for many contemporary readers.—Steven Frattali,Former Assistant Professor, DFLL, NTHU, American Writer

 

　　The author leads readers to reread and reinterpret Byron’s Don Juan from highly creative viewpoints. Through the analysis of Byron’s unruly freedom claims, she also thinks deeply about love, female autonomy, and the consciousness of resisting patriarchy. In the complex narrative structure of Don Juan, the author has mastered the factors of travel and time, together with post-structuralism arguments to demonstrate the relationship between lovers and the stranger Don Juan. Their love has a complex mental framework, which reveals the personalities of Romantic Poets: they are eager to grasp the passion for love. This is indeed a poetic dissertation full of brand-new arguments.  —Wen-Wei Shiu, Poet, Professor, Department ofChinese, NTNU 

 

　　作者以相當具有創造力的觀點，帶領讀者重新閱讀與詮釋拜倫的《唐璜》，透過分析詩人不羈的自由主張，也省思愛情、女性的自主與抵抗父權的意識。在《唐璜》複雜的敘事結構中，作者掌握了旅行與時間的因素，以後結構主義的論點，論證戀人與異鄉人唐璜的關係，有著複雜的心理框架，呈現出浪漫主義詩人個性的張揚，歌頌與把握愛情的熱切，是一本充滿嶄新論點的詩學論述。—須文蔚．詩人．國立臺灣師範大學國文學系教授

 

　　Praise for Set Love Free

 

　　A must-collect book for any Byron admires. Set Love Free and Emily’s poetic works give you all the affectionate insight you can feel in love. This book is really a unique artwork.—Chiou-Ling Shi

 

　　The opinions and research results provided in this book are precious. Beautiful, passionate, and sentimental to know.—Leslie Chang

 

　　Emily Chen has achieved an enlightening discourse on Byron’s Don Juan. Also, her works are so sincere that you can feel the distinctive romantic spirits. Emily is a diligent writer, and she could write various articles. Absolutely emotional and rational!—Kevin Chuang

 

　　If you are attracted to the Byronic Hero, you must not miss this book. I got strength from the outstanding discourse and from the romantic poems: both artistic and enlightening.—Redmuhly33